A project that has to run itself.
A new line, an imported machine, a pump station, a shed of equipment that has to talk to each other. You know what it has to do. We turn that into the controls and hand it over working.
What we need from you
- What it has to do, and how fast. A sketch or a walk around the site is fine.
- What's already bought or arriving: motors, pumps, sensors, a machine with its own manual.
- Any drawings that exist, however rough.
- Any standard or client specification it has to meet.
- When it has to be running.
What you get
- A scope in plain words, with a price and what's not included, before you commit.
- Electrical drawings, and a panel built by a licensed panel builder.
- The controller program and operator screens, tested before site.
- Commissioning on site with your crew until it runs the way the scope says.
- Documentation and a backup you keep, and a 12-month warranty on the programs.
Imported machines
A machine bought overseas often arrives with a manual in another language, no drawings, and safety circuits that don't meet Australian standards. We go through it, draw it, bring the controls and the safety up to standard, and document it so your electrician can sign it off. How that works, and what it costs.
How big is a typical job
Most projects are two to six weeks of engineering; a single machine at the small end, a line or a plant at the large end. Site work is done by our engineers across the Hunter; the design and programming is done in Newcastle and can be done for sites anywhere in NSW.
Recent projects
- Craft distillery, SydneyA new distillery's brewing, cellar and still automated from scratch, with the safety interlocks a flammable process needs. Run from a tablet. Read more
- Benchtop line, EcoSurfacesSecond-hand imported machines automated into one line, with new panels to Australian standards. Two or three operators per machine became one for the line. Read more
- Autoclave, PROKAn imported machine brought up to Australian standards, with the controls and safety circuits done here and the screen adjusted for production.
Or describe the project in a few lines and we'll come back with questions and a rough size within two business days.
Pump stations that look after themselves
Stormwater, sewer, dams, leachate ponds, water features. Level and flow control, pump rotation, soft or variable-speed starts so a generator or a long supply cable copes, generator and solar for sites with no power, a text when something's wrong, and a screen in the office instead of a drive out to look. For councils and operators with a control room, the site brought onto the existing screens with alarms, history and a record for the regulator.
Old SMS units and dialers replaced with a small controller with a SIM that reports level, pump state, fuel and battery, and sends a morning report to whoever you name.
- Off-grid pump station, GPMAn 80 kW pump with no mains power. The generator starts itself on high level, solar keeps the controls alive, and a variable-speed drive stops the generator overloading on start. Read more
- The same station, four years onThe telemetry controller replaced and the program moved across, and the site's gate intercoms moved from a fixed line to mobile. Tested on the bench, commissioned in a day.
- Leachate pond, City of NewcastleLevel and flow brought onto the council's control screens with alarms by text and a record for the EPA. No downtime while we did it. Read more
- Council water featureAn ageing SMS controller replaced with one that sends a morning report and alarm resets to several people.
You deliver the job. The automation part is ours.
For pump station installers, machine builders, electro-mechanical and electrical firms, and equipment suppliers who don't carry an automation engineer. We do the controls on your project, under your name if you want, and your client stays yours.
Before anything is built
A written description of what the equipment has to do, from your client's brief. Choice of controller and screen. Electrical drawings your panel builder works from. Safety circuits.
The program and the screens
The controller program and the operator screen, tested on the bench before it goes near site. Drive settings. Whatever brand your client already uses.
On site with you
Checking the wiring against the drawings, commissioning, and fault finding when it doesn't start first go. We turn up with the software and a laptop and work to your program.
How it works
- We quote you in hours against the same rate card everyone gets. You mark it up or pass it through; your call.
- We invoice you, or your client direct if you'd rather keep the controls off your books. Either way we don't quote your client behind you and we don't chase their next job. If they ring us, we ring you.
- Drawings, programs and backups are handed over at the end. Nothing is held back.
- Licensed electrical work stays with you or your electrician. We don't carry a NSW electrical licence and we don't pretend to.
Nine contractors and equipment firms have worked with us this way in the last three years, several of them on more than one job. Ask and we'll put you in touch with one.
Or email the scope and drawings to [email protected] and we'll price it within two business days.