From the operator's perspective: Which equipment and software are best?

Starting from the perspective of the operator, we compare the ease of use, practicality, and costs of learning multiple industrial control software packages. We cover software evaluation, details of operational experience, and common pain points, to help users quickly choose the industrial control software that best suits their needs.

Why is the experience of using a product more important than its functions?

Anyone who has worked in a production plant knows that no matter how powerful a piece of equipment's software is, if its interface is sluggish or its menu logic is chaotic, it can be a real source of frustration.Many vendors emphasize "intelligent algorithms" and "advanced functions" in their marketing, but operators are mainly concerned with three things: How quickly can the interface be mastered? How quickly can the system respond to commands? And when problems occur, does the system provide clear instructions?

How to pick software?

The six mainstream industrial software packages that were compared were all tested by five operators with more than three years of experience.The evaluation focuses on four areas.

Whether the menu hierarchy is reasonable.

For example, although a certain imported software package had a lot of functions, you had to go through five layers of menus to find the parameters you wanted to calibrate. When working overtime at night, it was especially easy to make a mistake.By comparison, the quick entry design for the domestic B software is on the right side of the home page, and can be operated with one hand.

Are the warning messages clear enough?

The most bizarre error message I've ever encountered was "E-0341 communication failure." I had to look up the manual to find out that it meant my network cable wasn't plugged in tightly enough.Some software even comes with short videos demonstrating the troubleshooting process.

Is the customization function flexible?

The old hands like to be able to save their personal settings, for instance changing the color of frequently used function keys to red, or adjusting the position of the coordinate display.Some software doesn't even let you change the font size in the interface, and after staring at it for a long time your eyes get especially tired.

Who's the best?

After two weeks of practical tests, the C factory's software version 2023 came out on top.The "new user guidance mode" will pop up a window with instructions in real-time, but experienced users can turn the feature off.The most surprising feature is the gesture interface: You can enlarge the process path map by simply sliding two fingers across the screen. It's much more convenient than using a traditional scroll wheel.

However, it should be noted that some low-priced software has the problem of "false fluency.For example, D software might run smoothly in demonstration mode, but it might suddenly lock up when loading a large file. This kind of problem can only be exposed by long-term use.

How to Avoid the Pitfalls: What are the key details to look for when choosing software?

He suggests that when visiting a manufacturer, you should take your own process along to see if it will work.Focus on these two scenes.

The procedures for resuming operations after an emergency suspension.

Good software can remember all the parameters before it was interrupted, but bad software requires all the tool compensation values to be re-entered.

How smooth is the switching between tasks?

If the software gets hot when both the CAM programming and machining monitoring are running at the same time, or if the touchscreen response time exceeds two seconds, you should be wary.

And one final piece of advice: Don't just rely on the training videos provided by the manufacturers, but try out older versions of the software. A lot of the logic behind the operations hasn't changed in ten years. If you find an older version of the software hard to use, there's a good chance that the new version will be the same.