Working in the metrology industry comes with its own set of unique challenges and this is coupled with the rising demands from the global manufacturing sector on meeting higher production volumes in ever-tighter timeframes.
This is why it becomes important to invest in a 3D metrology software solution that is as user-friendly as possible, because it means bigger teams can easily and accessibly get more work done in real-time, regardless of where they are located.
The challenges with weak 3D metrology software solutions
All forms of technology are designed and built with the intentions and purposes of making lives easier, providing some form of convenience and improving the quality of something by saving on time and money. The same applies when it comes to most 3D metrology software solutions that are available on the market.
That said, in some instances, there are certain challenges which metrologists can face when it comes to working with software, including:
- the lack of visual representations or 3D views of measuring devices and measurements being taken
- only using one particular programming language (mainly DMIS)
- relying more on numerical data and spreadsheets
- performing multiple clicks to execute a single function
- not easily customisable to suit specific metrological and commercial requirements
So, how can a 3D metrology software solution be user-friendly?
The good news is there are many ways in which a 3D metrology software solution can be user-friendly. Simply look for the following features:
- Being highly visual in format: this makes it easy to comprehend complex data in short amount of time and thereby get more work done by harnessing the power of graphical, global, 3D interfaces.
- Being universal: working with any application, device or brand as well as being able to work with different measurement programs within the one software solution.
- Being click-efficient: this should be an important priority for 3D metrology software engineers to create features that reduce the number of clicks made to perform individual functions. For this, they need to have a deep understanding of the specific user profiles who are going to be leveraging the software for their daily work activities.
- Being highly customisable: to meet the highly specific metrology requirements and facilitating personalisation features for users to be able to customise certain parameters or settings that suits their working needs, including the geographies that they are based in.
- Being supportive to new CAD formats: to help users work with the latest versions of CAD files available.
- Being user-centric: by reducing the number of clicks to perform functions, increasing the number of keyboard shortcuts (and making these visibly known to users), leveraging visual interfaces, as well as monitoring and managing the number of instances when users switch between different menus indicate that a 3D metrology software solution is highly user-centric and therefore user-friendly.
For all these reasons, it is definitely worth considering and investing in a 3D metrology software solution that is highly user-friendly.