HMIs: Graphical touch screen interface delivers intuitive packaging machine control
Standard-Knapp has designed a graphically-driven color touch-screen interface with the look and feel of a car dashboard that can be customized to each packaging machine it builds and sells.
By Control Engineering Staff -- Control Engineering, 5/28/2009
Portland, CT—Standard-Knapp, a maker of packaging machinery, has designed a graphically-driven color touch-screen interface that can be customized to each Standard-Knapp machine to provide optimum machine control and intuitive interaction. With the look and feel of a car dashboard, interface features simple color-coded alerts, a machine history display, and detailed help screens. Through computer-aided fault recovery, it reduces Mean Time to Recover (MTR) and increases efficiency for challenging 24/7 applications in the food and beverage industries.
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| Standard-Knapp has designed a graphically-driven color touch-screen interface with the look and feel of a car dashboard. |
The main screen of this innovative solution contains a speedometer that tracks the speed of the machine in number of cases packed per minute. The center of the speedometer contains a color-changing button that switches from green to yellow to red to indicate the presence of machine faults and errors. The 50 screens of the new interface also include a guard door and e-stop map, a live scheduled lubrication table, and complete sensor cycle check.
A product selection screen displays a photograph of each product and allows the operator to easily choose the specific product to be packaged, eliminating costly errors and jamming. With a push of the touch-screen image, the machine electronically aligns itself to the size and requirements of the specified product. Further simplifying the process, the corner of each product image contains a colored box that corresponds to the color-coded change parts needed to package each product.
Mario Mazzotta, customer relations and marketing manager at Standard-Knapp, said the operator interface “was developed through a comprehensive 'voice of customer' process. Standard-Knapp spoke with end-users to find out exactly what they were looking for, listened to their needs and began to develop a user-friendly, graphics-driven solution. This approach enabled the operator interface to progress from the drawing board stage to a customer-ready product in a couple of months.” The brand of hardware used is the Rockwell Automation Allen-Bradley PanelView Plus Color. The software tool used was Allen-Bradley RSView Studio.
"With an ease and simplicity comparable to using an ATM machine, a detailed maintenance screen can provide a color-coded representation of the machine’s maintenance schedule," says Mazzotta. If maintenance is needed, an oil can icon appears on the main screen that links to a maintenance table indicating whether the machine is on schedule, approaching specific maintenance due dates or past due. To simplify the operator’s job, each fault alert is a touch-screen button; when a specific problem arises, the operator can simply push the alert to be instantly directed to the exact maintenance screen needed to clear the fault and resume packing.
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| Standard-Knapp spoke with end-users to find out exactly what they were looking for, listened to their needs and began to develop a user-friendly, graphics-driven solution. |
A machine history display lists all prior faults and stoppages and allows the operator to pinpoint the cause of past delays to increase productivity and reduce costly downtime. Live PLC Input/Output Screens mirror the look and feel of the machine’s control components and eliminate the need to physically open the electrical panel to diagnose a problem, increasing both safety and efficiency.
The hardware of the panel is rugged and designed to withstand an industrial environment, adds Mazzotta. To increase durability, the most-used functions are positioned off the screen as hard buttons located below the touch display.
Standard-Knapp provides packaging equipment for industries including beverage, food, personal care, household chemicals and automotive. Systems include tray packers, tray loading machines, case packers, shrink wrappers, and bottle packers.
More on packaging machine applications and trends
HMI, Operator Interface, SCADA channel
– Edited by Renee Robbins, senior editor, Control Engineering News Desk
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