New customers want good operation!
The HMI user interface is the face of the machine and crucial for its interaction with the operator. A well-designed operator interface increases process reliability and improves productivity. It is also a competitive factor in attracting new buyers.
When selecting HMI/SCADA software, it is important that complex machine applications can be implemented quickly with it, that it offers a wide range of functions with a high level of functional reliability, and that it is continuously developed further to ensure that it is future-proof. It should also be possible to implement custom functions and modern operating concepts with professional UX designs, ideally platform-independent. This makes it clear that the development of such software packages requires a great deal of experience and knowledge of the market on the part of the manufacturer.
The developers at INOSOFT have been gathering this since the early 1990s, supplying mechanical engineering companies with HMI and SCADA software. Lenze, KEBA and Krones rely on their VisiWin7 solution.
In the meantime, usability and user experience (UX) are becoming increasingly important. “Many machine builders want customized interfaces, improved operation and operator identification with the machine,” explains Stefan Niermann, head of sales at INOSOFT. In the past, there were many standard solutions, often supplied by PLC control vendors, but with the desire for customization of interfaces, many products reached their limits. “In particular, the desire for free selection of device classes and architectures for the HMI has been expressed more and more frequently recently. Embedded systems with Linux as the operating system play a role here in particular,” adds Niermann.
The new VisiWin runtime allows operation under Linux and is provided as a container. With FLECS, this market opens up much more easily for INOSOFT and their VisiWin7 software, as the selection and transfer of the necessary software components is very simple. The machine builder benefits from more freedom and the application can be used on different target systems. INOSOFT is also responding to the demands and requirements from the consumer sector and sees a change in HMIs towards more cloud applications and many mobile applications. Smart Glasses are certainly part of this as well. Mechanical engineering is also challenged here, but can react quickly when using FLECS and VisiWin.
