Glossary · HMI, SCADA and operations
Dashboard
Also known as: KPI dashboard, Production dashboard
German: Dashboard
In industrial automation, a dashboard is a display that summarizes key figures and states of a machine, line or plant, such as output, availability, OEE or energy consumption, on one screen for quick overview.
- HMI and SCADA
In one sentence
A dashboard summarizes key figures and states of a machine, line or plant on one screen for quick overview.
Example
A large screen at the end of the packaging line shows the shift's output, OEE, current stoppage reason and the next planned changeover.
How it applies
- Engineering: Dashboards read data from the HMI, SCADA, Historian or MES. Define each key figure precisely, including data source, calculation, time basis and update rate, so numbers on different dashboards match.
- Operation: Dashboards support overview and decisions but are usually read-only. Control actions belong on HMI screens with proper access control.
- Documentation: Keep a definition sheet for each metric (for example how availability is calculated and which stops count). Users trust dashboards only when the definitions are published and stable.
Dashboard vs. HMI screen
An HMI screen is built for operating a process: controls, alarms, detailed values. A dashboard is built for monitoring and management: aggregated figures, often for people who don't operate the machine.