Aegis 2018 User Group Meetings

We recently held an Aegis Software user group meeting, the first one to take place in the UK.  It may seem a little “old-fashioned” to have a face-to-face meeting these days, but even in this world of increasing digitalization, the values of the face to face communication persist.

I was pleasantly surprised to see so many people at the meeting, with many customers coming to a hotel in Buckinghamshire from all over the UK, by plane, train and automobile. Well, perhaps not by train, it is the UK after all. Some attendees to the meeting were mutual competitors, but this is not a business meeting, there are no commercial discussions, and everyone shares a common interest. Ideas and comments were freely exchanged as was information about the latest release of FactoryLogix, software improvement opportunities, as well as an insight into the world of Industry 4.0, and the currently developing IPC CFX IoT communication standard.

We are planning to hold several more user group meetings in 2018 within the UK and Europe. So what could be expected at an Aegis Software user group meeting? For sure, it is great to see updates in the Aegis organization, especially in the interactive areas such as support, and even perhaps to meet senior Aegis management, opportunities for which do not often come along. Updates in software bring the opportunity to talk about the latest features and values from the software. I would expect that we can also pick up a key topic from the software to show a demo of how the latest software innovations are working to solve issues and challenges in production, especially as we go ever forward with digital manufacturing. An exclusive look into the roadmap of upcoming technologies and concepts can also be shared, including further support development associated with Industry 4.0, seeing what they can bring to manufacturing in a practical way. It is also the environment in which to discuss views on enhancing the FactoryLogix software. It can be far easier to understand ideas for improvements having a face-to-face discussion in front of a white-board. Knowing exactly what is needed and the effect that it has in the real production environment is a huge help to prioritize and focus development of new features, most of which can be enjoyed by everyone as part of their support contract.

The information flow is not one-directional. User group meetings are also great opportunities for customers to showcase their latest successes and achievements with the software. Aegis currently offers a program whereby credits can be earned by customers who work with Aegis marketing in any way, which can then be exchanged for services and even licenses. For other members of the meeting, it is a great way to see different perspectives and ideas on how things are used. It can be especially valuable to have the user meeting hosted at a customer site. There can even be certain areas of the manufacturing operation, that are not showing anything commercially sensitive, that can be opened to a tour by the host.

All in all, the time spent at an Aegis user group meeting can be very beneficial. If you are an Aegis customer reading this, what would you like to see at such a meeting? What would you look for in order to justify joining, and where would you like it to be – at or near your site perhaps?  Please tell us what you want from such an event.

Some amazing events to look forward to in 2018!