Ease Workplace Shortage Challenges via HMI Mirroring
“The Great Resignation,” paired with an aging workforce, has presented challenges for some manufacturing companies, making uptime and machine availability an issue.
Pete Kneski and Matthew Wopata of Belden took the stage at Pack Expo in late 2022 to explore how remote HMI mirroring can help companies combat the effects that labor shortages have on production. Bonus: You can build upon HMI mirroring infrastructure to attain even more benefits.
HMI mirroring entails remote visibility of machines by a plant manager, whether locally in a control room or hundreds of miles away. This HMI mirroring can streamline real-time troubleshooting and offer valuable training opportunities for newer plant operators.
The HMI’s virtual network connection (VNC) server enables this monitoring. Edge gateways with WAN connectivity then secure and transmit data in the HMI to a cloud infrastructure. This allows plant managers to visualize everything as if they were in front of the HMI.
And the benefits don’t stop there. Once this infrastructure is in place, other goals can be realized, particularly through edge application orchestration. A centralized orchestration platform can host and deploy containerized applications (such as those involving virtual HMIs and data ingestion) to your edge devices.
Watch Belden’s Pack Expo presentation to discover:
- How HMI mirroring technology is deployed
- Where the technology can be used
- Four key features to look for in regard to edge data ingestion applications
- Four main inhibitors to adopting this technology
Related Links
Industrial Automation Solutions
Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and the Value of Collecting Data
About the Author
After studying journalism at California State University, Northridge, Lauren Robeson Menting wrote for local newspapers and special publications before joining ProSoft, a Belden brand, in 2014. In this role, she works closely with our in-house experts, including engineers, product managers and sales teams, to manage all marketing and communications initiatives. Through her work, she has developed a strong understanding of the industrial automation challenges and goals faced by companies in the automotive, CPG and water and wastewater verticals.