Adaptability

<h2 id="terminology">Terminology</h2>
<p>In the life sciences the term <i>adaptability</i> is used variously.  At one end of the spectrum, the ordinary meaning of the word suffices for understanding.  At the other end, there is the term as introduced by Conrad,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> referring to a particular <a href="/facts/Entropy_(information_theory)/NLg4NLvt">information entropy</a> measure of the biota of an ecosystem, or of any subsystem of the biota, such as a population of a single species, a single individual, cell, protein or gene.
</p><p>In the technical research field this feature has been considered only since the late 1990s. H. P. Wiendahl first introduced adaptability as a necessary feature of a <a href="/facts/Manufacturing_Execution_Systems/owd2l79s">manufacturing system</a> in 1999.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> The need to consider adaptability arose in the context of factory planning, where it is an objective to develop modular, adaptable systems.  It has now become an important consideration for manufacturing and system engineers.
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<h2 id="adaptability-of-a-system">Adaptability of a system</h2>
<p class="note">Further information: <a href="/facts/Adaptation_(computer_science)/Uo3kejgR">Adaptation (computer science)</a></p>
<p>Adaptability is to be understood here as the ability of a <a href="/facts/System/hmqQ4ASX">system</a> (e.g. a <a href="/facts/Computer_system/SQe1aK05">computer system</a>) to adapt itself efficiently and fast to changed circumstances. An <a href="/facts/Adaptive_system/H5oMdF0h">adaptive system</a> is therefore an <a href="/facts/Open_system_(systems_theory)/lmzo8gh1">open system</a> that is able to fit its behaviour according to changes in its environment or in parts of the system itself. That is why a requirement to recognise the demand for change without any other factors involved can be expressed.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a>
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<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Ecological_resilience/UrwmDwj5">Ecological resilience</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Max_Mckeown/ktlw65kj">Max Mckeown</a>, author of <i>Adaptability: The Art of Winning in an Age of Uncertainty</i></li></ul>

Look up <i>adaptability</i> in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Andresen, K., Gronau, N.: An Approach to Increase Adaptability in ERP Systems. In: Managing Modern Organizations with Information Technology : Proceedings of the 2005 Information Resources Management Association International Conference, 2005. <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>Conrad, Michael (1983). Adaptability, the Significance of Variability from Molecule to Ecosystem. New York: Plenum Press. ISBN 9781461583271. <a href="9781461583271" target="_blank">9781461583271</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>Conrad, M. 1972.  Statistical and Hierarchical Aspects of Biological Organization.  pp. 189-220 in Towards a Theoretical Biology, Vol. 4, ed. by C. H. Waddington, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. <a href="/wiki/C._H._Waddington" target="_blank">/wiki/C._H._Waddington</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>Wiendahl, H.-P.; Hernández, R.; Scheffczyk, H. (1999): Die Wandlungsfähige Fabrik – Ansätze und Lösungen, Tagungsband zur Fachkonferenz, Frankfurt am Main, 26. und 27. April (1999) <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>Andresen, K., Gronau, N.: An Approach to Increase Adaptability in ERP Systems. In: Managing Modern Organizations with Information Technology: Proceedings of the 2005 Information Resources Management Association International Conference, 2005. <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>Andresen, K.: Design and Use Patterns of Adaptability in Enterprise Systems, Gito, Berlin; 2006; S. 52 <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
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Adaptability open-in-new

Adaptability