It is increasingly clear that there are indispensable technologies, not in terms of smartphones, tablets and computers but of technologies used by the latter.
Whatis usability?
It is convenient to start from the definition of usability. According to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, usability is the ease with which a user learns to operate a system or component, provide inputs, and interpret outputs.
According to ISO 13407, the usability of an interface is the measure of the effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction with which certain users can perform certain tasks in a given context using this interface.
Who cares about usability?
Usability affects companies as a product with high usability brings the following benefits:
- Greater user satisfaction;
- Lower support costs;
- Lower training costs;
- Less need for updates and maintenance releases;
- Easier documentation to create;
- More productive users with less stress.
Software instead of operators?
People who work in manufacturing companies are excited to adopt and use the new APS technologies, because they change our daily work activities for the better and because they do not replace the human factor but support it in its daily activities by enhancing its capabilities. The systems and technologies we are talking about, in fact, are not designed to take the place of people, but to support them in their daily routines by enhancing their skills and leaving them a greater amount of time to devote to rewarding and high added value activities. This is due to the fact that APS use automation for all the most repetitive and low-value tasks leaving the final decision making to the planner.
The human being at the centre of planning
Another reason that leads people and therefore companies to implement these improvement and evolution projects is a reason that is sometimes rather overlooked: the fact that they are intuitive technologies that always take into account the human element and its interaction with software. As a result, the usability aspect assumes considerable importance, this feature makes the difference in new technologies, precisely because the human being is the main element of companies. The operator is put at the centre of any process and usability guarantees an effective interaction between man and the new technology. Will the APS therefore change the habits that operators have consolidated over time? Undoubtedly it will… but with a remarkably positive result.
How to get a high usability APS
If you want to find out how to obtain advanced production planning and scheduling software with finite capacity simulation and reasoning capabilities, contact a Cybertec expert. Find answers to your questions, we will be happy to help you.
