Country Maid Gains Visibility & Uptime with PLEX Production Monitoring

Country Maid, a baked goods manufacturer based in Iowa, wanted better visibility into its cake roll and Butter Braid® pastry lines. The company’s production data was manually tracked and shared through spreadsheets and chat logs, limiting visibility and consistency. With high employee turnover and a need for accurate uptime and performance metrics, they partnered with Interstates to implement Rockwell Automation's PLEX Production Monitoring. Through strategic configuration and hands-on support, Interstates helped Country Maid deploy real-time dashboards to track performance, reduce ambiguity in downtime reporting, and engage employees in production improvement.

Understanding Production Monitoring (PM)

Production Monitoring is a digital solution that gives operators and managers real-time visibility into manufacturing performance across work centers. Through dashboards that track cycle counts, status events, and run rates, PM enables contextualized data-driven decision-making. By aligning this solution with Country Maid’s unique structure and operations, Interstates helped create a clear, shared view of how the site is running and where improvements could be made. 

Challenges

1. Limited Visibility Into Production: Country Maid’s team lacked consistent, real-time insights into how each area of the production line was performing, making it difficult 
   to react to issues or optimize processes.
2. Inconsistent Downtime Tracking: Downtime events were tracked manually in spreadsheets or Microsoft Teams chats, leading to conflicting records and incomplete root cause analysis.
3. High Turnover and Training Needs: Rapid employee turnover created a knowledge gap on the shop floor. New operators had limited tools to understand performance expectations or recognize how their role impacted downstream operations.
4. Disconnected Data Sources: Daily operations meetings relied on a mix of handwritten notes, spreadsheets, and selective system access. This lack of standardization slowed 
   communication and hampered continuous improvement efforts.

Solution

Interstates’ ability to bridge gaps among the ERP, controls systems, and operators was key to the implementation. The team introduced features like a virtual whiteboard to retain shift notes and integrated Rockwell Automation's FactoryTalk Batch to automate data capture. Interstates also worked around PLEX provisioning delays with temporary custom development to ensure timely delivery. 

Training was streamlined by the intuitive dashboard design. Interstates conducted hands-on support with operators and supervisors, empowering them to take ownership of the dashboards and customize displays as needed.

Return on Investment

Implementing advanced automation at this facility was transformative for Country Maid’s operations. They experienced substantial improvements in production capacity and operational efficiency. Automation allowed them to meet higher demand without expanding the plant footprint, saving significant construction and engineering costs. Additionally, they achieved more consistent product quality through advanced data analytics, which provided valuable insights for real-time decision-making.

Going Forward

Country Maid plans to expand PM across additional work centers and incorporate new automation equipment. With foundational visibility established, the company is developing a “Hour of Power” initiative to optimize start-up processes using Lean principles. As more data becomes available, the team will deepen its use of reporting and further refine performance strategies.