Low-code is an outlet, and probably many people agree. According to Microsoft, low-code/no-code skills are an underexploited skill set that many business decision makers and users find that this skill can solve many challenges, which is also reflected in the findings of the Low Code Trend Index report , the report surveyed 1,000 industry workers on their experience of using similar tools (reported by Dingtoutiao on May 26, 2022).
The main points of the report include that efficiency and ease of use are the key drivers for users to adopt low-code/no-code technology. Nearly 90% of users surveyed said that low-code can have a positive impact on productivity, and 83% of respondents Users believe that the technology allows them to develop some applications without a dedicated development team. More than 80% of surveyed users believe that low-code/no-code platforms give them the opportunity to improve their knowledge or technical skills.
Low code is so, what about zero code? Is it more shocking, no. The author was just invited to participate in an event hosted by PricewaterhouseCoopers China and Mingdaoyun, from which I can also glimpse the charm of zero code.
The name of this event is quite cool, "Enterprise Zero Code Hackathon". Hosted by PwC China and Mingdao Cloud, jointly promoted by InfoQ and iResearch, jointly supported by Sematic, Jijianyun, Zion and China Computer Federation (CCF) Youth Computer Technology Forum. In the finals, 10 teams competed on the spot and created zero-code digital solutions with great innovation, creativity and commercial value within 24 hours.
Can zero code make complex systems?
Can zero code make complex systems? To be honest, the author was also skeptical about this sentence before. The display of the ACIS project made the author have to look at the zero code with admiration.
The ACIS project leader introduced some characteristics of this project, which belongs to the field of industrial enterprise management. Procurement of materials, production, inventory, and sales are a series of links, and there are some risks before there is a system to connect all links. For example, in the process of checking the completeness of materials, due to the lack of data linkage between procurement management and production scheduling, information transmission lags behind and production timing is delayed.
业务人员给管理层做汇报之前，需要先找IT技术人员支持去数据库查询数据，再导出excel。而使用这套零代码产品后，业务人员完全可以实现按需配置对应的图表和大盘。The ACIS project leader passionately summed up the key words: three online, three digital. Which four are online? All operations are online, main process nodes are online, and all abnormal problems are online. Four digitization refers to the digitization of link circulation, digitization of operation behavior and digitization of key indicators.
The ACIS project leader also posted key pictures, including sales order, BOM list management, automated workflow, workflow design, automatic sales dashboard and on-site management large screen. (High energy ahead, pay attention to more pictures!!!)
Sales Order Management
BOM list management
automated workflow
workflow design
Custom Sales Dashboard
On-site: Manage the big screen
After the ACIS project leader demonstrated the whole solution on the spot, everyone agreed with it. When we thought everything was exciting enough, the captain also sent us a set of statistics from "Versailles".
The leader of the ACIS project said that this product built with Mingdao Cloud was actually used in the core supplier of a listed company in the machinery industry with an output value of 380 million. The benefits are as follows:
1.每月平均2500行订单，逾期订单行数从205行降低到47行，目前稳定在30行左右 （优化77%）
2.机加工生产产出比从87%提高到153%（优化75%）
3.质量四天检验逾期行数从120行降低到5行（优化96%）Does zero code grow on the ground or float in the sky?
The author was greatly shocked, and wanted to know more about the scale of the work required if these products were completely self-developed? Therefore, through offline interviews with the teams of the three award-winning works, a form was made. It is specifically stated that due to differences in products in different industries, the span of the number of months of benchmarking is relatively large, but it can already explain the problem.
| work | business type | product type | Entries Convert man days |
of the benchmark product Person-months |
| Qiwei Assistant | Sales Management and Marketing Automation Management | SCRM | 6 person days |
3-8 man-months |
| EYES | Manufacturing process management (sales/order/inventory/purchase/production/transportation/finance) | Whole process management of discrete manufacturing industry | 6 person days | 12-36 man-months |
Grain and oil shop ERP |
Invoicing management for offline retail stores | ERP | 6 person days | 3 man-months |
The logic of man-day conversion for entries is as follows. The participating teams work in groups of 2 and complete the work within 24 hours, which is calculated as 8 hours per day, which is counted as 6 man-days.
As the saying goes, speak with data. Taking "Qiwei Assistant" as an example, self-research for 3-8 months, even if calculated as a minimum of 3 person-months, is 11 times that of 6 person-days (3*22/6). The comparison of ACIS is even more telling, as high as 44 to 132 times.
Why is the zero-code platform so powerful, even for more complex scenarios? Mr. Xiang Hui, CEO of Mingdaoyun, told the truth in the interview.
The complexity of enterprise applications comes from many business objects and fields, and long business processes. But almost all enterprise applications share strong schema similarities. Therefore, zero-code application platforms can use modular design thinking to solve complexity problems. No matter how complex the system is, it is composed of highly reusable modules, and the complexity of each single module can be controlled for easy learning. Through ever-changing combinations, our products can solve a variety of enterprise digitalization problems. So, let me conclude that the zero-code application platform is not only capable of doing simple tasks, it is just relatively easy to learn, and through combination and expansion, it can also solve complex data and process management needs in enterprises.
Zero code has a lot to offer
How to achieve rapid R&D and launch, the zero-code platform is indispensable. While watching the demonstration on stage, the author recorded which zero-code product functions were used in this solution.
-工作表（数据建模和收集存储）
-视图
-统计
-自定义页面（嵌入BI大屏、构建销售/生产/采购/仓库的数据驾驶舱）
-角色（管理各部门员工的数据操作权限）
-外部门户（上下游客户可以参与系统内的数据协作，查看订单进度）
-工作流（复杂流程自动化执行）
-集成中心（集成了实时汇率查询的API）
笔者在和主办方明道云交流中，了解到零代码大赛的数据也是可视化呈现的。他们向我展示了这样一组数据。这是所有决赛作品的后台数据，是24小时内做出了表单和工作流的统计。我们可以看到ACIS 这个项目涉及到45张表。
这个规模的软件，如果完全自研，工作量必然不小。笔者前文对比过ACIS 项目自研所需要的工作量至少在12人月以上。零代码平台的价值在于，极大降低了应用开发的门槛，能够快速实现应用程序的开发，你甚至都不需要掌握任何编程语言，就能轻松搭建出符合企业业务流程的系统。
对于不少企业而言，本身并没有专职的IT研发团队，使用零代码平台直接赋能业务，是快速且经济的方式。明道云的向晖总曾经指出，零代码平台不仅是一个应用产品，可以解决一些具体的数字化问题，它更是一个提升全体员工数字化素养的途径。通过使用零代码平台搭建应用，管理业务数据和流程，用户可以对企业数字化的价值、实现过程有一个切身的感受。培育他们在业务数据记录、分类、结构化、模块化、自动化和数据分析和洞察等方面的思维习惯。
最后，告诉大家一下好消息！明道云的向晖总授权“技术琐话”给大家带来福利。了解低代码，从《零代码应用搭建指南》和《各行业零代码企业应用案例集锦》入手。
扫描下方二维码，免费领取《零代码应用搭建指南》和《各行业零代码企业应用案例集锦》。