Automation has given manufacturing and energy companies the opportunity to deliver high-quality products and services more efficiently while reducing overall operating costs. However, workers still need the ability to interact with automated systems and make reliable decisions based on the data they provide.

Without the right software to supervise industrial facilities and processes, a company may struggle to truly take advantage of the benefits automation brings. zenon from COPA-DATA is a software platform designed to solve common challenges with visualization and control, making production processes easier to understand and interfaces more user-friendly.

Why process visualization and control are important

Process visualization refers to the ability of an industrial automation software to generate graphical representations of the equipment, operations and conditions in a plant. A clear visual display simplifies process control for users and may offer opportunities for further automation of factors like energy consumption.

By making data easy to understand and bringing important processes under control, data visualization software can benefit manufacturing and energy companies in numerous ways. This can include improved production efficiency, increased overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) and enhanced quality management. Therefore, it’s important to choose manufacturing visualization software with a user-friendly interface, like zenon. When everyone involved with a project — including application engineers, operators and decision makers— can comprehend and interact with the software, it’s possible to streamline many aspects of production.

How zenon improves process visualization and control

zenon from COPA-DATA comes with a variety of features aimed at improving process visualization and control to keep your operations productive and efficient. When you implement zenon, you’ll notice the difference as it:

• Develops projects rapidly: Developing a project in the zenon Engineering Studio is made easy by our extensive library of pre-designed graphical elements and other visualization features out of the box. With all the tools easy to locate within the integrated platform, zenon allows engineers to rapidly create custom applications that help operators visualize projects and key figures.

• Monitors and controls machines: The powerful HMIs zenon provides help monitor and control the function of machines and operations within facilities. Load Management for example, will enable you to visualize energy consumption trends. If the software forecasts load peaks that exceed a set limit, zenon recommends switching actions or takes action automatically, keeping energy costs low. With state-of-the-art HTML5 technology, you can access dashboards and process overviews remotely through your mobile devices.

• Perform operational tasks with intuitive gestures: With zenon, you can create tailor-made HMIs, such as individual keyboards, filter dialogs and screens. Instead of navigating complex menu structures, you can use user-friendly scrollable toolbars, which mean fewer errors, reduced time and enhanced operating safety. zenon’s Multi-Touch functionality allows operators to simply use two fingers to zoom in and out on the touch screens, drag and drop screen elements and use other intuitive gestures.  

• Improves access across your organization: zenon makes data accessible to people of all technical skill levels by making the plant status easy to understand and the interface easy to interact with, from horizontal machinery integration to vertical incorporation of production and management data. zenon also supports multiple languages and measuring units, so you can easily create projects for international use.

Contact COPA-DATA to learn more about improving process visualization with zenon

When your organization is able to visualize processes clearly and control systems easily, you can make faster, more informed decisions and take advantage of automation. zenon from COPA-DATA can help you optimize visibility into all aspects of your entire plant, from anywhere at any time.

To learn more about our software for industrial data visualization and control, contact us today.