Companies that make seasoning and coating systems for snack and bakery applications, which mostly focus on salty snacks like chips, cheese puffs, pretzels, and popcorn, report a number of trends in requests regarding features and benefits from customers of such machines during the COVID-19 pandemic of the past couple years.

The Human Machine Controller from Maple Systems combines an HMI and PLC in one unit. With customizable input/output, the HMC accepts up to five plug-in I/O modules with varying configurations of digital and analog inputs and outputs. The unit is available with a 3.5-in. or a 5.7-in. touchscreen display, each equipped with six function keys adjacent to the screen.