How to improve business efficiency and effectiveness:
In today's automation marketplace there is increased pressure on management and engineers alike to constantly improve business efficiency and effectiveness. The quest for greater control, increased data acquisition, reduced costs, and enhanced competitive advantage is never-ending. HMI manufacturer Beijer Electronics believes that the use of Internet-enabled HMIs will be a major ally in helping achieve these objectives, and that they will also open a window of opportunity on a new era in service and support.
Supplying customer needs today, preparing for tomorrow:
As companies in the manufacturing industries become more aware of the importance of increased control and improved efficiency, pressure increases on HMI machine suppliers not only to produce equipment that fulfills customer needs today, but also to supply products that satisfy future control and information requirements.
As this race for efficiency in manufacturing accelerates, machinery suppliers are under increasing pressure to supply equipment that provides users real-time information for a plant or process. Traditional methods of data gathering are usually slow, expensive to implement, complicated to realize, non-real time, and can lead to inaccuracies in the material gathered, so the utilization of intelligent automation is expected to deliver a solution to the problem.
More flexibility and increased customer service:
The need to offer more flexible solutions in areas such as maintenance and service, reduce the ancillary costs of these services, like travel expenses, while providing improved customer support, is another pressure put onto equipment suppliers.
Another problem, as automated plants and machinery become more complicated, is the growing possibility of mistakes in programming or operating systems. How do companies send out system software upgrades as an automatic process? Also, when customers require minor system modifications or alterations, how can machine manufacturers update equipment without physically going to the site?
How do machinery suppliers address new business opportunities such as asset management, and what is required to implement new ways of charging for products and services? All these issues need to be addressed if HMI companies expect to stay on the cutting edge of technology.
The last and most important question that all machine manufacturers face is how to meet all these new demands without making the machinery uncompetitive on price, and without dramatically redesigning the system. The answers to these questions may be simpler, lower cost, and easier to implement than you think.
HMIs combined with E-technology answer many automation problems.
Advances in Internet technology now offer users of automation the ability to take full advantage of increased remote control, data gathering, and monitoring possibilities. The combination of global accessibility via Internet technologies and HMIs now allows machine builders (in fact any HMI user) to take full advantage of these advances to help improve control and management techniques, without huge additional costs.
Utilizing these new remote technologies, an HMI is no longer confined to standalone connectivity or the limitations of a local or dedicated network. This E-technology approach to HMI usage allows users new flexibility in remote operation and monitoring techniques. For example, using simple web browser software, such as Microsoft's Internet Explorer, a user can connect to his or her HMI and perform these new control functions anywhere in the world.
New dimensions in service and support:
Utilization of Internet-enabled HMIs allows companies to offer a host of new service and support packages, such as automatic software upgrades, remote maintenance, and asset management. A manufacturer whose equipment is using Internet-enabled HMIs can log on to monitor usage, check software versions, and make programming adjustments, all remote from the actual application. These new dimensions in service and support offer customers more peace of mind when buying automated HMI equipment, as well as peace of mind for companies who sell the equipment, as they know service and support are manageable costs.
New enterprises such as asset management utilizing Internet technology can even take automated equipment sales in a new direction.
For example, a manufacturer can now rent or lease machines on real-time usage rather than sell them as an actual product. The manufacturer can charge based on machine activity, automatically sending HMI usage data through the Internet to a central management system. This remote management-type activity helps differentiate machine manufacturers and gives them a competitive advantage. Remote control also allows manufacturers real-time access to a machine's performance in its working environment, giving them vital information on how to improve future versions, and aiding in quality assurance.
Terminal reflection makes using Internet-enabled HMIs so easy:
With an Internet-enabled HMI, a user can connect over the Internet and see the same graphs (using embedded Java byte-coded objects sent to the user) that the operator sees. The graphical copy of the HMI, or real-time terminal reflection as it is commonly called, not only shows a picture of the HMI, but also shows the real-time maneuverable objects on the HMI's display. If the local operator changes anything on the local HMI (such as a value, or changes screens), the remote reflection automatically updates and shows the remote user the new data.
From the PC showing the reflection, the remote operator can maneuver HMI objects. This is done by clicking the mouse over active objects such as function keys shown on the HMI graphics. The remote HMI will then change accordingly, just as if the local operator had pressed the function key. Likewise, if the remote user wants to change a value on the HMI, he or she can slide switches, or type in data on the graphical HMI screen, and the data values will also change.
Pioneering in Internet-enabled HMI implementation:
As a leading HMI manufacturer, Beijers Electronics is always innovating and introducing new technologies. In the field of remote control and especially Internet-enabled HMIs, Beijer offers customers cutting-edge technology at affordable prices.
Beijer's HMI products are private-labeled by three large automation equipment suppliers; Beijer also sells terminals under its own CIMREX brand (pictured above), and offers a comprehensive range of HMI products.
Central to Beijer's philosophy about remote control is that the design strategy for HMIs is based on the Internet as an intrinsic function rather than an afterthought, with the goal of building HMIs that meet customers' requirements now and in the future. Beijer uses the functionality and flexibility of the Internet by integrating existing TCP/IP capabilities of the HMIs with web technology to provide comprehensive connectivity. Most of the HMI product range is capable of connecting onto an intranet/extranet or the World Wide Web without additional hardware, software, or programming, as the enablement is embedded.
Each HMI is a web server.
Each Beijer Internet-enabled HMI has the ability to be a web server and can have its own web address. These machines have the capability to store HTML pages that contain real-time data from the terminals and their associated control system. The SMTP (Simultaneous Message Transfer Protocol) function allows the HMIs to send emails, alarms, and attached text reports. Data such as trend information and recipes can also be sent from the terminals using the FTP functionality of the HMI. Production reports can be sent as attached email files that can be read in most commercially available spreadsheet software, such as Microsoft Excel or Lotus 123. The alarm handler can send different emails, using either dedicated alarm messages or variable text strings, depending on which alarm was triggered. Emails can be forwarded to cell phones in the form of an SMS message to maintenance engineers, informing them of machine faults immediately, which cuts machine downtime. All of these functions are available without the need for expensive telemetry products.
HMI programmers can take remote maintenance and diagnostics to another level by writing their own HTML script. This can be downloaded into the HMI to be utilized as private maintenance and diagnostic screens, which can be accessed without affecting the operation of the actual HMI -- an extremely useful value-added feature for a machine builder who wants to offer remote maintenance and service contracts to customers. Now the status of the machine or process can be checked remotely without causing disruption to production, and this can be done anytime, anyplace, anywhere.
Beijer HMIs can be connected onto local Ethernet networks, or can be connected via conventional telemetry to remote clients (such as PCs or mobile phones) using either direct connectivity or via the World Wide Web. Beijer's line of CIMREX terminals can be connected to all leading makes of intelligent automation equipment such as PLCs, motion control systems, vision systems, servos, and variable speed drives. With the HMI's comprehensive networking ability, a user can distribute multiple HMIs onto a single intelligent device. The terminals can also be used either as a client or server on the network, allowing one terminal to show whole system information to an operator from a single point, saving the user hardware and installation costs.
Up to 50% of HMI users will be Internet connected.
"Our company vision is to make automation simple," says Bengt Salomonsson, Beijer vp. "Our whole HMI portfolio philosophy is based around this vision, especially our Internet strategy. HMIs such as our CIMREX product offering are specifically designed around E-technology, and have been created to maximize customer benefits now and in the future. At present only a small percentage of our HMIs are connected onto new wireless technologies, but we believe within 3 years 50% of our customers will be using our value-added Internet features. We have consulted extensively with customers on their future control system needs, and are confident that Internet-enabled HMIs are a major requirement. We will therefore continue to enhance our products in this direction in the future."
User friendliness is a key goal: screen construction and interactive functions are built into the HMI programming software, making it a quick starting, cost-effective engineering solution. Beijer's software suite for their HMIs includes the windows-based CIMREX PROG and CIMREX TOOLS that enable users to program and monitor their HMIs and connected systems status and activities remotely.
Tips and tricks:
Speed of data transfer in the new technologies should be considered, depending on each individual application's needs. When connecting to devices over the World Wide Web, speed is dependent on the connection routing, and just as when using a home computer connected to the web, speed of data transfer is variable. Connection via intranets/extranets, private phone lines, or just password-protected modems over the public telephone system, guarantees a deterministic response, and gives the added benefit of increased data security.
