Niacet’s Digital Leap: Actemium Boosting Efficiency and Sustainability through Virtualisation
Niacet, a global supplier of organic salts for the food, pharmaceutical, feed, and technical industries, operates manufacturing facilities in the United States and the Netherlands.
Facing challenges such as outdated infrastructure, rising cybersecurity demands, and ambitious sustainability goals, the company launched a comprehensive modernisation of its operational technology (OT) environment. By virtualising its systems with Actemium’s help, Niacet proved that digital transformation can go hand in hand with corporate responsibility.
From Legacy Systems to Future-Ready Operations
The company first needed to replace an outdated SCADA server. “The server was more than ten years old and if it were to fail, we would immediately come to a standstill,” says Ed de Beer, Automation Engineer at Niacet. In addition, the outdated operator stations that ran on an old operating system represented a potential security risk. The new NIS2‑directive for cybersecurity accelerated the urgency to act. Besides these technical challenges, the aim was to contribute to a more sustainable operation. Reducing the physical infrastructure and switching to a virtual system aligns perfectly with Niacet’s environmental objectives.
With Actemium we have a partner who knows everything: from firewalls and switches to physical cabling and SCADA‑systems. That gives confidence.
Finding the Right Partner for a Tailored Virtualisation Strategy
It quickly became clear that virtualising both the server and the operator stations was the best solution. In doing so, Niacet could not only address the hardware obsolescence, but also improve cybersecurity.
Actemium Netherleands teams were selected as partner due to their broad industrial knowledge, their experience with SCADA‑systems in niche markets and their extensive service organisation.
In addition, Niacet’s team appreciated that Actemium had an eye for the bigger picture, including the impact of technology on sustainability and social value.
The old server was replaced by a virtual server, which was housed in Niacet’s existing IT‑environment. The integration was straightforward with Around twenty servers already running. The two outdated operator stations were also converted to virtual operator stations, which immediately delivered significant management and maintenance benefits.
With the virtualisation of both the SCADA server and the operator stations, the risks of hardware failure and inefficient energy use were greatly reduced. This not only aligns with Niacet’s continuity objectives, but also with the broader ambition to care for people, society and the planet.
Streamlined Operations and Stronger Cybersecurity
The advantages of the new approach are immediately noticeable within the organisation. Where previously physical devices were updated manually, now everything can be managed centrally:
Management is now much simpler. We can operate the equipment from any location. With snapshots we can reverse changes within seconds. That saves us hours of work.
Process continuity has also improved. By using snapshots, changes can be rolled back quickly if something goes wrong. The improved cybersecurity is another major gain. With multiple backups and extra security layers, the risk of data loss due to ransomware or other attacks is significantly minimised.
Another important benefit is the reduced dependency on qualified operators. By further automating processes and centralising management, operators can focus on process optimisation rather than on physical tasks. This not only increases operational efficiency, but also makes the company more attractive as an employer, especially in times of a tight labour market. Besides the technical and operational benefits, virtualisation also supports Niacet’s broader sustainability objectives. Energy consumption has decreased due to more efficient server capacity — and the reduction of physical hardware lowers the company’s ecological footprint.
Looking Ahead: Scaling Automation to Meet Future Challenges
The success of the project fueled the ambition for more. Niacet aims to automate more processes, partly because of the shortage of qualified operators.
We want an environment where operators focus on the process rather than physical actions
says Ed de Beer.
By further automating, they can work more efficiently and the company becomes more attractive as an employer.
In future projects, sustainability will remain a spearhead. By coupling technological innovations to social responsibility, Niacet intends to continue contributing to a sustainable world.
