You came here asking: Can a Human-Machine Interface enhance my business environment?
What you may not have realized is you’re using one right now — and it saved you a lot of time finding the answer to that question. Human-Machine Interface, more commonly known as an HMI, is a user-dependent interface or dashboard that links a user to a machine or other device. The term can apply to any device with an interactive screen or panel but is mainly helpful in industrial processes.
With rapid advancements in technology, HMIs have gone global, and they’re consistently developing.
We use HMIs at a personal level with our smartphones and tablets. Businesses of all kinds depend on HMIs for optimizing communication, productivity, error prevention, and data recording.
But what is it about human-machine interfaces that make them so efficient for workplace productivity?
Below, we’ll explain the unique advantages of an HMI.
1. HMIs Enhance Communication
Even as early as 2005, over 75% of office workers used a computer in their place of business. It’s safe to say usage has only gone up since then.
Computers provide instant, effective communication that can reach a wide range of people in a single instant. Memos, e-mails, even office-based instant messaging have rapidly improved communication.
Even manufacturers and production houses utilize HMIs for increased communication, such as with logs and organizational aspects.
2. Reduce Workplace Injuries with HMIs
In 2017, 110,000 work-related injuries took people away from their jobs. The cause? Lifting or the manual handling of machines. Risk prevention is vital to keep your workers safe and production running.
HMIs are an optimal way to keep your employees healthy and safe. You’ll reduce the risk of injury as a machine now handles potentially dangerous work even as your employees operate it.
3. HMIs Increase Productivity
While certain aspects of work can function manually and by machine, the machines are much faster. Having people work in tandem with HMIs generates more work in less time, maximizing a business’s productivity and efficiency.
4. Record Data with HMIs
A computer or similar device has the astounding ability to record data, making them ideal within industrial settings. Entering specific commands in an HMI lets the system record any information you need. Since the data remains in secure storage, it can be helpful down the line for troubleshooting or adjusting settings.
5. Organize and Speed Up Sales with an HMI
If you’re a manufacturing company, chances are you have clients placing routine sales. Or maybe your business is expanding, and your backlog has become overwhelmed by sales. Either way, specific HMIs act as an effective tool between customers and businesses.
Customers can purchase orders online, and a processor immediately transfers order data to your warehouse. This streamlining vamps up your ability to get a quality product to your client much faster. Plus, with the data recording abilities discussed above, you’ll have a well-documented log of each sale for easy reference.
Final Thoughts
Human-machine interfaces are constantly improving, with new developments happening all the time. What started as pushing a button has evolved into thorough, visual, data-recording enhancements for our daily life. Thanks to HMIs, tasks that once required hours of work have become near effortless.
HMIs help us in our personal lives, but they’re especially fruitful for businesses — office, industrial, or otherwise. They have transformed communication, eased sales efforts, kept track of vital data, and have helped keep employees safe.
The tech is impressive, and each day, it becomes more so. The future of HMIs is practically limitless, and keeping an eye on the industry will only benefit you in the end.