By this, we mean more than plugging your desktop computers and printers together.
We consider the entire enterprise, from the equipment in the basement to the top level information systems.

The typical process and machinery control system has featured proprietary hardware and software from a single vendor.  Any additional features or modifications have been very pricey.  The current trend is to bring the process data into a networked environment with recognized data formats.  

Human Machine Interfaces have continued to evolve away from one vendor providing all the hardware and software components to multiple vendors working together.  The major providers of HMI packages have large, robust and expensive capabilities.

Intellution, Citect, and Wonderware all make good products, and we have worked with all of them.
However not all systems need this much capability.  Unfortunately, just adding another view station on a desk top can amount to several thousand dollars in royalties.   Making multiple copies of a simple HMI can also add up to substantial amounts.  

A custom HMI can be created using standard off the shelf software components for less than buying a large HMI package.  The software royalties are much less and the ability to replicate and modify are improved.  A process monitor can be constructed to operate through the company network and provide real time data to the desk top browser.  A secure connection can be made from the process equipment through various firewalls to the Internet.  The horizon has just expanded considerably.

The best advantage is the accessibility of a custom system.  A typical PLC or HMI manufacturer will charge large amounts for specialized training in his equipment, plus room and board.  Only a few highly experienced programmers exist.  A home rolled HMI using Visual Basic or Visual C++ will have a talent pool of literally millions of programmers.

Key Benefits

Capabilities

Custom HMI

No royalty for each product
In house programming capabilities 

Custom Electronics

Design from the bottom up.
Glue components together

Hardware and software design

Design the hardware, networks, system, low level and operator software together.
Design the information flow from the equipment to the enterprise information system.