Transforming a USDA research facility

The USDA-ARS operates 95 research laboratories nationwide, environments that must be tightly controlled to protect staff health and research integrity. A 2008-era JACE controller had produced years of chronic failures, unstable static air pressure that slammed lab doors and disrupted work, loss of airflow in fume hoods risking experiments and staff exposure, no scheduling, and an outdated OS that failed government cybersecurity requirements.

The original RFP called for a like-for-like JACE replacement. inginir recognized that would lock the building into the same limitations, and proposed a solution that complied with GSA's functional requirements while delivering far greater value, an edge controller with cloud computing, retention of existing program logic to avoid disruption, hundreds of devices and over two thousand data points mapped, read/write control, fault and leak detection, and remote real-time visualization.

The building went from unacceptably reactive to intelligently proactive, with an extended warranty and support coverage, at a significantly lower cost than the standard replacement.