{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Factory Field Notes","title":"Ep. 19 | HMI SCADA Platform to Learn in 2026, Plus a Flooded PLC That Now Plays Street Fighter","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2681,"description":"HMI SCADA platform to learn in 2026 is the wrong first question, and this Reddit round up explains why the backend matters more than the graphics library. Ignition is still the free starting point, but the real skill gap is somewhere else entirely.\nSubscribe for weekly industrial automation and manufacturing discussions.\nLearn more at Joltek:\n- Connecting an Allen Bradley PLC to Ignition: https://www.joltek.com/blog/connecting-allen-bradley-plc-ignition\n- Understanding Industrial Ethernet Reliability: https://www.joltek.com/blog/industrial-ethernet-reliability\n- Humble Beginnings: Consulting and Upskilling in Systems Integration: https://www.joltek.com/blog/humble-beginnings-consulting-upskilling-systems-integration\n- Workforce Development and Education: https://www.joltek.com/services/service-details-workforce-development-education\nSomeone asked which HMI and SCADA platform is worth learning in 2026, and said they wanted something with richer graphical libraries than Wintek or Siemens can offer. The honest answer disappointed the comment section a little. Modern UI components are being commoditized by AI assisted design tools across every platform, Ignition included, so chasing the platform with the prettiest screens is chasing the wrong variable. The place a HMI and SCADA build actually lives or dies is the back end. That means the historian structure, the network that feeds it, and whether the database is organized to answer the questions the plant will eventually ask about batching, throughput, and overall equipment effectiveness. Ignition remains the right free starting point because Inductive University runs a full course at no cost and the gateway trial resets on a two hour cycle indefinitely, but the platform choice matters far less than whether there is a real project waiting to apply it to.\nThe rest of this episode covers four more questions pulled from the top of r/PLC this month. A Siemens PLC salvaged from a flooded scrap panel now runs a Street...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/bLSthDC6mLkQ3vEghIEbytYZBvBBofsfsFEpsA-BvSs/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS83ZDg0/MTRlOGJkNzQxN2Ex/M2NlNjg4N2EwMzI1/MmM4NS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}