How does the workforce - including the works council - react to the introduction of MES software? Are there country-specific differences here?
Companies that invest in MES solutions usually aim for a rapid return on investment. In this context, those affected by the changeover often ask themselves whether the desired profit maximization is not primarily at the expense of the employees. There are major differences in mentality in the DACH region alone: While transparency is seen as positive in Austria and Switzerland, resistance is often encountered in Germany - which is probably also due to stricter data protection laws and the basic principles of the works constitution. Works councils in particular often question whether an MES is even a monitoring system.

Is the introduction of production planning software associated with a rationalization of jobs? What is your experience of this?
In discussions with customers and interested parties, it becomes clear that companies are not interested in replacing or even reducing the number of employees. Rather, it is about relieving them of activities that add little value and consume resources - for example, the manual management of lists or the disorganized search for products in various interim warehouses.

How can companies get employees or the works council to vote in favor of such software?
Our experience has shown that it is necessary to involve skeptics in particular at an early stage when considering an MES acquisition. Normally, trust develops over the course of the project and the realization that an MES creates the basis for an objective view of the production process on the one hand and provides a tool for increasing efficiency on the other. It is therefore important to point out the opportunities that arise for companies and employees as a result of an MES. In many projects, it is even astonishing how an extremely high level of acceptance develops among employees across generational boundaries. The prerequisite for this is, of course, a coherent company philosophy that allows the use of a suitable tool. In coordination with this, a clear objective is also required that is in line with the expected benefits.

Do the systems make the workers' work easier or, on the contrary, does it become more difficult?
You shouldn't just differentiate between easier and more difficult. Basically, production workers are given a tool that helps them to optimize their work steps and make them more transparent. Individually organized, task-oriented applications and user interfaces are designed to provide targeted support for production tasks. The interface design provides more functionality while at the same time making it easier to use. The reason for this lies in the collection of large amounts of data, which can then be displayed selectively and clearly. Nowadays, the right information can be made available in the right place at the right time. And with the following objective: to relieve production employees of the burden of fulfilling their multifunctional tasks by means of primarily automatically recorded data and at the same time to provide them with real added value through the evaluation and provision of relevant data. The user only has to learn how to use the software efficiently, which should not be too difficult given the high usability of modern MES systems such as Cronetwork from Industrie Informatik.

Can you give us a concrete example of how work is changing?
Let's take traditional production planning and control as an example. This is characterized by an order situation that is difficult to control and manage manually and a large number of coordination meetings between employees and foremen. The end result is often the uncertainty of having exchanged the wrong information with the wrong colleagues. A cycle is set in motion that requires a lot of time and resources. With an MES system, on the other hand, all employees involved in value creation - both in planning and in production - receive the same information about the current production process in real time. There is no need to manually survey the current production situation. Detailed production planning also enables the planner to visualize the actual production process and any necessary order rescheduling is communicated electronically directly to the worker at the machine.

How long will it take the staff to familiarize themselves with the new system?
Usability is one of the principles according to which we at Industrie Informatik develop and advance our software. Accordingly, using Cronetwork is very intuitive and easy to learn. Individually customizable interfaces also make operation easier. With the Cronetwork Academy and various web demos, we also offer a comprehensive training program for users. Our software is always implemented according to a proven project process. This means that end users receive a solution tailored to their requirements, which they learn to use in a short space of time. This is also indispensable in this form, as our customers often use temporary workers in their production and they must be able to participate actively and efficiently in the production process after the shortest possible training - which also includes MES use.