Automatic factory reset and app installation I have a Android tablet for which I want to do a factory reset, and then install some pre-defined applications. 

This has to be carried out by someone who has no computer experience and no Android experience at all. All I get this person to do is connect the device to a computer by cable, and interact with a very simple interface with a couple of buttons. 

All this has to be performed on a well known device and only for that model.

Is it possible to connect a device to a computer and with a couple clicks do all that?

If so, are there any suitable applications which do that already? Would it be necessary to create software for that?

Rooting is no problem.
Possible solutions, in descending order of idealism and difficulty:


Create a custom ROM, with the apps you want on it, which you can flash onto these devices. This question is a good starting place for that.
Write your own app, which automatically installs the other apps. The first answer to this thread provides the code to install apps programmatically.
The easiest solution, if it suits your needs, would to be to use one of many "installer" apps. If you can drop the apps on the tablets after installing your stock ROM (ideally on an SD card), you could then install an "installer" app. Then either run it yourself, or instruct your users to run it and install the listed apps.


In any of these solutions, you will have to write the desktop computer application which has the few-button interface for users, which does the flashing and installing. Whether you do a custom ROM or a stock one, you will have to automate its install. This thread has some help on automating ROM installation.