Let's imagine the scene.
You are working in your industrial environment and you accidentally drop your work piece, hammer or screwdriver on the plastic keyboard you are using.
Crack.
Broken keyboard.
So off you go, stop production, delay, call the production manager (or IT manager) because you can't enter data on the computer, who arrives muttering and half-frustrated because he was doing something else and has to go and replace a keyboard.
(Based on a true story)
Commercial plastic keyboards have this flaw: they are not very durable and not at all suitable for an industrial environment like yours.
If you have arrived on this page, you probably work in a heavy industrial sector, such as metal workshops or find yourself in contact with large industrial machinery, into which suitable keyboards must be fitted.
Or you need to insert keypads into steel machinery, totems, ATMs, or ATMs. Or you work in a meat slaughtering or food industry sector and are looking for a durable, waterproof keyboard suitable for your industry.
This is why plastic keyboards are not suitable for an industrial environment
Placing plastic keyboards in industrial machinery is not only counterproductive due to the fact that the keyboards have to be of a certain size and dimension (and not all of them are), but also because they are not even as durable as the machinery containing them.
And what does it follow from this?
That the keyboard cannot be used properly: it gets damaged and breaks.
Just as we have seen before.
In addition to this aspect, there is also another one to consider, more aesthetic but no less important.
To put a plastic keyboard inside a steel industrial machine is to belittle the whole machine.
Imagine seeing a plastic keyboard embedded in an industrial machine.
Your machinery is aesthetically beautiful and state-of-the-art: but it has a plastic keyboard for data entry.
Perfect machinery, plastic keyboard. A bit like having a Ferrari with plastic wheel covers.
Doesn't make a good impression, does it?
But let's take another example: food industry.
You are working in contact with oily materials and animal fat.
You're wearing gloves - of course - and you can't take them off, even if you have to use the keyboard.
Remember: you are always using a plastic keyboard.
And when you touch the keys with gloves soiled with grease, oil, blood and animal parts, all this dirt sticks to the keyboard, it sticks: it seeps between the keys and never leaves.
Yes, because you may not know it, but the plastic keyboards you insist on using for your food industry environment all have this nasty vice: they are not washable.
Not even if you stand there every day and take the keys apart, one by one, and dig underneath to try and remove all the dirt that has accumulated over time.
That is why, very often, to protect yourself from water and liquids, you even have to wrap them with cellophane every day.
Only then can you make them waterproof (in a manner of speaking, of course).
Imagine if you work in a meat-slaughtering environment, where you need to clean and wash everything with water, after your shift is over: if you use a plastic keyboard, you won't be able to wash it like you do the rest of the environment, because it only takes a few drops of water to break it down permanently!
So, to recap.
You, who work in a food industry sector, are using a computer tool that:
is not hygienic,
is not waterproof
and even breaks!
Plastic keyboards break, corrode, accumulate dirt between the keys and are totally unsuitable for use in industrial machinery.
In your industry, you should have a requirement for durable computer equipment that is suitable for insertion into machinery, and that guarantees safety and resistance to shocks and weathering.
And the common commercial plastic keyboards you find in circulation cannot meet these requirements.
Which keyboards to use in industrial machinery
Every field of work needs specific computer tools that are perfectly suited...
to the environment,
the work situation
and the machinery inside it.
In an industrial environment such as food processing or meat slaughtering, for example, you cannot insert plastic keyboards for the reasons we listed above.
Neither can you use them in steel machinery, totems, ATMs or ATMs, for example, where much more rigid, resistant keyboards of the right size are required to fit into the specific machinery.
And this is where steel or metal keypads come in, which find their perfect application in industrial machinery or food industry environments.
Metal keyboards: what are the characteristics
Metal keyboards are suitable for the industrial sector because they are:
- robust and resistant
Steel or metal keyboards are rigid and withstand adverse external conditions. They have a vandal-proof structure that makes them suitable for kiosks/totems and ATM structures: they are suitable for being inserted into machinery and can be used in the metalworking or food industry sectors.
- They are water-resistant.
With IP65 certification, they are water-, dust- and outdoor-proof. Thus, you can also use them outdoors.
- Because they are industrial, they last forever and never break.
For which sectors metal keyboards are suitable
Steel keypads are suitable for the following sectors:
- industrial sector.
If you work in harsh, dirty, humid environments, you need a solid structure, and metal keypads are requested by our customers to be built into specialised machinery.
Impact-resistant, their all-stainless steel construction allows you to INTEGRATE them anywhere thanks to their front-panel, rear-panel or desktop mounting.
- kiosks and ATMs.
Metal keypads are the only ones suitable for installation in the industrial sector, in machines such as kiosks and ATMs.
This is because they can guarantee security against break-ins thanks to their anti-vandalism design.
- food industry.
Steel keypads have no gaps between the keys, so dust and dirt that are usually present in food industry environments cannot infiltrate. For the same reason, they are totally impervious to water and external agents.
If you need to wash industrial machinery, you can do so without any problems if you have chosen to put steel keyboards in the machinery.
If you are looking for a metal industrial keyboard but do not know which model and configuration is right for you, contact us!
Industrial Keyboards' decades of experience have enabled us to develop a wide range of stainless steel keyboards perfectly suited for the industrial sector, with fully dedicated expert support.
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And get a free consultation with one of our technical experts!
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