Recently, no-code software has taken the manufacturing industry by storm. As the name suggests, no-code software allows manufacturers to design complex applications without having to write a single code line. It is a type of software that allows users to design applications without having to interact with backend systems directly. With the help of no code, employees that don’t have technical programming training can build enterprise-ready, complex, and fully-functioning applications quicker and more efficiently than ever before.
In this blog, we’ve covered the importance of no-code software manufacturing today, along with discussing the types of manufacturing solutions and debunking some commonly believed myths about no-code software.
Why No-Code Is The Future Of Manufacturing
Traditional manufacturing software is typically rigid and complex. This isn’t always a bad thing, but it is also difficult and expensive to operate and customize and is falling behind recent technological developments as a result. Where this traditional software lacks, no-code software makes up for it. Simply put, no code software thrives on the traditional flaws and has many benefits in manufacturing, such as:
Improved Efficiency
Since no-code software requires minimal development expertise, employees without technical training can form non-developer teams and take up automation tasks. This frees time for engineering teams to focus on more urgent, higher-skill tasks, boosting efficiency and preventing system overload. A no-code approach allows teams to reconfigure workloads with a greater boost in flexibility and fewer performance downsides.
Greater Agility
The benefits of no-code software considerably overlap that of agile. No code encourages rapid iteration and ensures a better response to change, allowing the system to evolve with fast-paced technological advancements. No-code platforms allow manufacturers to deliver efficient and flexible applications for all device types, ensuring that manufacturers take full advantage of their domain expertise and tackle specific challenges quicker and better than before.
Faster Automation
As no-code is accessible even for engineers with zero prior programming experience and knowledge, it allows workers to design top-notch, advanced solutions to tackle everyday issues without having to write a single line of code. This makes it highly accessible and flexible, opening up space for greater innovation, faster adaptation to change, and automation.
No-code applications have gone a long way in helping businesses overcome the programming gap. Some other advantages of no-code solutions in manufacturing include:
- Better resource allocation management in IT
- Lower costs for testing, developing, and maintaining applications
- Significantly reduced deployment times for newer applications
- Reduced training expenses as no technical programming expertise is required.
Types of Manufacturing Solutions
Many different types of applications can be created with no-code platforms. The final functionality of the app will depend greatly on the particular type of structured data that the manufacturer has fed into the platform. Generally, no-code solutions are used for apps such as:
- Dashboard Apps (that help track productivity, visualize output, and measure sales)
- Calculation Apps (for return on investments and amortization)
- Report Apps (for generating weekly/monthly reports on sales, profits, growth, budget, etc.)
- List Apps (for maintenance, instructions, contacts, etc.)
Some types of apps created through no-code platforms are machine inspection apps, energy consumption calculation apps, location tracker apps, return on investment calculator apps, price list apps, machine hour rate calculation apps, and so much more.
With its benefits of speed, agility, cost-efficiency, and flexibility, the possibilities of top-notch manufacturing no-code solutions are truly endless.
Debunking Myths About No-Code Solutions
As no-code platforms are still relatively newer in the manufacturing scene, there are several misconceptions about these platforms that people largely believe. Below, we’ve talked about three of the major myths and misconceptions about no-code solutions and explained why they aren’t necessarily true.
Myth 1
No Code Still Requires Some Coding
Many people tend to confuse ‘no-code’ solutions with ‘low-code’ solutions and thus believe that no code still needs some extent of coding. However, although these terms tend to be used interchangeably, they are majorly different.
As the name suggests, low-code involves coding, but to a much lesser extent. It is created for developers and helps provide an agile and quick development cycle. No code, however, involves delivering solutions without having to write any code at all. Manufacturers with zero technical training and coding knowledge can use no-code software to provide top-notch solutions quickly and efficiently.
Myth 2
No Code Only Works For Simple Applications
As no code involves no code-writing, many individuals believe it can only yield simple applications that aren’t very high functioning. This belief seems to stem from the assumption that well-rounded, robust applications can only be created with complicated strings of code, but this is quite far from the truth.
Although they limit the development environment to a certain extent, no-code platforms can still be used to create innovative, complex, and multi-layered applications. They can perform high-stress tasks and deliver robust solutions to counter almost every problem on the market floor.
Forbes has written about no-code solutions “No-code platforms have become extremely sophisticated and support rich functionality in apps. It is now possible to build most end-to-end enterprise applications on a no-code platform.”
Experts in no-code solutions have long emphasized how no-code platforms have become extremely sophisticated and support rich complexity and functionality in apps. Most end-to-end enterprise applications can easily be created on a no-code platform.
As reported by Forbes, Seshadri says “In terms of other key misconceptions, many people think that no-code apps are primarily about drag-and-drop UIs. Not only is this untrue, a drag-and-drop UI is not really declarative.” This makes it clear that no-code solutions have thus far yielded great results and hold immense potential for the future of automation in manufacturing.
Myth 3
No Code Doesn’t Scale Well
Many individuals believe that no-code solutions do not allow scaling. This is also a myth because no-code solutions actually scale better than their fully-coded counterparts. This is because the code does not need to be manually edited to accommodate future needs and can be updated and maintained very efficiently. As users are also equipped to make changes in no-code applications, in reality, they mostly scale much better than fully-coded solutions.
