Why is Test Resource Management Required?

Most test operations we encounter aren’t organized for speed and agility.  In fact, practices that are vestiges of the previous industrial revolution lead to costly behaviors like hoarding, which in turn leads to increased costs and constant delays and labs that look more like they’ve been organized for a reality TV show rather than for success.  We write about the cost of hoarding in Asset Management Success Factors:   It’s the Human’s, Stupid. 

Test Resource Management is a derivative of our accelerated Enterprise Asset Management (aEAM) focused by embedded, test-specific knowledge and workflows on the specific challenges of organizations with large investments in test equipment, facilities, and people. It enables companies to organizes their planning and use of test equipment to lower costs, increase availability, and improve test technology.  Every company needs to give itself a fighting by getting organized for success.

Our Founder and CEO puts TRM in the context of the larger changes going on in the marketplace and the challenges of today’s test organizations.

Why Test Resource Management?

There’s no denying it; we are living in the largest, most technologically advanced, and fast-changing global marketplace in human history. The World Economic Forum calls this time the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is a new competitive situation that will require new practices and new ways of thinking in order to stay competitive. The positive and negative consequences are clear when you compare companies like Apple, Google, and Facebook with Blockbuster, Motorola, and Kodak. Companies and individuals can refuse to change, but they can’t refuse the consequences. Today CEOs and senior executives are being ousted for not moving their companies forward fast enough, and almost every major company is in the middle of a major transformation effort. The business of test is no different. Executives responsible for test processes in engineering, manufacturing, and repair/maintenance functions have a daunting task.

“There has never been a time of greater promise, or greater peril.”
Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum

The test function is almost always the last step before product launch and often gets a fair amount of unwanted attention when schedules are missed or costs are above budget. In order to deliver on time and under budget, test processes and organizations have to be able to cope with:

• Constantly changing schedules and priorities
• A complex set of resources (people, equipment, facilities, and services) that lead to unforeseen delays
• A non-standard test infrastructure that is prone to downtime
• Disconnected software and processes that reflect and reinforce the organizational silos of the business
• Incomplete and inaccurate resource data
• Cultural behaviors that are no longer competitive or effective
• An organization skilled at and busy with test that has difficultly imagining a new way

The key to success is to establish, build, and mature a resilient network of test capabilities (people, knowledge, facilities, and equipment) that transcends the silos and enables significant increases in speed, innovation, cost savings, revenue recognition, and growth. By utilizing Scireo®, the expert test management platform we developed, you’ll gain ubiquitous access to pertinent data and workflows, enabling you to make fact-based decisions.

Focused on Results
The Sente Group is completely focused on transforming test organizations into high-performing business operations. When you partner with us, you can expect tangible, breakthrough results. No organization in the world better understands the complex and costly nature of test organizations. For more than 20 years the world’s leading high-tech companies count on us to produce transformational results that grow as practices mature helping to free resources to accelerate strategic projects. If you’re ready to achieve success without the disruption and drama, we’re ready to transform your organization.

Results

• 50% to 75% Capital Budget Reductions
  Stop spending money in areas that don’t truly need it.
• 30% Improved Responsiveness
  Make issues visible, evaluate contingencies and act quickly.
• 400+% Equipment Utilization
  Get the most out of your equipment.