Five ways InTouch Unlimited isn’t your grandpa’s HMI

Written by Omer Qadri, AVEVA

Of course you want a modern, world-class HMI/SCADA for your plant. But, with a slew of new options on the market touting different features, it can be difficult to sort out which of these trending features are empty hype and which really boost the value of an HMI. You should look for innovations that actually enhance the form, fit and function of edge and plant HMI.

Any modern HMI needs to provide more than unlimited tags. Unlimited licensing by itself will not get you more value from an HMI. It’s easy to get too caught up in the hype around unlimited commercial models. But in the end, they often don’t give you a holistic view of operations management—which is the whole reason to have an HMI in the first place.

A low-cost HMI solution will likely have to make compromises and de-prioritize security. That’s a risky proposition for your operations. A key question to ask any HMI vendor: How much do they invest annually in maintenance patches and ongoing cybersecurity hardening?

When your plant or process requires optimal efficiency and safety, you need a proven partner. Today, under the AVEVA brand, AVEVA™ InTouch HMI (formerly Wonderware) and AVEVA™ System Platform continue to innovate and lead the market. They’re reliable and have support around the globe—but they’re not just your grandpa’s HMI either.

Here are five innovations in the latest versions of AVEVA InTouch HMI and AVEVA System Platform that industrial companies are using right now to digitally transform and grow their business.

1. Improved visibility and situational awareness

AVEVA has created a responsive web HMI visualization that meets the expectations of digital-native plant floor workers. InTouch HMI users can create and customize personal dashboards dynamically in real time, without any development tools. Real-time visual representations of key performance indicators let them monitor the status of operations at a glance. Robust visualization capacities like these reduce downtime and improve overall efficiency because they let operators quickly identify and respond to issues.

Woodlands Dairy chose AVEVA as the platform for a new monitoring and control system to achieve compliance with ISO22000 and reduce engineering costs while improving quality control.

2. Native data sharing and analysis

Any modern HMI/SCADA should extract the most value out of your data by capturing it in a high-fidelity process historian and information management platform. AVEVA HMI/SCADA systems natively integrate with AVEVA™ Historian, AVEVA™ PI System™ and AVEVA™ Insight—solutions that let your organization use advanced analytics to discover insights, trends and potential value leaks.

The seamless integration between the HMI and these data tools lets you share a single source of truth across both your teams and supply chain. An HMI that facilitates data sharing helps teams make better decisions and improves overall plant performance.

San Jose Water turned to AVEVA solutions to bring all its data in one place and improve operations control and data management. With better asset monitoring capabilities, San Jose Water can operate pumps when energy rates are lowest to save thousands in electric bills and meet sustainability goals. As a result, the utility reduced energy costs to save $143,000 annually, and it saw a return on investment less than one year after implementation.

3. Intelligent automation

A modern HMI/SCADA should automate routine or manual operator tasks that are labor intensive—and also provide a framework to standardize the process. Such standardization eliminates human error and increases productivity.

Tetra Pak is not only a market leader of food processing and packaging solutions but also serves as SI for project delivery execution with their PlantMaster SI Kit. Tetra Pak PlantMaster uses AVEVA HMI/SCADA software to build automation control templates and standards that enable engineering efficiency of SCADA or MES projects. Tetra Pak’s end customers produce more with fewer resources and ensure consistent product quality and food safety, which boosts their competitiveness.

4. Visual anomaly detection

Modern HMI/SCADA systems are now incorporating machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to predict and prevent issues before they occur. These technologies can lead to significant cost savings and improved product quality and operations safety.

For example, Vision AI Assistant monitors real-time image streams and gives operators alerts and notifications so they can take immediate action. Integrated with AVEVA System Platform and AVEVA Insight, the solution employs deep learning to train and deploy machine learning models from an easy-to-use, web-based interface without operators having to continuously monitor live camera feeds.

5. Augmented reality

Augmented reality lets users see digital information overlaid on the physical world. It’s already enhancing the HMI user experience—so any modern HMI should have the extensibility to incorporate this technology.

Italpresse Gauss tapped new revenue streams by creating a custom HMI and first-of-its-kind remote maintenance solution based on AVEVA’s monitor and control and augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) platforms. Not only is the company forging a smarter user experience for machine operators and engineers, it’s also realizing the potential of Industry 4.0 for OEMs everywhere—achieving greater results, creating new features and selling new services rooted in an open HMI platform.