The document summarizes an internship project at Malhotra Engineers to redesign their sintering furnace monitoring system interface from 2000s software to a newer SCADA platform. The intern conducted research on SCADA and sintering furnaces, visited sites, interviewed users, developed an information architecture with major changes from the previous system, and iterated wireframes. The final deliverables included color schemes, the new information architecture, and refined wireframes showing improvements like a notification bar and more visual maintenance tracking.

1. Internship
Project IV
Malhotra Engineers

2. Overview
Duration of Internship
June 20, 2016 to August 12, 2016
Location
MIDC-Bhosari, Pune
Project
Redesigning the sintering furnace
monitoring system on a SCADA platform

3. About the
Company
Malhotra Engineers is a proprietary
company that is involved in
manufacturing of furnaces with focus
on Powder Metallurgy.
Some of the products that they
manufacture include Pushing Sintering
Furnace, Furnace Monitoring Systems,
Delubing Systems,

4. Project Brief
Project Definition
The project required me to redesign the interface of a sintering
furnace on a SCADA platform.
Project Challenge
The last time it had been designed was in the early 2000s, there has
not been any redesign or update in the application since then.

5. Problem Statement
The problem of a furnace sintering monitoring system which has
gone outdated which affects the operators and the auditors when
they come for an audit, impact of which is lack of visual hierarchy
and no systematic method of viewing stored database of
production. The successful solution would provide the auditors to
have a easier method of going through the production data and a
better visual hierarchy that will help the operators function on the
furnace better.

6. Internship Timeline

7. 20.6.16
Research/Planning
Phase
29.6.16
Contextual
Inquiry
12.7.16
Information
Architecture
17.7.16
Iteration Phase
4.8.16
Wireframes
12.8.16
Final
Deliverables

8. Research/Planning Phase
Understanding the domain
SCADA, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition, is a system that can remotely monitor
and control industrial equipment.
Elipse SCADA was the program on which the interaction of the furnace had to be
redesigned. Through this software we were able to develop and supervise the furnace in
run-time. The software however did have some restrictions that had to be taken into
consideration while redesigning the interface.

10. “Before” Stage of SCADA system

11. Getting the facts
● The existing wireframes had to be reverse engineered.
● Had to go through a research paper on sintering furnace monitoring system
to understand the process and function of the interface.
● Industrial visits to see the operation of the SCADA interfaces on working
furnaces.
● Going through the Elipse SCADA manual to understand the restrictions and
the opportunities in the updated versions of software.

12. Research Goals
● Cut down the redundance in the interface
● Redefine the information architecture
● Redesign the visual interfaces
● Refine the interface

13. Initial Brainstorming

14. Contextual Inquiry
● Industrial Visit
● Interviews with First hand users on-site
● Talks with Engineers that dispatch the monitoring systems

15. Information Architecture
After achieving the research goals the initial iteration process started:
● Cleaning out the Information Architecture
● Grouping up similar components
● Creating a visual hierarchy

16. Major Changes from previous IA
● Fishbone Comparison: Eye travels to the two extreme sides of the screen to compare
values
● Recipe Page: Layout of components refined sequentially and predefined values for
some parameters that have a set option of values
● Home Page/Furnace Layout: Ordered format of parameters displayed, hiding excess
data under common sections, sectioning parts of furnace that have similar functions
● Alarms and Annunciator Window: This could be readjusted into a notification bar on
all the pages
● Furnace maintenance system: The format of displaying the inventory parts could be
more visual by adding progress bars for the life expectancy of the parts.
● Final Reports: Can be put into a predefined method so as to be easily printed

17. Raw IA
This is the initial rough IA that was sent
through to the review to be looked into.
The first stage was basic explorations before
going ahead with the contextual inquiry,
hence a lot of changes were added onto it.

18. After User Research

20. Final IA

21. Iteration Phase
With the process of the IA’s completion, I had started the basic iterations of the
wireframes and visual layout.

24. Wireframes

25. Home page evolution
Final Design

26. Event Flow - Recipes and Tolerance Set

27. Event Flow - If alarm is detected

28. Event Flow - Utility Audit

29. Event Flow - Quality Check

30. Event Flow - Furnace Maintenance

31. Final Deliverables
● Color Schemes
● Information Architecture
● Wireframes

32. Thank You