Coates Brothers embarked on a major upgrade of the Auburn manufacturing plant in 1998. CNF were retained to design and install all required power, machinery control and instrumentation upgrade work for both the paste ink (vegetable oil based) and liquid ink (hydrocarbon based) facilities. In addition, warehouse, material storage, laboratory, infrastructure and office facilities were upgraded. Since 1998, the production of paste ink, mainly for newsprint, has increased from approximately 50 tonnes per week to over 260 tonnes per week with export to New Zealand and South East Asia taking a significant portion of the production.

CNF work included:

• Design, supply and installation of machine guarding monitoring systems in accordance with AS 4024.
• Design, supply and installation of cabling and switchger associated with the main electrical power distribution system.
• Design, supply and installation of cabling and switchger for lighting and small power in factory, warehouse and office areas.
• Design, supply and installation of manual liquids batch disperser station. Design, supply and installation of blackshop semi-automatic filling lines.
• Design, supply and installation of power system for new specialty ink production facility. Design, supply and installation of liquid  storage tank level monitoring.
• Design, supply and installation of power and control systems for three new colourshops. Each colourshop comprises:
• Liquid and powder batching
  
• Mixing and storage
  
• Milling and storage
  
• Filling and potting - semi-automatic filling of 15kg buckets, 200kg drums and 1 tonne bulik dispensers

In 1995, CSR's management decided to proceed with a project to build a world-class ($300m) timber processing plant at Oberon NSW. The plant was to integrate a sawmill, MDF pressline, mouldings plant, doorskin plant, services, and effluent treatment plant into an integrated operating facility. Leighton Australia provided design, project management and construction management services to the project.

Leighton contracted CNF & Associates from the beginning of the project to provide input to scheduling, planning, estimating, preparation of standard specifications and project set-up activities.

During this period, CNF staff completed the following activities:

• Control network planning.       
• Production of programming standards for PLC and SCADA.
• Selection of PLC/SCADA software contractor.   
• Power Load Study.
• Design of HV/LV distribution including substation design (40MVA)   
• Production of specification for HV/LV switchboards and transformers.
• Production of Construction Specifications for HV/LV distribution.       
• Design of inter-plant and intra-plant underground reticulation systems.
• Design of electrical equipment rooms and controls rooms.       
• Design of plant and external lighting systems.
• Design of plant wide general purpose power systems.   
• Scheduling of design and construction activities.
• Production of design and specifications for:
• Equipment and signal tagging
• CAD drawing standards
• Weighbridges
• Earthing & Lightning protection
• Electrical Safety
• Testing and commissinging
• Network installation
• Electrical & controls installation for plants (6 off)

This project was given a "Highly Commended" award by IEAUST.

In 2004, John Holland Water (JHW) were awarded the contract for the augmentation of the West Byron STP. JHW in turn, sub-contracted CNF & Associates to design, suypply, install and commission the electrics, installation, controls and SCADA for the project.

The project involved the following:

• Expansion of the West Byron STP from a 7500 EP to a 35,000 EP Plant. (The exercise involved the building of a new plant on the existing site and re-using the existing reactor as an aerobic sludge digester.)           
• Construction of an 8km sewer pipeline from South Byron STP to West Byron STP.           
• Constructon of a pump station at South Byron.           
• Decommissioning of South Byron STP.           
• Construction of a re-use water line from West Byron STP to South Byron STP.

CNF's role in the project included the following activities:

• Finalisation of the P & IDs.       
• Liaison with Country Energy for upgrading of power supplies at the STP and Pump Station.
• Completion of all E/I design.   
• Preparation of E/I installation scope of works and engagement of electrical installation subcontractor
• Design, Specification and Procurement of MCCs and electrical equipment.
• Supervision of the E/I installation for the plant and the pump station.
• Design, Specification and Procurement of field instrumentation and on-line analysers.   
• Precommissioning and Commissioning of the Works.
• Preparation of Functional Specification for PLC/SCADA system.       
• Training of plant operators and maintenance personnel.
• PLC coding and SCADA configuration and system FAT/SAT.   
• The project was completed on schedule with CNF's final contract price being 2% lower than the tendered price due to the acceptance by Byron Shire Council of a Value Incentive proposal with repard to the PLC/SCADA system.

The Coffs Infrastructure Alliance is a program of works encompassing both a water recycle plant (WRP) and water treatment plant (WTP). Both projects in the program have run concurrently, elevating resource planning as a key issue.

CNF & Associates, as a Sub-Alliance partner delivered all electrical, instrumentation and controls aspects of the new WRP and WTP projects.

Both plants are highly automated, with advanced process control schemes employed to minimise operator actions.

CNF's role in the project included the following:

• Development of design and construction standards.       
• ProWRP and WTP concept design.
• Cost Estimating (TOC).   
• Detailed design of WRPs and WTPs.
• Construction, commissioning, operator training, and proving for greenfield and brownfield WRPs and WTPs.