Sale and purchase of panel PCs and industrial monitors 

The increasingly pressing development of industry 4.0 makes it necessary to equip ourselves with technologically advanced tools that allow to stay up to date with the rapid changes we are witnessing in recent years.

Panel PCs and industrial monitors certainly represent one of the key types of devices for industrial automation of the present and the future. Consequently, they are required to meet a series of parameters to ensure an adequate level of efficiency.

In the following article we will try, without claiming to be exhaustive, to list some of the necessary features to consider in case of sale and purchase of panel PCs and industrial monitors, to allow devices to play a leading role in every smart factory.

① What are panel PCs and industrial monitors?

A panel PC is an industrial type computer integrated with a flat screen display equipped with a touchscreen and designed for the management of various types of production processes.

An industrial monitor is a display device that allows control and interaction through the touchscreen.

 Both types are normally designed according to typically industrial criteria, especially to maintain maximum efficiency even in potentially critical conditions.

② What are the uses for these types of devices?

Panel PCs and industrial monitors are advanced level devices capable of managing entire production lines and at the same time extremely versatile as they can adapt to different contexts, while maintaining the same level of efficiency and functionality.

Here are some of the most important types of employment:

✔️ Panel PCs and industrial monitors for the pharmaceutical environment;

✔️ solutions of panel PCs and industrial monitors for working processes of various types of materials (metal, wood, stone, glass);

✔️ panel PC devices and industrial monitors for packaging processes;

✔️ panel PCs and monitors for medical environments;

✔️ panel PCs and custom monitors for contexts characterized by extreme conditions;

✔️ panel PC solutions and industrial monitors for the food supply chain;

✔️ panel PCs and industrial monitors for production and manufacturing areas.

③ Resistive or capacitive touchscreen?

The interaction of the operator who interfaces with the machine is normally guaranteed by the resistive or capacitive touchscreen system.

If the first guarantees more economy and shocks resistance, the second is more sensitive, supports multi-touch and has excellent visibility.

The choice is not necessarily universal but depends on the needs and the type of context in which the device operates.

④ What are the industrial production criteria with which they are made?

Surely performance, efficiency and continuity of use are essential features for every industrial computer, as it is necessary that for the production process to be as free as possible from interruptions, performance drops or malfunctions.

The high availability of I/O connections is another essential prerogative for any device used in an industrial context, together with the fanless type cooling system that avoids the raising of dust.

The great diversification of production plants over the years has led in any case even companies like ours to the creation of a specific division capable of designing and producing customized devices, with the aim of effectively responding to the different characteristics of each production context. It is a process in which, starting from the project to the finished product, a close collaboration is created with the customer who can thus have a tailor-made solution based on their needs.

⑤ What is the ideal degree of protection for an industrial context?

In addition to the IP degree, it is important for every industrial product to be designed with a good level of resistance, to withstand the stresses to which it is inevitably subjected.

In this case there is no ideal level of protection but certainly a custom device can be better set according to the characteristics of the environment, more or less critical, in which it will be installed.

⑥ What are the parameters to consider when choosing panel PCs and industrial monitors?

In addition to the characteristics already mentioned, it is possible to make a distinction based on the type of panel PC or industrial monitor and compare the different options provided by each.

In this table we have examined the resistive, capacitive and custom versions.

⑦ What are the prices of industrial panel PCs and monitors?

Comparing in general the values on the market between the major producers, it is first of all necessary to consider the variations in prices determined by the characteristics of the products themselves:

✔️ different hardware configurations;

✔️ dimensions of the devices;

✔️ graphics performance;

✔️ performance related to processors, which can vary considerably (and at the same time the cost increases significantly) from a more recent type to an older one.

 At this point, based on the differentiation that we have already proposed in the table, we tried to roughly calculate a price range:

✔️ resistive panel PCs and industrial monitors, from about $ 600 to $ 1000;

✔️ capacitive panel PCs and industrial monitors, from approximately $ 700 to $ 1,800;

✔️ custom devices, the price of which is to be established based on the project and which may vary according to the configuration that you choose to implement.

⑧ What role will these devices have in industry 4.0?

The new needs dictated by industry 4.0 must necessarily be supported by devices capable of performing each operation at maximum efficiency with the highest possible level of reliability. In addition to performance, however, as reported by the magazine Automazione Industriale, new solutions for the management of the various devices are making their way.

One of the most interesting, especially as regards purchase options, is certainly the PC-as-a-Service (PCaaS). It is an Opex model (OPerating EXpense) on subscription that includes multiple services by paying a periodic fee for use thus avoiding the purchase of property or Capex (CAPital EXpenditure), while providing of updated, scalable and extremely secure technologies.

But there are many technologies applicable to production processes that are emerging and that are able to make a substantial contribution to the transformations introduced by industry 4.0, just think of augmented reality or Edge computing solutions.

In any case, at the base, efficient, reliable, scalable and customizable hardware supports are needed, able to face the technological challenge that is already taking place.