News

The UK’s leading EMC exhibition returns to Newbury Racecourse

The UK’s leading exhibition on electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), EMC & Compliance International returned to Newbury Racecourse, Newbury, on May 16 and 17, 2023, bringing the EMC and Compliance communities together to share knowledge, network and do business face-to-face. The exhibition also featured free technical workshops and EMC consultations with world-leading experts and specialist EMC training sessions for paid guests, both led by world-renowned experts in EMC and compliance.

EMC and Compliance International 2023 featured exhibitors from across the world of EMC and compliance, including Telonic Instruments, HITEK, Castle Microwave, Lambda Photometrics, REO UK, Wurth Elektronik and Cherry Clough Consultants. Exhibitors took the chance to showcase their latest innovative products and solutions at the show, and many of them commented on the busy atmosphere and positive feeling over the two days.

Following the success of its 2022 event, EMC & Compliance International expanded the exhibition to all three floors of the main grandstand at Newbury Racecourse. The ground floor featured the main exhibition, while the first and second floors offered free technical workshops for visitors, free EMC consultations as part of the show’s ten minutes with an expert (TWEX) feature and EMC training workshops for paid delegates.

One of this year’s exhibitors, Amanda Dunn, franchise specialist at APC Technology Group, commented, “We have come to the show this year because some of our partners have been previously and had a really positive experience, and they recommended we come too. We have met up with some great people while we have been here.”

Another exhibitor at the show, Robert John Webber, European applications manager at Powell Electronics, added, “We have come here because we know that the audience is very specific in looking at EMC. There have been many different people from different companies, some have been consultants, both experienced ones and ones who are new to the industry.”

The exhibition also included a full programme of EMC free technical workshops and additional training workshops for paid delegates. The free workshops included sessions on EMC Test Challenges for Military/Electric Aircraft with Gavin Barber, EMC Design for the Power & Electronics Applications with Min Zhang, Practical compliance for Manufacturers with Paul Duxbury and EMC Risk Management with Oskari Leppäaho.

The training programme, led by Keith Armstrong and other associates of Cherry Clough, included sessions on navigating the path to EMC compliance, getting the most from a spectrum analyser, troubleshooting EMI, cost-effective EMC filtering, designing cost-effective EMC shielding, and more. Keith has decades of experience with EMC, having been a member of the IEEE EMC Society since 1997 and having been the UK representative on the IEC teams for IEC61000-1-2 (on EMC & Functional Safety) and IEC60601-1-2 (on EMC for Medical Devices) since 2000.

One of the show’s speakers, Martin Grant, senior engineer at Atkins, commented, “People should come along because it is a really good chance to network and get to know other professionals who do EMC in different sectors and industries, which I think is invaluable.”

Following the success of 2023’s event, EMC and Compliance International will return to Newbury Racecourse on May 22 and 23, 2024. Registration to exhibit at next year’s show is open on the website, so email jessica@stonejunction.co.uk to book your stand today.

TT Electronics to feature FlexSense and industry-leading optoelectronics portfolio at Sensors Converge 2023

TT Electronics will showcase its extensive portfolio of optoelectronic sensors at Sensors Converge 2023 in Santa Clara, California, from 21 – 22 June. Products displayed in TT’s booth #722 will include discretes, optoisolators, hall effect sensors, fiber optics, reflective sensors, slotted switches, visible LEDs, fluid sensors, and high-reliability sensors.

The TT team will highlight its FlexSense™ optical encoder sensors, boasting features such as auto-alignment, a closed-loop LED driver, on-chip diagnostics, a state-of-the-art 8x interpolator, and adaptability to multiple code-disk diameters and pulses per revolution. Booth demos will also illustrate how simple it is to re-calibrate the FlexSense chip to meet requirements in ever-changing scenarios.

Visit the Sensors Converge Live Theater from 10:45 AM to 11 AM PDT on Thursday, June 22, for the session titled “Smart Optical Encoders Accelerate Innovation in Automation and Robotics for Industry 4.0.” In this talk, TT Business Development Engineer, Sergey Komarov, will share insight into how smart optical encoders, such as TT’s patented FlexSense optical sensory array, are driving innovation in the automation and robotics space. Attendees will learn about the benefits of smart sensing technologies, where digitised intelligent platforms enable best-in-class, data-driven manufacturing processes.

Sensors Converge attendees will have the opportunity to meet with TT Electronics experts, learn about FlexSense and TT’s optical solution portfolio, and determine which solution is best for their unique application.

For more information about TT Electronics, please visit Sensors Converge booth #722.

NI’s SystemLink Enterprise brings competitive Edge with new Cloud-based capabilities

NI has announced the widespread availability of SystemLink Enterprise. Revolutionising how companies use test insights and data to drive product and business performance, SystemLink Enterprise allows companies to manage test systems, data collection, and reporting from a central location and to use product-centric analytics for actionable insights.

Created in partnership with GM, SystemLink Enterprise, built on Kubernetes, centralises the way test systems and data are managed. This standardisation enables increased visibility and control of test processes across an entire organisation simultaneously, giving companies more time to focus on data insights and to increase their production.

“By harnessing the power of test insights and data, companies gain competitive advantages through increasing product and business performance,” said Thomas Benjamin, Chief Technology Officer at NI. “SystemLink Enterprise connects test workflows to business performance through linking people, processes and technology across the enterprise, and gives engineers a smarter way to interact with their data, bringing high-quality products to market more quickly.”

Companies can ensure they are maximising their use of test equipment through SystemLink Enterprise’s following capabilities:

  • Systems management: Perform operations such as managing system health, comparing systems, and deploying software to multiple systems at once.
  • Asset management: Track utilisation, calibration information, and locate assets.
  • Test Insights: Applications to ingest test data and monitor performance and status.
  • Data tables: Standardise data from multiple formats allowing analysis on all data in a common format.
  • Dashboards: Monitor live systems and display key performance indicators.
  • Jupyter notebooks & Routines: Automate analysis, HTML, and PDF report generation.
  • Role-based access control: Simplify user management and data access in a large organisation.
  • Kubernetes: A cloud-ready architecture that enables seamless integration with modern IT architectures for better reliability and horizontal scaling with Helm charts to simplify installation.

NI announces software-defined battery lab solution to accelerate battery validation

NI, formerly known as National Instruments, has the launch of its Software-Defined Battery Lab solution. Designed for electric vehicle battery validation labs, the new offering marks a critical milestone in NI’s comprehensive testing capabilities covering the entire, sustainable battery lifecycle from research and development to validation, production, second-life, and remanufacturing.

The Software-Defined Battery Lab is the industry’s first battery test solution that supports EV manufacturers and battery suppliers in tackling the pressing challenges of time-to-market, cost, and battery performance through an open and flexible approach. Through software, the solution allows battery validation and data management and analysis of battery data, while being open and flexible to scale for global validation testing and adapt to the ever-evolving innovations in battery technologies.

The Software-Defined Battery Lab draws parallels from the concept of Software-Defined Vehicles, which is revolutionising how engineering teams bring vehicles to market and continuously improve their performance. As battery technologies evolve and scale, companies can accelerate test system development, maximise reuse of battery testing investments, and connect battery data to improve performance through changes to software.

“We’re in the nascent stages of the battery revolution,” said Drita Roggenbuck, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Transportation Business Unit at NI. “Companies are faced with driving down battery costs, improving performance, innovating endlessly, and scaling. At a time when new vehicle programs are as short as ever, and battery validation and production must scale immediately and continuously through the end of the decade, NI’s Software-Defined Battery Lab offers the step function change needed to improve time to market and battery performance through test systems and test insights.”

Unlike fragmented or closed-vendor approaches to battery testing, NI’s solution allows battery manufacturers to own their test strategy to maximise capital investment reuse, allow test customisation, and establish vendor independence.

“As we challenge established supply chains, it’s critical that we own our test strategy. Owning our test strategy enables us to quickly implement the features we need so we’re not held back by technology limitations,” said Henrik Rudelius, Director, Validation and Simulation, Battery Systems at Northvolt. “We must make sure we can implement the features to get the data we need and make fact-based decisions. That openness accelerates the product know-how of our battery systems. The validation test data we get from NI systems enables our engineering teams to learn more about our batteries and find ways to improve them even after they’re in the field.”

The Software-Defined Battery Lab builds upon NI’s core battery testing capabilities, which are based on NI’s proven software and hardware platform, to address unique challenges of large-scale battery validation. The key components of the solution encompass a comprehensive set of software, instrumentation, and services needed to build out robust testing and data management capabilities, including:

Battery Test Development and Execution Software: Battery Test Software powered by PAtools streamlines testing processes and helps users to interpret and act on accurate and reliable test results. NI’s Battery Test Software provides proven battery testing capabilities out-of-the-box while also allowing customisation and extensibility through LabVIEW and other common test software.

Lab System and Data Management Software: The newly announced NI SystemLink Enterprise software is a scalable enterprise solution for managing labs, improving test operations, and analysing test results to extract meaningful insights from test and measurement data. It offers lab management functionality including:

  • Test request tracking and scheduling
  • Tester status, utilisation, and health monitoring
  • Test software management and deployment
  • Battery data aggregation, visualisation, and analytics

Battery Cycler Offering and Third Party Integration: NI’s extensive battery cycler portfolio offers high-performance, easy-to-use, safe, and reliable solutions needed for any phase of battery development. NI’s newest cycler, HPS-17000, provides up to 150 kW power and is ideal for testing in a fast-paced lab environment that needs to be scaled and easily serviced. NI’s open software allows integration with third party cyclers to increase development efficiency and enable reuse.

Battery Measurement and Control System: The NI battery measurement and control hardware is built on NI’s software-connected, modular hardware platforms. These systems can be quickly reconfigured and customised to meet rapidly changing test requirements, including integration with third-party components. The real-time operating system provides deterministic operation, while built-in timing and synchronisation allows to easily scale up channel and measurement capabilities.

Global Engineering Integration and Support: NI’s global presence of engineering services and extensive partner network ensures local support and solution delivery to meet a wide range of application requirements.

Microchip extends its radiation-tolerant family of gigabit Ethernet PHYs

The space industry is shifting its connectivity interfaces from traditional dedicated networks to Ethernet solutions that provide added flexibility and simplify the design process. To streamline the implementation of Ethernet for aerospace and defense customers, Microchip Technology has extended its radiation-tolerant (RT) Ethernet PHY devices with the new VSC8574RT PHY. The VSC8574RT PHY supports the Serial Gigabit Media Independent Interface (SGMII) and Quad Serial Gigabit Media-Independent Interface (QSGMII) to reduce the overall signal pins in the design and free up the host device.

Space applications operate in environments that require enhanced radiation technology to withstand extreme temperatures and electromagnetic events. These events degrade space-based systems and disrupt operations. The VSC8574RT Ethernet PHY builds on Microchip’s extensive Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) based device, allowing customers to begin developing applications using the COTS version and substitute a RT device for the final mission.

Compatible with both copper and fibre interfaces, the VSC8574RT PHY makes new application use cases possible. Although copper is primarily used in today’s design, the fibre interface is the wave of the future in space applications, as the industry requires data rates exceeding 1 Gigabit.

The VSC8574RT PHY is equipped with a quad port to support 10, 100 and 1000BASE-T Ethernet connections for optimal speed and reach, depending on the device requirements. The high-reliability VSC8574RT PHY boasts advanced features, such as Synchronous Ethernet (SyncE) and IEEE 1588v2 Precision Time Protocol (PTP), for network timing and synchronisation in applications requiring highly precise timing.

“The VSC8574RT PHY with advanced timing features provides our customers with a connectivity solution for deterministic real-time applications,” said Bob Vampola, vice president of Microchip’s aerospace and defence business unit. “Ethernet solutions are in high demand for space applications, and our COTS-to-RT devices offer increased capabilities with multiport, SGMII and fibre interfaces.”

The VSC8574RT specifications include single event latch-up immunity above 78 MeV.cm²/mg and total ionising dose tested up to 100 krad. This versatile solution caters to a wide spectrum of applications from Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) to deep space.

Microchip’s family of COTS-based Gigabit Ethernet PHY devices now includes the new VSC8574RT, VSC8541RT and VSC8540RT.

MVTec further expands HALCON functionality with new deep learning features

MVTec Software has launched version 23.05 of the standard machine vision software HALCON. The focus of the new release is deep learning methods. The main feature here is Deep Counting, a deep-learning-based method that can robustly count large quantities of objects. In addition, improvements for the training of the deep learning technologies 3D Gripping Point Detection as well as Deep OCR have been integrated into the new HALCON version. With HALCON 23.05, it is now possible to further optimise the underlying deep learning networks, which are already pre-trained on industry-related images, for the user’s own application. This allows even more robust recognition rates for Deep OCR applications as well as an even more reliable detection of suitable gripping surfaces for applications using 3D Gripping Point Detection technology. In addition, there are many other helpful improvements, such as the fact that external code can now be integrated into HALCON more easily.

“We are seeing a significant increase in interest among our customers in integrating deep learning methods into their own solutions. When developing the new HALCON version, we oriented ourselves exactly to this. The outcome are new deep learning technologies and further developments that enable customers to achieve even more precise results,” explains Jan Gärtner, Product Manager HALCON at MVTec.

Deep Counting

With Deep Counting, a feature is available to customers as of HALCON 23.05 that can be used to count a large number of objects quickly and robustly as well as to detect their position. The deep-learning-based technology offers significant advantages over existing machine vision methods: The feature can be deployed very quickly, since only very few objects need to be labeled and trained – both steps can be easily done within HALCON. The technology provides reliable results even for objects of highly reflective and amorphous material. With Deep Counting large numbers of objects such as glass bottles, tree trunks, or food can be counted.

Training for Deep OCR

Deep OCR reads texts in a very robust way, even regardless of their orientation and font. For this purpose, the technology first detects the relevant text within the image and then reads it. With HALCON 23.05, it’s now also possible to fine-tune the text detection by retraining the pretrained network with application-specific images. This provides even more robust results and opens new application possibilities. For example: the detection of text with arbitrary printing type or unseen character types as well as an improved readability in noisy, low contrast environments.

Training for 3D Gripping Point Detection

3D Gripping Point Detection can be used to robustly detect surfaces on any object that is suitable for gripping with suction. In HALCON 23.05 there is now the possibility to retrain the pretrained model with own application-specific image data. The grippable surfaces are thus recognised even more robustly. The necessary labelling is done easily and efficiently via the MVTec Deep Learning Tool. 

Easy Extensions Interface

With the help of HALCON extension packages the integration of external programming languages is possible. The advantage for customers: Functionalities that go beyond pure image processing can thus be covered by HALCON. In HALCON 23.05, the integration of external code has become much easier with the Easy Extensions Interface. This allows users to make their own functions written in .NET code usable in HDevelop and HDevEngine in just a few steps, while benefiting from the wide range of functionalities offered by the .NET framework. Even the data types and HALCON operators known from the HALCON/.NET language interface can be used. This increases both the flexibility and the application possibilities of HALCON.

Manufacturing analytics software supports 30% growth for precision machining company

A precision machining company, that specialises in the extrusion tooling and subcontract machining industries, has achieved 30% growth in turnover following the installation of a manufacturing analytics platform.

Chesterfield-based Sterling Machining installed FourJaw’s manufacturing analytics platform on 14 of its CNC machines, to support and inform its continuous improvement strategy.

Co-owner and production manager, Andy White says: “We had an ERP in place but no way of accurately measuring jobs and their profitability, until the jobs were finished. If a job took longer than expected, we couldn’t see why.  FourJaw’s machine monitoring system has given us valuable data that we use to understand machine utilisation, operational efficiency and profitability. In the last 12 months our business has grown from £3.8m to £5m turnover.”

FourJaw’s MachineLink IIoT device can be easily and quickly self-installed on any manufacturing machine, regardless of brand, type or age, which makes it perfect for small and medium-sized businesses who’d prefer a low-cost, no-fuss ‘plug-and-play’ solution. By monitoring and analysing machine data, FourJaw enables manufacturers to make machines run productively and profitably.

The Industry 4.0 technology has also inspired a degree of competitiveness amongst the workforce.  Andy explains: “Initially, the guys on the shop floor were a little reluctant but soon became interested to see how it worked. It didn’t take long for them to become competitive, wanting to get the best machine efficiency scores resulting in utilisation going from 75% to 100%. This means that we are making more products with the same resources, lowering the cost of manufacturing the goods and therefore improving profitability.”

The extra capacity created by utilising the existing machinery more effectively has also created more jobs. They identified that they could change the way the shop floor was configured and put in an extra machine operator. Doing so made them more productive and the extra operator pays for himself because the machines won’t be stood idle.

Since installing FourJaw on their machines, the team at Sterling Machining has improved many of its processes, informed by the platform’s accurate, real-time data. For example, the team uses historic data to see how long similar jobs have taken and use this information to quote more confidently for future work.

The management team at Sterling has also used FourJaw’s data insight to make informed decisions when considering large capital outlays, such as new machines. Andy describes the situation, many manufacturers come up against: “You may have been in the position where you think you need to buy another machine because you think you’ve got a capacity problem, but now we use FourJaw we can see where we have capacity that we’re not using.

“In summary, FourJaw is the tool we use to maintain a ‘drumbeat’ of improvement and create a healthy, competitive environment to keep trying to do better”.

Bowers Group launch exciting update to Fusion Software for Baty product range

Bowers Group is pleased to announce a series of significant updates to its market-leading metrology software, Baty Fusion. Designed to work seamlessly with Baty’s range of vision machines and profiles projectors, the software updates represent Bowers Group’s ongoing commitment to delivering innovative and enhanced solutions to its valued customers.

The latest version of Fusion introduces several key features and improvements that will revolutionise inspection workflows. Based on valuable feedback from customers and industry experts, the updates have been developed to ensure the software continues to meet the evolving needs of end-users.

Highlights include a new touch probe lobing calibration option, an all-new CAD window with improved tools, as well as the innovative Leapfrog feature which allows you to measure parts larger than the working volume of the machine and can now also be used to measure parts that require rotating to gain a full 3D vision inspection of the part.

“We are thrilled to introduce these improvements to Fusion software to our customers,” said Emma Bramley, Product Development Manager at Bowers Group. “The update works seamlessly with our range of Baty vision and FT2 products and offers many new features enabling quicker, faster, and more accurate inspections. The improved DXF curve fitting window is just one of several great new features that we’re sure many of our customers will truly benefit from.”

The new DXF menu uses an improved algorithm fitting the curve profile to persisted feature pairs, which also includes the ability to automatically refit the profile after each workpiece completes.

Additional features include vector colour specification for specialised edge detection applications, the added ability to show the minimum thickness between two curves, as well as an even larger range of allowable feature constructions. There is also a more customisable operator mode, and significant improvements to reporting such as developments to dimensions with tolerance warnings, and an added calculate function to run Excel formulas embedded in templates. In addition to these exciting new features, the latest update includes performance enhancements, bug fixes, and improved overall stability, ensuring a smoother and more reliable user experience.

With the new, free-of-charge update to Fusion available to all customers already using the Fusion MK4 software, Bowers Group remains committed to providing excellent customer support and user-friendly software solutions. The group encourages all users to take advantage of the latest updates, with its dedicated support team available to assist with the transition and answer any questions.

For more information about the latest updates to Baty Fusion software, please visit www.bowersgroup.co.uk or contact sales@bowersgroup.co.uk

Why smart water systems are essential to industrial buildings’ sustainability

Water is one of humanity’s most valuable natural resources. Currently, there is a range of factors threatening water supplies – and concerns around availability and quality of water underscores the need for industry to adopt sustainable water management practices. The challenge is to innovate around new technologies and traditional water management approaches to ensure adequate quantity and quality to meet individual, agricultural, and industrial needs into the future.

Against this backdrop, it is essential that industry taps into technological solutions to minimise water needs, manage waste, and drive sustainability. Smart water technologies provide simple, scalable solutions to operations of all sizes. Through IoT-powered smart water meters and monitoring, even complex operations use real-time data to reduce waste, manage costs, and enhance efficiencies.

Why is water sustainability important?

According to the United Nations World Water Development Report, at least six billion people will experience water scarcity by 2050. This has been attributed to population growth, limited water resources, pollution, and economic growth. Water security is already a concern – around two billion people around the world do not have access to safe drinking water.

Forecasting around future water needs is complex. It is estimated that growing populations will lead to a 60% increase in food production by 2050. Notable increases in water requirements are predicted across agriculture, industry, and the energy industry. Simultaneously, water resources are shrinking.

It is a problem that is exacerbated by climate change. Climate change affects not only the availability of water, but also the quality of water supplies. Unpredictable rainfall patterns and drought immediately come to mind as climate issues affecting water scarcity. However, it is important to remember that rising water levels from ice melt, floods, and natural disasters have the effect of contaminating water supplies.

Smarter, more sustainable water management 

Sustainable water management relies on a nexus between supply and demand efficiencies. This encompasses everything from preventing leakages and ensuring accurate billing to the investment in smart technologies and smart building processes that reduce water consumption and waste and mitigate the need for water-intensive processes. This often needs to happen across multi-site operations.

Smart technologies have disrupted traditional water management methodologies through monitoring, analysis, and action around data, as well as modelling and digital twin capabilities. These technologies are low-cost and high-impact, using data to optimise operations, devise areas of improvement, and monitor the effectiveness of strategic changes.

Smart water systems, like those available from Smarter Technologies Group, have many of the following features, which are fuelling sustainable change for industry.

Monitoring is the first step in understanding usage patterns, taking water-saving actions in the immediate term, and strategising for long-term change. This doesn’t require a costly overhaul of legacy systems. AMR smart water meters have retrofit capabilities that provide real-time metrics for simplified water management and sub-metering.

Water usage data can be monitored in real-time and stored through a system of cloud-based record-keeping, with scope for customised reporting that is aligned with objectives. This removes the need for manual readings and makes for accurate billing. It also creates a platform for more accurate forecasting, automation, modeling and digital twinning. This means more impactful strategising with minimal disruption to operations and quality of performance.

This metering system is pre-programmable, allowing for alerts to be set around certain thresholds. This provides powerful, actionable insights for leak detection and monitoring of ongoing usage patterns. This cloud-based platform provides monitoring and control capabilities across multi-location operations.

Stopcock functionality means water can be remotely turned off in response to breached usage thresholds or in an emergency. If automation is to be a hallmark of future sustainable water management practices, smart water solutions are leading the way in this regard.

This monitoring and management system is the simplest way to reduce consumption and so environmental impact. Data insights highlight efficiency opportunities for the achievement of easy gains around water savings, as well as adjusted patterns for strategic, long-term change.

If water scarcity predictions become a reality, this is an area that will likely become the subject of strict regulation. Smart technologies provide myriad benefits for flexibility and resilience in the face of tightening legislative provisions. Data insights will assist industries to keep within prescribed parameters. This aids continuity for manufacturing and commercial enterprises. Data readings and cloud-based record-keeping make for simplified reporting.

Use IoT technologies as a smart starting point for sustainable water management changes 

Digitalisation is occurring throughout commercial operations with benefits for sustainability and reduced environmental impact. This has the power to affect everything – including utilities. In preserving our precious natural resources, the most powerful changes stand to be made by monitoring usage, analysing data, and strategising for enhanced efficiencies.

Operational visibility and modern user interfaces

Cluttered user interfaces are like rain on a car windscreen, obscuring the most crucial information. As part of the drive to improve this issue, User Experience (UX) has replaced the term User Interface (UI) to describe visualisation methods which support users in decision-making with effective visual information. Here, Martin Hurley, business development manager at Novotek Ireland, explains how this results in a better-informed user who can make decisions faster and with greater accuracy.

There are countless historical examples of overloading operators with information, resulting in suboptimal decisions with catastrophic results. Ineffective control panel graphics, which did not provide overviews of critical systems, partly caused the fire and explosion at Texaco Milford Haven. Furthermore, the site’s alarm systems were ill-equipped to deal with an emergency and displayed excessive alerts, which negatively impacted the operators’ ability to respond.

Recently, a set of standards and guidelines were introduced to improve the presentation of information to operators. The end goal of the EEMUA standards is to reduce the likelihood of cascading events and catastrophic consequences with UI best practices.

There was a tendency to pack more and more data and information on each screen as operator interfaces, SCADA, and HMI became more potent through the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. Screens would be animated and awash with counter-intuitive colours, resulting in an overload of information. Complex navigation hierarchies presented in this manner made separating critical information from noise more challenging.

Yet there is good news. Modern UX design now follows a trend towards less complex operator displays. Reduced clutter, intuitive navigation, unsaturated colours and optimised alarm management can be easily implemented to improve existing UIs.

Migrating can often be an iterative process that tackles the most inefficient and cluttered displays, intending to impose structure and order on what can otherwise be unintuitive. To understand whether your system might benefit from a modern approach to visualisation, the following four questions can be considered:

  1. Does your system have many standing alarms that have been present for some time with no resolution?
  2. Do your user interfaces seek to mimic process and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs)?
  3. Do you need more than a single click to get important information?
  4. Do you or your operators ever deal with more than six alarms per hour from your control systems?

If your answer to any of these questions is yes, you may benefit from reviewing your control system visualisation strategy. Novotek Solutions has implemented numerous systems in line with the latest standards and guidelines.

The result of making such simple changes is vastly improved operator improvement. A reduced workload and vastly improved availability of information mean faster response times. In turn, powered by better data to drive accurate decision making, the root cause of issues is also better understood, ensuring rapid and lasting resolutions to operational issues.

Clear the raindrops from your operational windscreen with modern UI! Get in touch with the Novotek team for expert guidance on making improvements to your systems, by visiting novotek.ie