Prince SCADA System case study

For years, operators on Prince's shop floor faced a familiar but costly problem: the information they needed to do their jobs was scattered. Programs lived in one place, blueprints in another, operation sheets somewhere else entirely. Getting set up at a station meant hunting across file folders, icons, and systems before any actual work could begin. The inefficiency was measurable, the frustration was real, and the solution proved elusive for more than a decade.

That changed when Prince partnered with KASA Controls and Automation to implement a SCADA system designed around how the shop floor actually operates. The core idea was straightforward: tie all relevant documentation and program data to a model number, then surface it automatically as a product moves down the line. When the system recognizes what is in front of a machine, it delivers everything the operator needs, op sheets, blueprints, and program files, to a single screen without any manual searching.

Centralizing data from existing sources

A significant part of the implementation involved pulling data that already existed inside Prince's infrastructure. The engineering server, the ERP system, and other internal repositories held valuable information that was simply not accessible in a practical way from the production floor. Working with KASA, Prince was able to mine those existing sources and bring the relevant data together into one locally accessible location.

We learned a lot about mining for data in several of our existing locations such as the engineering server and our ERP system. We were able to bring a lot of that information, again, locally into one site so it could be viewed easily. — Prince Plant Manager

The visual management benefit was equally important. Supervisors and operators gained a clear, real-time overview of what work was being done and when, something that had previously required piecing together information from multiple disconnected systems. That kind of operational visibility is difficult to put a precise value on, but its impact on decision-making and floor coordination is direct.

Setup time and the people behind the process

The most immediate measurable outcome was a reduction in setup times. Because the system automatically prompts the correct programs and documentation based on product recognition, operators no longer spend time gathering materials before a job begins. That time compounds across shifts and stations, making it a meaningful operational gain rather than a marginal one.

For me, it was all about the people on the shop floor, the employees, giving them what they need to try to be successful in what they're doing. — Prince Plant Foreman

Prince first raised the need for a unified information system with its corporate office in 2011. The search for the right solution took years, and what ultimately made the KASA partnership work was less about technology specs and more about alignment. The Prince team described KASA as genuinely attentive, noting that conversations about requirements felt collaborative rather than transactional. The result is a system now running at full operational capacity, delivering on a goal that took over a decade to realize.