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OPERATOR INTERFACES...

One forgotten password could

grind your processes to a stop

Martin Brown, product manager at Siemens, looks at how ID key-operated

switches replace the use of passwords in human-machine-interfaces
uman-Machine-Interfaces (HMIs) are reminders, often at inconvenient times. And
dashboards that act as an interface according to one partner, CT Systems, a total
between a user and a machine or solutions systems integrator, these requests would
Hdevice. They are designed to present come in at all hours which, of course, isn’t great for
information in a graphical format about the status of the supplier nor the businesses that needed them.
a process to an operator. HMIs can be password A better, more efficient, solution would eliminate
protected to only give authorisation and access to the need for passwords yet still provide the
operators with the correct security clearance. necessary layers of security, ie an HMI with
However, a growing and recurring problem has been personalised authorisation.
the loss or misplacement of these critical ID key-operated switches use electronic locks
passwords, causing a host of delays. instead of conventional mechanical locks. The
Machine and plant operations are busy, switches feature a level of customisation that allows
sometimes chaotic places. With the best of the user to set authorisation for machine access,
intentions some of us misplace or fail to keep a and the associated keys have a radio-frequency
record of these all-important passwords and identification (RFID) chip that makes them uniquely
become reliant on suppliers to send through identifiable. The key and switch are connected by

May 2020 • INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY EXTRA! • p10