Control upgrades and retrofits that extend the life of what you own.
New controls on robust machinery: SINUMERIK CNC retrofits, obsolete PLC replacements, AS/RS and conveyor control upgrades and custom equipment. We recover the drawings, build the panels in our own UL 508A shop and plan the cutover around your production schedule, so the machine comes back better documented than it left.
Where most automation projects start, and the rest.
Robotics, material handling, retrofits and brewhouse controls are the doors people usually come in through. Custom machines, packaging lines, process skids and CNC are the rest, and they all come out of the same engineering office, UL 508A panel shop and fabrication floor in Winston-Salem.
Breathe new life into the machines you already trust.
A retrofit keeps the iron and replaces the electronics that are failing, unsupported or impossible to get parts for. You get modern controls, current safety, drawings that match the machine and compatibility with today’s software, at a fraction of the cost of new equipment and without a new foundation.
- Who we help. End users and operations who need to keep systems efficient, minimize downtime and get ahead of obsolescence, and who want one partner for upgrades, maintenance packages and advance notice on system updates.
- Minimal disruption. Panels are built and tested in our shop while your machine keeps running; the cutover is planned to a schedule and rehearsed on paper first.
- Better than before. Every retrofit leaves with as-built schematics, program backups, an I/O list and training for your team.
Lathes, mills, grinders, cutting and additive machines re-controlled on Siemens SINUMERIK ONE with new drives and motors where they are due. Better precision, current safety and a machine tool that can be serviced again.
SINUMERIK numeric control →From factory assembly lines to HVAC and process skids, legacy PLC-5, SLC, S5 and other end-of-life controllers replaced with S7-1500 or ControlLogix, the application re-learned and the process optimized on the way.
Control upgrades for automated storage and retrieval systems, engineered from the whole system so cranes, conveyors and the host software work together after the change.
New PLCs, VFDs, MDR cards, photo-eyes and safety on conveyor and sorter systems you already own, turning outdated conveyance into a reliable line again.
Material handling & conveyance →Purpose-built machines with no drawings and no vendor left: assessed, reverse-engineered, re-controlled and documented, one component or the whole system.
Enclosed VFD packages from stock, WinCC Unified, PanelView and Ignition HMIs, and system backups that safeguard what you have while it is modernized.
Enclosed VFDs →Assessed, drawn, built, cut over.
Every project starts with a look at the machine and ends with a documented, supportable control system. In between, the work happens in our shop, not on your floor.
Site visit, existing drawings (or the lack of them), I/O count, obsolescence risk and a scope with a budget and a schedule.
New schematics in EPLAN or AutoCAD Electrical, panel layouts, drive sizing, program design to your standard and a cutover plan.
Panels built and factory-tested in our UL 508A shop; PLC and HMI code simulated in PLCSIM before it sees the machine.
Scheduled outage, I/O checkout, start-up, run-off and training, then as-builts, backups and support from the same team.
Retrofits that left this shop.
One uniform control standard applied across regrind facilities in North Carolina and California, so every line runs the same panel, the same program and the same spares.
Read the case study →A robot brought onto a SINUMERIK machine-tool control for aerospace production, the machine-tool retrofit approach applied to a 6-axis arm.
Read the case study →
Built to the standard, partnered with the vendors.
What partners say.
For the most part, if it’s a random project out there I’m calling Bobby… I know that if Bobby works on the project, it’s going to be done and it will be done right.
Ed MontgomeryFood & Beverage Industry Manager, SiemensThey’re more than a panel builder, they’ll run cable, do the programming, the electrical drawings and all of that… Think’s ability to problem solve and troubleshoot on the fly is one of their biggest assets.
Stephen NolanTechnical DirectorTalk to our team about the machine that needs new controls.
Send the nameplate, a photo of the panel and what it does. We will come back with an assessment and a budget.
Contact us Service & support