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COMMENT
Configuring HMIs and hiring SIs
T
Jack Smith Editor
he cover story in this issue of AppliedAutomation offers basic tips and best practices for planning and implementing an effective factory automation human-machine interface (HMI). The author writes: “For factory equipment and systems, specialized industrial HMIs have been around for many years. The hardware and software have improved to offer extensive options, but sometimes there are so many choices configurations can become more complex than necessary. The best choice for addressing this issue is often simplicity and clarity, a proven approach for delivering the best situational awareness and usability for HMIs.” According to the author, there are five ways to define an HMI’s style. “The style for an HMI encompasses many looks, feel and functionality aspects. While current ‘high-performance’ HMI concepts call for minimized colors and very simple objects, users must adopt what is suitable
for their specific application. Considerations for creating an HMI style guide include navigation and availability, color choices, data text definitions, simple graphics and usability.” The other story in this issue, which originally appeared in the 2019 Global System Integrator Report, offers suggestions on how to hire engineering talent. The challenge moving forward is finding qualified staff to design, deploy and maintain complex automation technologies; and that organizations need to focus on the value of their total workforce and develop strategies to train, retain and engage them with the next generation of employees. The author writes: “A strong talent pipeline is vital to hire the right people with the right skills to grow a business. In today’s market, hiring technical talent is a well-known challenge, which means it’s vital to take a multi-pronged approach to recruiting. Strategic staffing using a variety of approaches can make the difference.”
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Contents A6 Configure intuitive HMI screens to simplify automation Design standards and best practices for humanmachine interfaces (HMIs) continue evolving, but simplicity and clarity never go out of style
A10 Attract and retain top engineering talent System integrator offers a successful approach to attracting, recruiting, training and retaining excellent engineering talent
A6 ON THE COVER Storyboards allow HMI designers to preplan interface requirements and get approval before expending significant configuration effort. Courtesy: AutomationDirect.
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Applied Automation February 2020
•
A5
C O V E R S T O RY
Configure intuitive HMI screens to simplify automation Design standards and best practices for human-machine interfaces (HMIs) continue evolving, but simplicity and clarity never go out of style By Bill Dehner,
AutomationDirect
W
hether we think about it or not, most of us, as everyday consumers, have developed opinions about how humanmachine interfaces (HMIs) should look and feel. This is because we constantly use smartphones, websites and even controls on our cars, which have digital HMI interfaces. As we interact with them, we intuitively understand what is clear to comprehend and actions that are easy to perform, as well as those that are awkward or difficult. For factory equipment and systems, specialized industrial HMIs have been around for many years. The hardware and software have improved to offer extensive options, but sometimes there are so many choices configurations can become more complex than necessary. Comprehensive standards, on the other hand, are a more recent development. However, standards are not always a clean fit for every industry, system type or preference, and they may not be specific enough for all the unique items HMIs must represent. Industrial system and
original equipment manufacturer (OEM) developers need HMIs and want them to be useful, but they may not have time or dedicated staff for creating their own extensive HMI standards and styles. The best choice for addressing this issue is often simplicity and clarity, a proven approach for delivering the best situational awareness and usability for HMIs. This article offers basic tips and best practices for planning and implementing an effective factory automation HMI.
Investigate resources It is important to check out available resources before creating any designs from scratch. Industry documents and standards, such as ISA101 and those produced by other organizations, provide HMI design guidance. However, many of these are focused on process, petrochemical and nuclear industries. Many HMI developers find “The High-Performance HMI Handbook� by Bill Hollifield, Dana Oliver, Ian Nimmo and Eddie Habibi to be a helpful resource. Not only does it present many best practice concepts, but it also depicts poor designs, which are all too common. But again, this book is somewhat process oriented. Depending on the HMI platform being used, the development environment may offer standard or optional object libraries, along with other aids, for creating new projects, and these are always worth a look. Keep in mind it is very common for these library objects to
Figure 1: HMI development environments typically provide many design elements representing physical devices, such as valves and pumps, and logical devices, like analog meters. Some samples of the AutomationDirect C-more development software are shown here. All images courtesy: AutomationDirect
A6 • February 2020
Applied Automation
require some modifications before deployment as a company standard. Creating an effective factory HMI for a new application is often an iterative process and simplified if one starts with applicable standards or samples. A good starting point is defining building block objects.
Break it down into building blocks Each end user is likely to have a mix of typical industry elements, such as valves and pumps, along with specialty components — all of which must be represented on the HMI. An early step should be identifying the elements that will be used repeatedly and create a standard design for each (see Figure 1). Not all HMI design elements relate to physical devices. HMI objects like start/stop buttons, on/off indicators, recipe values and data entry tags are logical constructs necessary for the HMI to interact with the controller, but are not necessarily depicted on any mechanical or electrical design document. Speaking of the controller, often a programmable logic controller (PLC), the HMI must be developed in close coordination with the PLC code. If the PLC has special device alarms, or other derived values such as motor runtimes, these must be accommodated in the HMI.
Figure 2: Storyboards allow HMI designers to preplan interface requirements and get approval before expending significant configuration effort.
Build it up with storyboards Storyboards are a way of mapping out a creative process. They most often are associated with movies, but also can play a role in creating novels, architecture and software. In the context of developing a factory HMI, storyboards allow the designer to preplan how many screens are needed and their hierarchy so the team can review the flow before significant HMI configuration effort. Designers may create storyboards using a text-based outline, spreadsheets, sketches or a combination of techniques (see Figure 2). Whatever method is employed, it should be flexible and allow the review team to understand and help produce a good arrangement. The storyboards should indicate how the systems, subsystems and other detailed information are related to each other, typically in the sense of what will be shown on each screen. This arrangement depends a lot on the complexity of what is being automated, and on what building block objects must be displayed. A very basic machine may have one or two screens to depict all operating conditions and provide a few objects for operator interaction. More complicated equipment will have more screens, including some that provide detailed operator-entry values, historized data trending, alarm/event logs and derived performance and diagnostic information. Once factory automation reaches a certain level of complexity, it may be useful to introduce an HMI organization concept of levels such as:
• Level 1 dashboards: Provide summary “at a glance” operating information • Level 2 typical control: Streamlined operating screens, provide the essential monitoring and control options • Level 3 detailed control: Detailed operating screens, with more options than Level 2 • Level 4 specific control: Very detailed popup, configuration, or diagnostics screens, not regularly used. During the storyboarding process, remember team members include not just programmers, but also those from other engineering disciplines, along with operators, maintenance members and management. Each member should contribute corresponding to their role.
Five ways to define an HMI’s style The style for an HMI encompasses many looks, feel and functionality aspects. While current “high-performance” HMI concepts call for minimized colors and very simple objects, users must adopt what is suitable for their specific application (see Figure 3). Considerations for creating an HMI style guide include navigation and availability, color choices, data text definitions, simple graphics and usability.
Applied Automation February 2020
•
A7
COVER STORY
1. Navigation and availability. Common sense indicates the most important controls, typically start and stop commands, as well as navigation buttons, should always be easily available. A common way to do this is by reserving a portion of every screen for these controls. Popups are smaller windowed screens appearing in front of a full display screen, usually used briefly for viewing and/or entering very specific information and then dismissed. Sometimes it is helpful to allow a popup to persist, such as for a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) tuning faceplate. However, while popups may be useful for infrequent detailed tasks, they can be a distraction for normal operation, consume space on the display and should often be avoided. Password protection security should be applied as needed, but judiciously to avoid locking down a system and impeding operators. It is often useful to consolidate machine tuning parameters on a single password-protected screen. 2. Be careful with color. Colors are used for backgrounds, fonts, static elements and animated objects, but they can be a debated HMI topic. Most standards recommend light grey backgrounds and greyscale objects, with colors reserved for abnormalities. This provides easy visibility and guides users to what is important. However, an industry or equipment may dictate the use of color. Power industries often use red for energized (danger) and green for de-energized (safe). If an equipment item has three color-coded subsystems, perhaps it makes sense to include those colors on the title bar for easy recognition. Also, avoid relying only on animated color coding of objects. Where possible, it is better to provide a secondary supplementary symbol indication of a state or condition. 3. Defining text data. Style also extends into what fonts are used and how text is capitalized. Plan on defining just a few fonts to cover the necessary scenarios. Reserve larger/bolder versions for titles and important things, and smaller types for details. Make it clear which values are display-only, and what can be operator-entered. Include engineering units and allowable ranges. 4. Streamline graphics for simplicity. A key benefit of digital HMIs is the ability to present graphical images and icons that can be recognized by users without requiring reading or possible misunderstanding due to language barriers. However, that doesn’t mean the graphics should be detailed engineering drawings, complex photographs or anything animated. A8 • February 2020
Applied Automation
Instead, the contemporary best practice is provide simplified iconic graphics where possible. Constant animation may be useful in limited cases, but it consumes processing resources and is usually considered a distraction. While bitmap-type images are discouraged, there are many good reasons to include them in factory automation. Designers can include images of equipment and parts with arrows, for instance, to clearly indicate to users where trouble is occurring. Developing and following an HMI style guide allows designers to configure intuitive HMI screens that operators can easily navigate to monitor and control factory automation systems.
5. Usability first. Investigate other advanced features that help operators do their job. Don’t just show the current level of a vessel, but instead make the level available as a trend so the operator can understand how the system has recently operated. Even better, embed critical indicated values as mini trends right on a screen. A similar concept applies to alarms. For most systems, it is important to indicate currently active alarms. A detailed historical alarm/event logs with date/time stamps can assist troubleshooting efforts by letting users review how an issue developed. Situational awareness is the goal The concept of situational awareness developed out of military theory and more recently, the aviation industry, but it is applicable for industrial factory automation designs. The end goal for the HMI portion of an automated system is providing all relevant information so users can understand what is happening and know what action is required. Large engineering firms or process facilities may have significant resources available to develop their HMIs. However, smaller organizations, system integrators and OEMs can take advantage of the latest design concepts. A design process considering all the preceding topics, and involving the key personnel as development begins, will ensure creation of a clean and useful HMI experience. Bill Dehner has spent the majority of his 14-year engineering career designing and installing industrial control systems for the oil and gas, power and package handling industries. He has a BSEE with an associate degree in avionics from the USAF and is currently working for AutomationDirect as a technical marketing engineer.
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WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Attract and retain top engineering talent System integrator offers a successful approach to attracting, recruiting, training and retaining excellent engineering talent Mary Bergjans,
E
Malisko Engineering Inc.
• Networking opportunities with other organizations.
Identify high potential college students. One element to success is identifying key talent early on, build very successful system integrator knows its a relationship with the student, follow their progress strength comes from its team members. It starts and consider an internship opportunity when it makes with a company’s skilled talent to deliver quality sense. It is possible to identify a sophomore student work in a timely manner while maintaining superior with a strong GPA, solid communication skills, demonclient relations. Internally, creating an environment strated leadership by involvement in school or community that fosters coaching, mentoring and collaboration activities to consider for future employment. Many times, supports learning and growth for a company’s talent. Hiring employers focus on the here and for technical and strong business now and miss those opportunities competencies brings talent that Be unconventional — to build a relationship for future communicates well, routinely colhiring potential. This also is recomlaborates and brings a true desire reach out and get to know mended to build diversity in your to see successful projects through pipeline. to achieve client satisfaction and the engineering instructors at repeat business. Relationship building with A strong talent pipeline is vital to universities and two-year engineering professors. Be hire the right people with the right unconventional — reach out skills to grow a business. In today’s technical colleges. and get to know the engineermarket, hiring technical talent is a ing instructors at universities and well-known challenge, which means two-year technical colleges. Universities are beginning to it’s vital to take a multi-pronged approach to recruiting. offer robust programmable logic controller (PLC), humanStrategic staffing using a variety of approaches can make machine interface (HMI), advanced proportional-integralthe difference. derivative (PID) control, network security and Industrial Traditional advertising Internet of Things (IIoT) courses. Let the instructors know when you will be at their career fair or when you have The traditional approach to advertising and posting new intern or job opportunities. They are well-networked positions with industry organizations still gets the word with their students and will get the word out for you. out that a company is hiring and growing. However, Likewise, build a relationship with the university and coltimes have changed, and effective hiring practices require getting creative. Routine networking and building lege career placement centers. and nurturing relationships can bring greater success to Support an internship program. Many employers a hiring strategy. take advantage of supporting internship programs and it’s a great hiring strategy. Employers recognize a solidStrategic hiring: Universities and technical colleges. performing intern is a good investment because once While there are many contributing factors to attracting they are hired for a full-time position, they already know and hiring good talent, college career fairs can bring forthe office environment and are already part of the team. ward a wealth of talent eager to jump-start their careers. Internships also differentiate students in the job market Benefits of participating in college career fairs include: and increase interview opportunities for them. Look for candidates that may already have an intern• Access to many candidates in a one-stop environment ship under their belt in a related industry. A strong GPA, • Increase your company brand awareness
A10 • Februray 2020
Applied Automation
Bringing teams together for fun outings and teambuilding activities also have a significant impact on culture. Dining out as a team, good laughs, good relationships, recognition and awards are always appreciated. A few examples of activities include:
completed related coursework, demonstrated problem solving and team skills are other important factors to consider as well. Hiring interns is a great way to assess technical ability that fit with your team aligned with your hiring strategy. Be present on campus. Larger to mid-size employers can provide sponsorship, donations and have their name posted in college campus conference rooms. Look for opportunities, no matter what your company size, to donate time/presence on campus or in support of senior project teams. Employer branding and recognition on campus can be a “feeder” program for your hiring strategy.
Networking Networking is imperative in our fast-moving society. Strengthening business connections, sharing fresh ideas and best practices, seeking career advice and support can open one’s mind to a valuable and different perspective. There are many social media options for networking, but in-person introductions can be most memorable. Attending industry conferences and training sessions create great networking opportunities and can diversify a professional network. According to the Harvard Business Review, “A mountain of research shows that professional networks lead to more job and business opportunities, broader and deeper knowledge, improved capacity to innovate, faster advancement and greater status and authority. Building and nurturing professional relationships also improves the quality of work and increases job satisfaction.”
Company culture matters Company culture is the number one question candidates want to know about. Culture isn’t developed overnight. Ignite and support a culture of learning, collaboration, empowerment, communication, hard work, recognition, growth and giving back to communities all have an impact on a positive culture. Bringing your team together for stand-up meetings, engaging your team to solve problems, promoting and celebrating accomplishments often can lead to greater retention and engagement of a team. Having an annual employee engagement survey in place can help you measure your success with employee satisfaction.
• Annual golf outings • Attending sporting events, shows or concerts • A team-brewing creation • A hike through a park • A scavenger hunt at a local park, zoo or museum • A city food and architecture tour • A Segway tour.
Appealing to the Millennial workforce Millennials can bring youthful perspectives and be a good fit into a well-established culture. To system integrator veterans, it is no secret what makes a valuable partner to clients. Effective communication, job knowledge, pride in quality and workmanship and a commitment to seeing a project through are just a few key things from a lengthy list learned in the SI profession. A successful business model is driven behind the scenes by a company culture built not only on providing career and life stability, but also by valuing employee satisfaction. Adding millennials can bring excitement about the future with the right skillset and fit with an already established team. Many college grads are hitting the ground, showing determination, grasping new technical concepts and bringing energy and optimism to an ever-changing technology landscape.
Competency-based talent management Good hiring practices do not end with onboarding and supporting a great culture. It is also recognizing that people are our greatest asset. Actively working to develop a team member for a long-term career with a company is paramount. This can be done effectively through the following six approaches: 1. Onboarding training program for new hires 2. Annual employee performance review process
Applied Automation Februray 2020
•
A11
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
3. Competency-based talent management and career planning model
A successful approach to
Looking ahead
The SI industry is ever-changing. To stay ahead of the curve in keeping up with technological change, training and retaining excel4. Outlining a path of industry we need to be developing our talcertifications, career ent now. A successful approach to lent engineering talent has pathing and specialization attracting, recruiting, training and retaining excellent engineering talmany moving parts. 5. Encouraging attendance at ent has many moving parts. It can industry technical start with a story about a well-estabconferences lished integrator with a rich history of providing exciting opportunities and a supportive culture to catch the atten6. Supporting leadership development. tion of the many great engineering candidates out there.
attracting, recruiting,
A good competency based/talent management process that is well understood can further enhance company culture. It can be viewed as re-recruiting your talent, providing continuous challenge and learning that impacts each employee’s growth. Competency-based/talent management is an approach for managing talent that defines the competencies required for organizational success, and provides a framework for ensuring employees are hired, developed, promoted and managed according to these competencies.
Mary Bergjans is the director of human resources and administration at Malisko Engineering Inc. Malisko Engineering Inc. is a certified member of the Control System Integrators Association (CSIA). The company received the 2015 System Integrator of the Year Award and the 2020 System Integrator of the Year Award. This article originally appeared in the 2019 Global System Integrator Report.
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Innovation In addition to engineering excellence, SEW-EURODRIVE is also known for innovative new products. MOVIGEAR® is an all-in-one mechatronic drive solution for horizontal material handling. It combines the gear unit, motor, and electronics in one highly Ɯǂ˛žǠƜȚʀ őȚƉ ǗˁDžǠƜȚǠžőȂȂˁ ƉƜɱǠDžȚƜƉ unit. In fact, it recently reduced energy consumption by 40% at a major expansion of the LAX airport. MOVIGEAR also eliminates excess inventory since it allows the use of a single ratio to replace several different ratios.
Õð Õǟȁȩɼ ɭǟȓɓȁǟ˝ƛɭ ɼǖƛ žǖȩǟžƛɭ őșƈ ǟƈƛșɼǟ˝ƛɭ ő žʓɭɼȩȓ ɭȩȁʓɼǟȩș ǁȩɝ ƛőžǖ őɓɓȁǟžőɼǟȩș
Online Quotation Our PT Pilot® online drive selection tool quickly selects the perfect drive for your ɱɖƜžǠ˛ž ȚƜƜƉɱࡑ Üù ÜǠȂȫʀ ɱǠȔɖȂǠ˛Ɯɱ ʀǗƜ žǗȫǠžƜɱ őȚƉ ǠƉƜȚʀǠ˛Ɯɱ ő žʗɱʀȫȔ ɱȫȂʗʀǠȫȚ ǂȫɡ ƜőžǗ application within minutes. This powerful and intuitive program includes őȂȂ ʀƜžǗȚǠžőȂ ƉȫžʗȔƜȚʀőʀǠȫȚ őȚƉ - 6 ˛ȂƜɱࡑ 6ȫȚࢊʀ ǼȚȫʸ ˁȫʗɡ oÜࡒ ¡ȫ ɖɡȫŵȂƜȔࡍ ²ʗɡ őɖɖȂǠžőʀǠȫȚ žőȂžʗȂőʀȫɡ ʸǠȂȂ ˛DžʗɡƜ Ǡʀ ǂȫɡ ˁȫʗࡑ Plus, you will get an immediate net price that we guarantee. Visit ptpilot.com
Flexibility Our products are based on a unique system of modular components that can be assembled ǠȚ ȂǠʀƜɡőȂȂˁ ȔǠȂȂǠȫȚɱ ȫǂ ƉǠǂǂƜɡƜȚʀ žȫȚ˛DžʗɡőʀǠȫȚɱࡑ So, every drive solution is custom built to ȫʗɡ žʗɱʀȫȔƜɡࢊɱ Ɯˀőžʀ ɱɖƜžǠ˛žőʀǠȫȚɱࡑ ²ʗɡ ˛ʴƜ regional assembly centers in the U.S. stock millions of dollars of our modular inventory for quick delivery of drive solutions and spare parts. SEW-EURODRIVE…Driving the World
864-439-7537 www.seweurodrive.com
POWER HAS COME FULL CIRCLE Introducing the GA800 AC Drive Your time is valuable. The new, easy-to-use GA800 AC Drive from Yaskawa gives you the power to make all of your operations better. • Rest easy with legendary Yaskawa quality and embedded functional safety. • Experience ultimate ease-of-use with DriveWizard ® Mobile and optional Bluetooth ® connectivity. • Enjoy incredible torque production and network connectivity. Your days are complicated enough. Let us help simplify them. To learn more, visit or call Yaskawa today at 800-YASKAWA.
Yaskawa America, Inc. Drives & Motion Division 1-800-YASKAWA yaskawa.com
For more info: http://go.yaskawa-america.com/yai1372
Less means more!
Focused on the essentials: the new i500 Slim design, scalable functionality, and extremely user-friendly. The groundbreaking i500 is size-optimized and allows for zeroclearance mounting, saving valuable cabinet space. And thanks to the innovative interface options, it’s easy to commission in minimal time. The best thing of all is that the modular structure adapts to different production configurations in no time at all. Less does mean more! Learn more at www.lenze.com. Visit us at MODEX 2020 – Booth #4419 | March 9-12 | Atlanta, GA
As easy as that.