IEN: What are the major challenges facing this sector in the next few years?

Salley: More functions are being added and more 'smart devices' are interfacing with machine controllers, so managing these devices in a single operator interface becomes more challenging. Machines are becoming more specialized so custom HMI development becomes more complex and time consuming, even though the tools are better.

IEN: What innovations are in store for users?

Salley: There are lots of different kinds of machines out there, and some excellent software packages that can do nearly anything. But we've discovered a growing need for application specific software, rather than general purpose. Specifically we come from the packaging business. We've been focusing on displaying information that's intuitive to a mechanical engineer, just for process machines that combine interdependent axes of motion control with logic. The innovation there is configuration instead of 'programming.'

IEN: How are software and equipment being integrated in today's HMI/MMI world?

Salley: The best equipment is always software driven, in my opinion. You can always do things the old fashioned way, with cams and gears and pulleys, but motion control has become so cost effective and dependable in the last five years that you can develop beautiful applications pretty easily with coordinated motion. This also enables machines to better deal with emergency conditions and alarms.

Networks are the interface for everything these days -- for us, Industrial Ethernet for I/O and Sercos for motion.

IEN: What roles do HMI/MMI play in the new age of e-manufacturing? Will some plants be run remotely in the future? Why/Why not?

Salley: It doesn't matter how 'smart' your smart device is if it can't communicate with you. Of course the operator interface is central and grows more important with each technological advance.

As for remote operation -- only when it's specifically called for, like oil wells and pump stations. Personally I think the 'employee-less manufacturing plant' is a bit mythical, sort of like the 'paperless office.' Virtual control will become a greater part of the process but humans have incredible abilities compared to even the best machines. What I do think you'll see is machines doing things that require more judgment and dexterity.

IEN: How is the drive toward lean manufacturing impacting this sector?

Salley: If you talk to production managers, they're not into buzzwords, they're into bottom line results. So you can talk about 'lean manufacturing' but the fact is everything's 'lean' and the managers and shareholders are looking for more value. So decision makers are pressed from every side and if you can prove real productivity gains, they're going to listen to what you have to say.

IEN: How can companies merge the latest HMI/MMI technologies with legacy systems and components?

Salley: I think Industrial Ethernet is going to be the common thread that ties all these things together. The days of writing a driver for every !@#$% piece of hardware are gone, but gateways to legacy networks are appearing from a number of different companies, whether it's a serial port, fieldbus, or proprietary protocol.