Our Process

The Control Systems International assessment process is vital to determining the cost, needs, and process of your upcoming PLC or electrical controls engineering design project. Our team uses innovative engineering processes and the latest EPLAN software to design, integrate, commission, and engineer the best PLC electrical control system for your automated manufacturing equipment and operations.

Needs Assessment (Consultation)

Upon the initial steps of a controls automation project, we complete a needs assessment or consultation. We determine what your automation project or manufacturing goals are and your expectations.  We start to determine how we can help your project, either via EPLAN electrical system design, custom PLC coding, or onsite commissioning.

We will then send a team to your facility to evaluate your pre-existing automation or functioning PLC systems that we’ll be working with or adapting, gathering pertinent information to better understand the project we are undertaking.

From the needs assessment, we are better able to provide an early yet realistic road map for the project based on the information that we find. In projects where we have used or pre-existing automation, we conduct a pre-existing automation assessment, providing you with a full diagnostic of your system and statements of findings with the best available information.  With this information, we make and consider the best recommendations based on the needs of your automated facility. We show you what you have, what you’re trying to achieve, and the steps it will take to get there.

Design

Once we complete our needs assessment and begin an electrical controls engineering project, we create an early bill of materials (BOM) and full EPLAN design. CSI completes all our electrical control systems designs with EPLAN to create a more accurate design with an intuitive understanding of the wiring, equipment, and tools needed to complete your project. Using an EPLAN-certified firm saves you money and provides you with the best design value by offering you a comprehensive, detailed design in less time.

EPLAN designs also contribute to the automated equipment’s overall value for the end user in terms of reliability and uptime.  Simply put, better-designed and documented equipment runs smoother in production.

Implementation

With designs completed and approved, the CSI team begins our implementation process. Our goal is to create a system that is painless to maintain and beneficial for you to own. We design and build our systems intuitively, laying out the system in your facility to ensure a user-friendly experience that is simpler for new staff to pick up.

With strategic partners such as MTE, we build our designs based on UL508A standards. Following UL508A standards means that we do not cut corners and we follow all code and regular machine wiring design practices while completing system builds, creating an easier-to-maintain system that works better for you in the short and long term.

When building control panel power systems, we rely on the BSAFE Power Management System to save you money on commissioning and design. The BSAFE is a regulated system that provides consistent results and creates a safer environment for your employees. This guarantees a quality electrical design and standard foundation for your facility.

System Diagnostics

After fabrication and implementation of your system, we complete a functional check of your automation’s diagnostics to verify its effectiveness.

While most custom-designed GUI and HMI dashboards will show a generic error display when something is wrong in the system, we custom-design ours to identify the issue. Our dashboards and user screens will refer to the documentation we provided and indicate the exact area where an issue lies, ensuring a swift diagnostic process that saves you time.

Our diagnostics run a full process of your system, determining the effectiveness of the safety systems, input and output, and auto and manual functions. Once completed, we verify the diagnostics and begin to verify cycle time and other parameters you are looking to achieve.

For further information on our commissioning process, please visit our commissioning and project management services page.

Training and Support

With diagnostics complete and your system running optimally, we now take the time to train your plant personnel and provide you with documentation of your system. We offer support while the system begins production and train staff to maintain and sustain the machine while it runs.

We offer extended support for our customers – if there are changes you want made, or the design isn’t fully meeting your needs, we can return for change orders. We also offer warranties or extended support agreements. Contact us for further information.

To help maintain effective support, we often place cameras on our systems to record possible issues. If any problems occur, we can refer to video records when alarms go off and quickly resolve issues by catching them on camera. This process saves you money in repairs and support and ensures appropriate use of your systems.


If you are looking for more information about our process or are interested in starting a new project with the CSI team, please contact us for a consultation and needs assessment.

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