Breda, 12 July 2023
My role as a PlateButler application specialist requires in-depth knowledge of all aspects of PlateButler: its functionality, the technical details, ease of use and understanding the possibilities in terms of integration with other systems. It’s also essential for me to keep abreast of the latest developments and most recent updates within PlateButler to enable me to provide users with effective assistance in the event of any queries or technical issues arising.
As an application specialist, my day usually starts with running through my diary and responding to e-mails. My diary mainly features meetings on project kick-offs. These meetings see us discuss whether any further improvements or modifications can be made to the platform once a system has been sold. My day can also start with me working on the systems in the workshop. That’s the case this week as the installation team have just completed two systems and now it’s down to me to get these systems up and running.
Hence I’m straight into the workshop today. I set to work on integrating the PlateButler software that the programmers programmed specially for these systems. I get the system up and running by installing software and performing a communication check. The communication check entails me testing whether or not a device is communicating correctly with the computer.
I then move on to testing the equipment. I run commands to check whether everything is working properly. If any troubleshooting needs to be done, then I consult with the software department to try and find the root cause of the problem. The software department usually get to the bottom of the problem swiftly and they’ll know how they need to solve it.
Once the troubleshooting has been completed successfully, I’ll ‘teach’ the robot how it needs to move. I then formulate a script. Teaching this script can take a great deal of time as it has to be extremely accurate. It’s often a while before the script is running absolutely perfectly, which is why troubleshooting and fine-tuning are important aspects of my role. The amount of time I’ll spend working on a system also depends on the number of protocols that need to be run. After all, if multiple protocols have to be running on a single system, then it can take some time before everything has been set up and tested.
Today I’m able to complete one of the two new platforms, after which the system can be shipped off to the customer and reconstructed there. The fact that the platform is going to be reconstructed by the installation engineers at another site means that in due course I’ll ‘teaching’, performing the communication check again, etc. It’s a rapid process because we’ve already tested the system internally. I’ll then provide the customer with training on the system. This afternoon’s schedule includes the prep work for this training. The primary aim of it is to ensure that the customer will be in a position to perform the tasks as effectively as possible, thereby enabling them to get the most out of the platform. I teach them all the ins and outs so that they can work with the system independently. Our software’s ease of use makes this a piece of cake.
While I’m doing the prep work for the training, I get a call from another customer at whose site we recently installed a new platform. The customer is keen to add some extra functionality to the system. My job is to look into how we might be able to implement these additional functions. My remit includes seeing to this hypercare phase.