TL;DR

• Alarm floods reduce operator effectiveness and obscure critical issues.
• Legacy HMIs often fail to meet modern usability standards.
• Pre-configured graphics simplify HMI development and maintenance.
• Modern HMIs improve speed, clarity, and navigation.
• AI-enabled HMIs support faster, better decision-making.

Why this matters now

Alarm floods and inadequate interfaces are serious concerns for operators in the process manufacturing industries. Not only do alarm floods cause a sense of panic that makes it difficult for an operator to make the best decisions, they often obscure critical information, which can lead to slowed reaction times and even dangerous mistakes.

In fact, as Emerson’s Sesh Natarajan explores in his recent article in Control Engineering, the International Society of Automation has released guidelines to help organizations ensure their HMIs meet critical standards:

“According to International Society of Automation (ISA) guidelines, a graphic should make it possible for an operator to know, within a few seconds, if everything is running at an optimum condition.”

This reinforces the importance of clarity and speed in operator interfaces.

Takeaway: Operators need intuitive HMIs that provide immediate situational awareness.

Yet, many HMIs still operating in the field do not meet these standards:

“Traditional HMIs often make it challenging for operators to identify process issues quickly. Cluttered displays, complex navigation, inconsistency, and poor decision support can all delay operator awareness, potentially leading to unplanned downtime, equipment damage, and/or safety incidents.”

These limitations highlight the need for modernization.

Takeaway: Legacy HMI designs actively limit operator effectiveness.

Build better interfaces, faster

Today’s lean teams are a key contributor to the challenge of keeping graphics up to date.

“Finding staff who not only have the skills to develop complex graphics and custom interfacing to the control system, but also the time to do so, is extremely rare.”

However, unlike complex legacy HMI software, modern HMI tools like those in the DeltaV™ Automation Platform provide pre-defined and pre-configured graphical elements. Users can drag and drop these elements to quickly add new units or operations, or make edits to existing ones. Even more importantly, that software integrates seamlessly with all the software in the automation platform, helping teams to develop and adjust HMIs without the need for complex engineering to make everything work.

Takeaway: Modern tools simplify HMI development and reduce dependence on scarce expertise.

Meeting the standards

Meeting ISA guidelines for operator response means having displays that are fast and intuitive to read.

“Graphical elements in modern HMI software also make it easier for operators to dive deeper into their displays for more information when necessary. Such solutions require fewer actions to gather more information, and they provide tools like always-on-top watchlists, where users can drag and drop important process variables into a dialog box that stays visible no matter where the operator navigates in the HMI.”

Modern interfaces reduce clicks and improve usability across workflows.

Takeaway: Usability improvements directly enhance operator responsiveness.

Stopping the floods

Most importantly, the best modern HMI tools include key features to help eliminate alarm floods. Not only do modern HMIs provide clear alarm lists with critical alerts visible in multiple locations for fast reference, but they also provide alarm banners on every window, showing the highest priority alarms clearly. Users can click through those banners to receive more information and potential remediation actions.

Emerson’s HMI tools are also leverage industrial AI to provide decision support to users.

“Modern HMI tools are also increasingly incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) to dive deeper into the alarms the system may report. Through an AI advisor dashboard, users can ask the system natural language questions, and the advisor can offer easy-to-understand suggestions backed up by historical data analysis and supporting documentation. With easy-to-access advice from a 24×7 expert advisor, operators of any experience level can respond faster to adverse conditions, helping make every operator the plant’s best.”

AI-enabled decision support enhances consistency and speed across teams.

Takeaway: AI-driven HMIs help operators respond faster and more effectively.

Prepared for the future

As organizations modernize their facilities, HMI strategy should be a key consideration.

The best HMI solutions not only improve performance and optimization, but also protect people.

Takeaway: Modern HMIs are essential for safe, efficient, future-ready operations.