We have few HMI's - all of them AB. Also we have FT View Studio license which we (few techs) use. It looks like the HMIs will be one of the things we will be implementing at pretty much every station. We run CtrlLgx PLCs mostly everywhere with Ethernet comms.
I am really good with software but FT View studio and it's quirks just don't make much sense. It looks like everything is way too more complicated then it should be.
So far I kept reading opinions on this forum about few different manufacturers and it looks like Red Lions are crowd's favorite.
I got assigned to choose future brand/model direction in order to take our plant in that direction.
I don't know how much different brands and models cost but it looks like AB is the most expensive.
We use HMIs as replacement for PB and SS, as well as alarms and recently as troubleshooting devices for sequence of operation and such.
What would be the most future proof route to take from here..which brands have the best record of being future proof and are less likely to become obsolete ?
With PB stations (OP panels) you add occasional button or selector switch, with these things from my (rather small) experience you have to re-do the whole thing all over, so that would be one of the factors to keep in mind while choosing direction in where to go.
To go with some third party SW/HW manufacturer (Red Lion) and then train few guys on it or stay with AB considering we kinda know a bit about them and SW is already purchased ?
I believe if we lose staff and have to replace or add techs it will be harder to find people with any exposure to anything but AB.
We only recently started using PanelViews so we weren't exposed to it as we are to CtrlLgx PLCs and I am interested in opinions since I don't have much exposure with any HMIs.
Thanks
I am really good with software but FT View studio and it's quirks just don't make much sense. It looks like everything is way too more complicated then it should be.
So far I kept reading opinions on this forum about few different manufacturers and it looks like Red Lions are crowd's favorite.
I got assigned to choose future brand/model direction in order to take our plant in that direction.
I don't know how much different brands and models cost but it looks like AB is the most expensive.
We use HMIs as replacement for PB and SS, as well as alarms and recently as troubleshooting devices for sequence of operation and such.
What would be the most future proof route to take from here..which brands have the best record of being future proof and are less likely to become obsolete ?
With PB stations (OP panels) you add occasional button or selector switch, with these things from my (rather small) experience you have to re-do the whole thing all over, so that would be one of the factors to keep in mind while choosing direction in where to go.
To go with some third party SW/HW manufacturer (Red Lion) and then train few guys on it or stay with AB considering we kinda know a bit about them and SW is already purchased ?
I believe if we lose staff and have to replace or add techs it will be harder to find people with any exposure to anything but AB.
We only recently started using PanelViews so we weren't exposed to it as we are to CtrlLgx PLCs and I am interested in opinions since I don't have much exposure with any HMIs.
Thanks