Has it ever occurred to you that you are using business software and get stuck at the same point again and again: Does that sound familiar? It annoys you that the software just doesn’t fit your processes. Or perhaps you have a clear idea of what your software should be able to do, but you cannot program it yourself, or you don’t want to spend time and money on custom programming. If this situation is unknown to you, then maybe you should ask your employees in production.
Today, there are ways to easily change design and functions of software without having to program. You can even generate your own applications without any programming knowledge: keywords such as modeling, low code and no code describe this approach. As a provider of software solutions for the Smart Factory, we focus on use cases in manufacturing and manufacturing IT. Find out in the following how low code and no code work with our solutions.
Low code means that very little programming is required to develop or customize an application. In other words, less source code needs to be generated or changed, because low code uses graphic editors or description languages. No code doesn’t need any code at all. In both cases, it is quite easy to set up user interfaces or map processes and interrelationships by using methods such as drag-and-drop. In short, developing has become much simpler. This is why we speak of “Modeling Instead of Programming“.
Why do we need modeling at all?
This question is easy to answer when it comes to low code and no code: Due to the shortage of software developers, other specialists must also be able to customize the software as needed. And even if software developers are available, the development process is much quicker through modeling, which also surmounts the barrier that might have existed between the IT department and the colleagues in the shop floor. Modeling helps to map processes in the digital world in a quick and easy way. For this to work, the process owner requires only little IT knowledge, and the IT specialist doesn’t need to know everything about the process. Low code can therefore be seen as a bridge between worlds: the worlds of manufacturing specialists and IT experts are connecting.
Software development not only for developers
Developing and customizing applications is thus becoming a field of action that is no longer reserved for true software developers. Anyone who knows their way around their business and is ready to use simple design tools can do this today. You can use low code to change the sequence of input fields, for example, or to implement a check verifying if the entered value is greater than a specified number. A programmer is not needed here, provided that the solution in use does support low code.
From digital native to citizen developer
In times when virtually everyone owns a smartphone and uses it extensively, dealing with software has become commonplace. The young digital natives don’t even know any different and a life without software is hardly conceivable for them. Thanks to low code and no code, normal people become so-called citizen developers, i.e. lay developers who can make the necessary software changes all by themselves. A missing function can quickly be created with just a few clicks. This description might be exaggerated, but it is certainly possible in theory.
Learn more about low code and no code in our White Paper “Modeling instead of Programming”.
Smart Factory Development Suite
Standard applications need to be customized as production IT has to cope with increasingly complex and individual requirements. Ideally, such customizations are achieved by way of modeling and not by changing the source code (programming). Modeling is also referred to as low code or no code. In this case, either no code at all is required or only little, simple code has to be generated or changed by means of a description language. MPDV has developed the Smart Factory Development Suite to make customizations even simpler. The Smart Factory Development Suite combines all tools required to customize existing applications and to develop new ones. It is part of MPDV’s product portfolio. The Development Suite includes the following four components that are described in more detail in a white paper:
- UI Development Suite
- Business Logic Development Suite
- Enterprise Connectivity Development Suite
- Label & Report Designer