Lauri Toivonen, CEO at Real Time Systems Oy:
What was the starting point and objective of the project?
We have developed a new regulating system for melting in electric arc furnaces. The control software requires a user interface that the staff can use for monitoring and manually controlling the melting process.
The control room monitoring displays of the user interface are observed for the whole duration of the melting, and our idea was that we need professionally designed and user-friendly. The displays that are in use at the moment were clearly planned by engineers and are thus visually poor in many cases.
How did Etnoteam help you to resolve the situation?
What was the outcome of the project?
The end result is that we have a well-designed user interface in use. The first phase of our development work is due to be implemented in June.
On a general level, we have developed a globally new regulating system that provides significant benefits compared with current systems. Because of this, we also want the visual contents to be designed in the best possible way.
In practice, we have seen that user interfaces affect customers’ overall opinions of products. Against this background, maintaining a good user interface is strategically important for our project.
Real Time Systems Oy is a company that develops a new generation measuring and regulating system (the “RTS System”) for electric arc furnaces employed by steel mills using scrap metal as raw material. The RTS System enables more accurate control of the furnace, thereby generating significant production increases and electricity cost savings for the steel mill. Real Time Systems will operate as a service company, selling and marketing the finalised RTS System and providing related training and maintenance services.
Etnoteam designed the graphic look for the monitoring display of the electric arc furnace. At the start of the project, Etnoteam produced a few alternative user interface options based on discussions and material delivered by Real Time Systems. The solutions took the usability aspect into consideration, and the optimal way of visualising the monitoring display considering end-users’ needs was sought when evaluating the various options. The most suitable draft was finalised, and as a final outcome, the visualisation including all the user interface elements for implementation was delivered to Real Time Systems.