involved in the decision making and has access to information across the enterprise. That means HMI now has a different role.”

A number of industries are adopting new HMI systems for various different reasons. “The automotive industry is a big user. They use HMI visualization in different processes to make an automobile, sub-assemblies and in the tracking that goes along with the manufacturing,” says Chuck Karwoski, president of CimQuest Ingear, from Phoenixville, Pa., that provides vendor-specific HMI systems on the Microsoft .Net platform. “A lot of the automotive companies are tied to Microsoft and the .Net framework.”

Some industries seek HMI tools to support regulatory and security demands. “Industries such as food and pharmaceuticals need to be compliant with regulatory and security needs,” says Phil Aponte, product manager for HMI/SCADA and embedded products at Siemens Energy and Automation Systems Inc., in Alpharetta, Ga.
“We provide visualization that allows the customer to use a fully distributed control system. That provides compliance for the Tread Act or the Bioterrorism Act and the ability to store electronic documentation.”

Microsoft as enabler

  One of the big enablers for new HMI tools is Microsoft .Net. The recently released Vista platform also offers strong support for HMI tools. “One of the key technologies that allows the evolution of HMI is .Net from Microsoft,” says Wonderware’s Couling. “The principal benefit there is it runs on managed code. It pulls data and gives you a window into the production world at a minimal cost. Plus, if .Net should fail, it has no impact on the data or operations.”

.Net also offers access to information easily. “.Net gives you the ability to display the information in a fashion that makes it easier for the user to comprehend,” says ARC’s Resnick. “It gives you interoperability, advancement of deployment and service-oriented architecture.”

While the .Net tools have been adopted widely at plants, the implementation of Microsoft’s Vista platform will come later as plants upgrade their Windows applications. The advantages of Vista are meaningful for new HMI tools because of enhanced graphics capabilities and improved security tools. “Windows Vista brings a whole new level of security to the plant floor,” says Iconics’ Donaldson. “Companies are looking for security solutions. Plant operators are in the wild, wild west, and now information technology (IT) departments are coming to them, saying, ‘Hey guys, we can’t provide that patch through the firewall any more. You need security best practices.’ ”

Plants are not usually the first adopters of new technology, so there is some lag time between the introduction of new HMI tools and their implementation. “Folks are building HMI tools to Microsoft Vista. They’re also developing under .Net because Microsoft has done a good job with its core components,” says Alison Smith, director of research for manufacturing operations at AMR Research Inc., in Boston. “But there’s not great adoption in the field yet. The market is not going to run out and get it, since most plants only upgrade every four years.”

Some HMI producers have not been in a hurry to provide HMI tools developed specifically for Vista, because it has not been highly deployed. “There are early adopters and those who don’t shift to a new Windows platform for five years,” says Rami Al-Ashqar, product manager for automation vendor Bosch Rexroth Corp., in Hoffman Estates, Ill. “As far as our products, we still sell it on Windows XP, and our Vista software will be compatible with that.”

Whether the plant is running on legacy control systems from the ’70s and ’80s or newer technology, HMI tools can take the plant’s data and make it available to plant operators on the move or to executives up in the office. The same data can be shared with multiple plants, as well as with suppliers and customers along the supply chain. “You see a lot of different disciplines using the data,” says Mark Pease, president of Convergence Industrial Interactive LLC, a Grand Haven, Mich., firm that builds HMI applications using CimQuest tools.

“Operators get to see how the plant’s working. Maintenance gets to see what’s down, why it’s down and how long it’s been down and usually how to fix it. And process engineers get to see the process and what affects it.”

For an informative Webcast on integrating real-time information, visit www.automationworld.com/view-3592.

To see the accompanying sidebar to this story - "Thin Client Approach to HMI" - please visit http://www.automationworld.com/view-3861.