As the Regent Santa Monica Beach Hotel neared completion in time for its grand opening, it was expected to become one of the most luxurious five-star hotels Southern California. Thus, this was a highly anticipated launch. The 10,000-square-foot spa would be the first of its kind on the West Coast, offering exclusive treatments, saunas, steam rooms, and even a champagne room.
There was just one missing piece: a working sauna system. The hardware was 90% in place but without any guidance or instructions, the PLC (programmable logic controller) and the control panel were a complete mystery to the builders and operators-to-be. Naturally, the most straightforward solution—having the supplier come in for servicing—would not be available for months. With the launch only weeks away, the construction management team got resourceful.
Trusted references recommended that if there was anyone could show up on site on short notice and resolve this, it would be EA. Enterprise Automation may have built a reputation on the successful execution of big multiyear contracts, but the team is comprised of problem-solvers eager to tackle projects of any size. Despite having never interacted with this specific automation system, EA’s experience in large-scale advanced process controls equipped them with the knowledge to wrangle this unique control system with a quick turnaround. EA had 2 days to investigate, diagnose, and execute to make the sauna system fully functional.
The EA engineers arrived ready for the challenge. They investigated the system and coordinated with electricians to land panel wiring and fix mistakes. They troubleshot and tracked down several issues, including an unlanded power phase, incorrectly wired field instrumentation, and mislabeled wiring.
Without access to the manufacturers’ guide for the PLC or HMI (human machine interface) program, EA reverse engineered the configuration by testing based on an operator manual and expected behavior. They analyzed the existing setup and logic that controlled the automation system, focusing on I/O (input/output) points related to steam production and temperature. Finally, they conducted rigorous testing and commissioning to verify the sauna system’s performance and guarantee maximum relaxation.
The Regent Santa Monica Beach Hotel’s emergency call paid off. EA’s five-star service resulted in a sauna system that was ready for guests, operators, and future maintenance engineers.