City Electric Supply and MCG Partner Up for an Innovative Automation Project

Super Aggregates, a CES customer based in McHenry, Illinois, is experiencing significant growth and actively positioning itself as a market leader in the sand mining business. As operations continue to grow, the company recognized the need to upgrade its systems with an automated control cabinet, and they looked no further than their trusted supplier for support.

As a longtime customer of CES Woodstock, Super Aggregates reached out to Branch Manager James Gausling to purchase panels and components to build their own automated control cabinet. However, after Gausling explained to the customer that MCG Industrial builds custom control panels, Super Aggregates agreed to see what CES and MCG had to offer.

“While I was confident that they could build the cabinet themselves, I knew MCG would be able to give them an exceptional customized product,” said Gausling.

MCG turned around the layout, drawings, and bid in a day’s time, and Super Aggregates quickly accepted the bid, placing the order for a custom MCG automated control cabinet.

“This was the largest automation job that we’ve done – 13 motor starters are housed in this unit. I was so impressed at how seamless the process was working with MCG. They built a flawless plug-and-play system for them.”

Every decision was based on the needs of the client. The 13 MCG Motor Starters were necessary because Super Aggregates had a very specific need for both overload and short circuit protection. To achieve this, MCG used contactors with motor circuit protectors and direct adapters, allowing them to directly connect the motor circuit protector. This provided short circuit protection as well as adjustable thermal overload protection to the top of the contactor. Not only did this save space, but it also allowed for a point of disconnect for a quick shutdown.

“Some of the more custom features to this particular build included a warning horn that sounds before the motor starters turn on the equipment,” said Justin Sofield, Product Manager at MCG. “We also utilized a 5Kva transformer to power the controls, and we built easily accessible outlets on the outside of the box to provide power for small tools or lights.”

The finished unit shipped to Super Aggregates within a week of the order. With such a smooth process from layout to production, they said they’ll be using “MCG for control panels moving forward,” and that they were “very satisfied” with the end product.

Gausling credits the quality work of MCG and the automation project for securing 100% of the material order for Super Aggregates’ expansion of its new building.

“This goes to show how customer service and relationships drive our business. They trust us with their company, and that in turn helps us build success together.”