Being able to write code to control plant equipment and implement fail-safe code is great, but not everyone can read and understand the code that we write. That is why you find HMI screens, some small and local to machines, and some large SCADA applications that monitor the whole plant. They are a crucial part of any working system that helps operators, maintenance personnel and managers alike a feel for how well their plant is performing, and areas that require attention.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.solisplc.com/tutorials/designing-hmi-screens-and-going-online-with-a-siemens-tp700-series-hmi