Food keyboards
02/05/2019
Make operators' life easy - use keyboards.
NSI launched their "Food keyboards", specifically adapted to the harsh conditions in food processing industry. The combination of cold environment and hot cleaning water/damp creates one of the most challenging environments for electronic HMI devices. Touchscreen might seem like the perfect solution, but has its limits towards ergonomics and usability.
CASE STORY - INDUSTRIAL KEYBOARDS FOR THE FOOD INDUSTRY
When Puratos, one of the biggest food ingredient suppliers in the world, modernized its machinery, Hygienic designed touchscreen displays, integrated with the company’s computer systems, were installed. This seemed like the perfect solution, given the hygienic requirements and harsh conditions within the production area.
These multi-touch screens have a few downsides though. It is a lot more ergonomic and comfortable for operators to work with a keyboard and mouse/trackball when entering large amounts of data. Furthermore, when the touch functionality does not fully work (due to pollution, malfunction, gloves,…) the operator station may go out of service. Puratos began looking for a custom solution and landed on the NSI food keyboards. Because the touchpanels could be mounted in several ways, Puratos needed a custom solution to fit the keyboards onto its panel computers. NSI designed a frame that attached directly to the existing infrastructure, in every possible mounting form. The foldable design and adjustable angle of the frame provided an ergonomic advantage for the Puratos team. Even when the type of panels changes, NSI can quickly adapt the frame without high costs or efforts.
Steven Batselier - Automation Manager Puratos N.V.
“We wanted to make life easier for our operators by installing keyboards next to our existing displays. Finding products that fit the hygienic needs within the food industry wasn’t easy. Finding the right mounting onto our panels was even a lot more difficult. But when we landed on the NSI website we found what we were looking for. They really made a difference by designing a custom-made frame to mount the keyboards on our existing displays. It was tested thoroughly in our facilities to make sure both the frame and the keyboards met our standards. Everything was installed and delivered within two days after testing. NSI offered great service.”