Smart assistance with day-to-day work

Intuitive HMI for extrusion machines

The challenge

Precision and the exact control of production parameters are crucial when using extrusion lines in order to ensure consistently high quality and minimise waste. Even the slightest deviations can have a significant impact on the extruded product. Although a high degree of automation simplifies the production process, machine operation continues to play a central role. With the development of the new ZSE iMAXX extruder, the focus was therefore also placed on optimising the machine’s user interface.

Leistritz Extrusion Technology

At its headquarters in Nuremberg, Leistritz Extrusion Technology develops and manufactures custom-designed co-rotating twin-screw extruders and turnkey extrusion lines for the plastics, food and pharmaceutical industries. Customers benefit from comprehensive expertise in areas such as masterbatch, compounding, direct extrusion, laboratory extrusion, food extrusion and pharmaceutical extrusion. The extruder, the heart of the system, is manufactured by Leistritz itself. The company’s location in Germany plays a very important role in this, as ‘Engineering made in Germany’ forms the basis of the systems.

How we helped

Through an in-depth analysis of the usage context, using interviews and observations in the working environment, XITASO, in collaboration with Leistritz, developed a user interface that is optimally tailored to the users’ day-to-day workflows. Via the redesigned HMI, machine operators can manage the systems, adjust settings to ensure the best possible quality, and keep an eye on the system status and any error messages at all times. The streamlined user interface, which focuses on the key use cases, enables the machines to be operated more efficiently. The intuitive user interface also simplifies commissioning and reduces the need for training. This solution boosts efficiency and makes day-to-day work easier.

Technologies & Methods

Usability Engineering Consulting

Focus on the usage context

The usage context forms the basis for a user-friendly interface. Interviews and observations carried out directly in the working environment enable XITASO’s usability engineers to analyse this usage context in detail and understand the specific requirements. Key aspects include, for example:

Users: Who uses the application and what are their requirements?
Tasks: Which activities are most common, and in which situations are functions or information required?
Environment: Under what conditions is the application used (e.g. lighting conditions, personal protective equipment)?
Resources: What hardware, tools or additional software are used?

The user interface design takes into account not only the users’ requirements but also the individual characteristics of the extrusion systems. The control panel is used to operate a range of accessories and material feed systems, some of which vary considerably. Depending on the configuration, the amount of information and functions to be displayed can be highly complex. To make this complexity user-friendly, it has been precisely defined which information must be visible in which view and at what point in time. At the same time, the interface offers flexibility: users have the option to make individual customisations in order to tailor the operation as closely as possible to the specific application at any time.

Other projects

MULTIVAC

Are you interested in a project, a service, or do you have any other questions?

Christian Fliß

Tel. +49 821 885882-209
christian.fliss@xitaso.com