The Smart Operator

High Performance HMI/SCADA

improves efficiency

High Performance HMI/SCADA improves efficiency

Todays Speakers

Sergio Chavez

Aaron Hand

Gimmi Filice

Automation Engineer
Department of Water and Power
City of Los Angeles

Executive Editor
Automation World

Manager
HMI/SCADA Software
GE Digital

The Smart Operator

High Performance HMI/SCADA
improves Efficiency - Introduction
Gimmi Filice
Manager, HMI/SCADA Software
GE Digital
Imagination at work.

Market trends
User Interface Evolution

Decision Support for Operations

Information Anywhere, Anytime

Efficient HMI*

Identify
Problems
& Causes

OnDemand
Support

DECISION
SUPPORT
Prevent
Mistakes
Integrated Work Processes

*HMI: Human Machine Interface

Intelligent
Warnings
Operational Analytics

Decision Support for Operations

Efficient HMI*

Identify
Problems
& Causes

DECISION
SUPPORT

*HMI: Human Machine Interface

Improving Operator Effectiveness

Sergio Chavez
Automation Engineer
Los Angeles Dept. of Water and Power
7

Los Angeles Department of

Water & Power is the largest
municipal utility in the nation
servicing an area of over 465
square miles
GE iFIX helps to:
Maintain more than 7200 miles of water
pipelines
Monitor more than 100 Reservoirs and
Tanks, 400 Regulator Stations, 70 Pump
Stations and 30 Treatment Stations
Deliver 513 million gallons of clean water
every day to more than 4 million people

WHAT THIS TRANSLATES TO:

Over 60,000 Data Tags monitored every

day across
Field HMIs, Water Transmission SCADA & Water
Treatment SCADA
Generating on average 1200 alarms a day

How do we help our

Operators be effective?

10

Lets start
Pretty
with
Picture
one ofGraphics
our reservoirs:

HIGH PERFORMANCE GRAPHIC

12

TOPOGRAPHICAL HMI FOR TRANSMISSION OPERATORS

13

SCHEMATIC STYLE HMI FOR OUR FIELD OPERATORS

14

High Performance HMIs

Help our Operators visualize a process

Quickly determine an abnormal situation

Topographical HMIs

Help our Operators visualize system areas

Important when moving water

across a large city

Schematic Process Style HMIs

Help our Operators find the root cause

and isolate issues in the field

Important when working with many

different types of facilities

Whats Next?
More Data Consumption
Only 5% of Regulator Stations on
SCADA today
Custom Reporting & Data Analytics
Mobile Device Access

16

Thank you

17

The Smart Operator

High Performance HMI/SCADA
improves Efficiency Best Practices
Gimmi Filice
Manager, HMI/SCADA Software
GE Digital
Imagination at work.

Past Operator Interfaces

Physical Meters and
indicators
Limited number of alarms
but defined with a
purpose
Knowledgeable operators
required to detect
anomalies

AW Webinar | December 2015

19

Then came the computer based HMI

1990

Today

HMI Screen Design

is NOT
about

fine art

A technical diagram doesnt

necessarily translate into a
good HMI

22

Reactor #1

P&I Diagram

P&I Diagram

BEC ACME INC.

Reactor 201
VLV0240

VLV0224
PMP0240

VLV0226
VLV023
5

PMP0225
VLV0225
MIX0240

VLV023
6

VH240
PMP0235
VLV0237
VC240

VLV0238
PMP0238

Information overload!
Alarms?

Packed information

Confusing
colors

No obvious
hierarchy
or
navigation

Inconsistent
layout

Confusing
Visual coding
26

What is the Problem?

Easy to put more information on the screen & provide
operators with lots of data
Easy to create alarms operators get flooded

Graphics over substance

3D, realistic views
Difficult to identify issues

Operators are not as efficient as they could be.

Best HMI design practices

Great design for a better User Experience

Operators should be able to recognize which

information needs their attention and what it
indicates

at a glance

Facilitate Situational Awareness

From notification to the right action, fast
SITUATION AWARENESS

Before
See
Hear
Smell
Feel

Notification

DECISION

Perception

After
See
Hear
Smell
Feel

Projection
(Prediction)

Action

DECISION

Notification

Perception

Action and/or
Digitized Workflow

INCREASED
PERFORMANCE

Example

Dissolved air flotation

Flocculants

Distribution
Baffle Rods

Underwater
Outlet
Baffle
Weir
Effluent
Water

Feed
Water
Chemical Mix Tank

Air
Sparger
Sludge Froth
Vent

Shades of grey

Air Saturated
Water

Froth Layer

Compressed Air

Air
Drum
Recycle Pump

Map the assets to a model

Enterprise

Site

Unit #101

Area

Unit #102
Process Cell

Unit

Area #101
Unit #103

Equipment Module

Control Module

Why Change?
Poor HMI design principles can lead to:
Safety Issues
Accidents
Increased response time
Prolonged downtime
WARNING

Human centered design approach

Research, design and validation with
100+ operators in 21 plants in 5 countries
The UX design process:
Discovery
Concept design, evaluation
Design & Prototyping
User validation & assessment

Production evaluation with a plant

simulator

34

What makes a good operator interface from an

Operator perspective?

Recognize and
understand information
with ease and speed

Have confidence in the

control system

SIMPLE

CONFIDENT

INTUITIVE

Anticipate and
recognize issues
quickly, and respond
instantly

SEAMLESS

Complete their tasks

and navigate
seamlessly

35

Structural Elements

Minimalism

Too much information

Hard to detect process status

Minimalism

Less content improves detection

Show details only to put data in context

Color palette

Too much color is distracting

More color increases operator cognitive workload

Color palette

Use color to draw attention

Less color = less operator cognitive workload

Visual Coding

Many different visual coding techniques

Slows visual recognition

Visual Coding

Meaningful, consistent , shapes & colors

Contrast for easy detection

Information Layout

P&ID presentation vs. process control

Lack of information layout strategy

Information Layout

Process-oriented presentation
Consistent layout
Utilize P&ID-like details for lower level screens

Contextual Data

Information overload
Need to search for critical data

Contextual Data

Data in context to process

Critical data aided by visual representation

Navigation

Visual cues are for process awareness

Unclear parent-child structure
Interaction is not intuitive

Navigation

Intuitive organization
Mixed approaches most flexible

Alarm Presentation

Process alarms mingled with system alarms

Criticality hard to determine
Readability issues

Alarm Presentation

Easy to understand alarm presentation

Process alarms to the operator
System alerts to the maintenance technician

SUMMARY - 9 Design Principles

Minimalism
Color palette
Visual coding
Information layout
Contextual data
Embedded trends
Screen hierarchy
Navigation
Alarm presentation

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

8
9

Improves detection
Decreases cognitive workload
Increases speed of recognition
Provides intuitive, process-oriented views
Reduce information overload
Provide more information when its useful
Reflects the operators mental model
Enables quick, intuitive way-finding
Enables faster detection and understanding

With a glance, operators should be able to recognize which

information requires more attention and what it indicates.
51

Your Checklist

Improving efficiency through high performance

HMI/SCADA
1. Map your key assets to a model
2. Create your visual standards / libraries
3. Design with the 9 principles in mind
4. Validate your design with the various users
5. Deploy!

Outcomes
A good operator interface means

Less training
Faster reaction
Safer operations
Increased productivity / efficiency
The efficiency delivers

Strategic Business Outcomes

53

The Smart Operator

High Performance HMI/SCADA improves Efficiency

Panel Questions

Sergio Chavez

Aaron Hand

Gimmi Filice

Automation Engineer
Department of Water and Power
City of Los Angeles

Executive Editor
Automation World

Manager
HMI/SCADA Software
GE Digital