Case Study
The following case study illustrates how STS Automation Incorporated was able to save Cache Creek Casino Resort a significant amount of money and limit downtime while modernizing their outdated system.
Cache Creek Casino Resort
Background
Located in the city of Brooks, Cache Creek is Northern California's premier casino and resort. Like all Indian Casinos in California, it is mandated by the state to be self-sufficient - in other words, it must have its own water and waste-water treatment plants on site and can't rely on any outside source.
The Problem
The computers responsible for running Cache Creek Resort's water treatment plant were starting to fail, and the SCADA software was six years out of date. The plant was at risk of having a catastrophic failure and was badly in need of an upgrade.
The Solution
STS Automation completed a major upgrade of the SCADA system used to run the water and waste-water treatment plants at Cache Creek. Among other things, the project included an upgrade of the Wonderware software, and the addition of a hot standby computer that could take over operation of the system within 5-30 seconds in case of a problem with the primary computer.
In addition, iPad and mobile phone connectivity was added to the system so that alarms could be viewed and monitored remotely by personnel in the field or even off-site on standby. This will allow them to determine whether or not immediate action is required, and could save them an unnecessary trip to the plant.
Lastly, a custom report detailing the plant's operation was set up that could be sent automatically to the operators on a monthly basis.
Results
STS Automation completed the project within 6 weeks, whereas most SCADA integrators would have taken 18-24 weeks. Also, the cost for the resort was $140,000 less than what other integrators were proposing to charge them for the same work. Most importantly, the project was completed with 0 hours of downtime, allowing operation of the plant to continue throughout the project.