Enterprise test software (ETS) is a type of
software
Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.
...
that
electronics
The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
and other manufacturers use to standardize
product testing
File:Consumer Reports - product testing - electric light longevity and brightness testing.tif, Testing electric light longevity and brightness testing
File:Consumer Reports - product testing - television testing laboratory.tif, Television testin ...
enterprise-wide, rather than simply in the
test engineer
A test engineer is a professional who determines how to create a process that would best test a particular product in manufacturing and related disciplines, in order to assure that the product meets applicable specifications. Test engineers are als ...
ing department. It is designed to integrate and synchronize test systems to other enterprise functions such as
research and development
Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...
(R&D),
new product introduction
In business and engineering, new product development (NPD) covers the complete process of bringing a new product to market, renewing an existing product or introducing a product in a new market. A central aspect of NPD is product design, along w ...
(NPI),
manufacturing
Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a ...
, and
supply chain
In commerce, a supply chain is a network of facilities that procure raw materials, transform them into intermediate goods and then final products to customers through a distribution system. It refers to the network of organizations, people, activ ...
, overseeing the collaborative test processes between engineers and managers in their respective departments.
Details
Like most
enterprise software
Enterprise software, also known as enterprise application software (EAS), is computer software used to satisfy the needs of an organization rather than individual users. Such organizations include businesses, schools, interest-based user group ...
subcategories, ETS represents an evolution away from custom-made, in-house software development by
original equipment manufacturer
An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is generally perceived as a company that produces non-aftermarket parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. It is a common industry term recognized and used by many professional or ...
s (OEM). It typically replaces a cumbersome, unsophisticated, test management infrastructure that manufacturers have to redesign for every new product launch. Some large companies, such as
Alcatel Alcatel may refer to:
* Alcatel, a former French telecommunications equipment company, which became Alcatel-Lucent and is now part of Nokia
* Alcatel Mobile, a brand of mobile phones, tablets and wearables, formerly a joint venture between Alcatel ...
,
Cisco
Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational corporation, multinational digital communications technology conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develo ...
, and
Nortel
Nortel Networks Corporation (Nortel), formerly Northern Telecom Limited, was a Canadian Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications and data networking equipment manufacturer headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was foun ...
, develop ETS systems internally to standardize and accelerate their test engineering activities, while others such as
Harris Corporation
Harris Corporation was an American technology company, defense contractor, and information technology services provider that produced wireless equipment, tactical radios, electronic systems, night vision equipment and both terrestrial and spac ...
and Freescale Semiconductor choose
commercial off-the-shelf
Commercial off-the-shelf or commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) products are packaged or canned (ready-made) hardware or software, which are adapted aftermarket to the needs of the purchasing organization, rather than the commissioning of ...
ETS options for advantages that include test data management and report generation. This need results from the extensive characterization efforts associated with IC design, characterization, validation, and verification. ETS accelerates design improvements through test system management and version control.
ETS supports test system development and can be interconnected with
manufacturing execution systems
Manufacturing execution systems (MES) are computerized systems used in manufacturing to track and document the transformation of raw materials to finished goods. MES provides information that helps manufacturing decision-makers understand how curr ...
(MES),
enterprise resource planning
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is the integrated management of main business processes, often in real time and mediated by software and technology. ERP is usually referred to as a category of business management software—typically a sui ...
(ERP), and
product lifecycle management
In industry, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is the process of managing the entire lifecycle of a product from its inception through the engineering, design and manufacture, as well as the service and disposal of manufactured products. P ...
(PLM) software packages to eliminate double-data entry and enable
real-time
Real-time or real time describes various operations in computing or other processes that must guarantee response times within a specified time (deadline), usually a relatively short time. A real-time process is generally one that happens in defined ...
information sharing throughout all company departments.
Enterprise-wide test applications
ETS covers five major enterprise-wide test applications.
*Test and automation—By using ETS in conjunction with
virtual instrumentation
Virtual instrumentation is the use of customizable software and modular measurement hardware to create user-defined measurement systems, ''called virtual instruments''.
Traditional hardware instrumentation systems are made up of fixed hardware co ...
programming tool
A programming tool or software development tool is a computer program that software developers use to create, debug, maintain, or otherwise support other programs and applications. The term usually refers to relatively simple programs, that can b ...
s, design and test engineers avoid custom
software programming
Computer programming is the process of performing a particular computation (or more generally, accomplishing a specific computing result), usually by designing and building an executable computer program. Programming involves tasks such as anal ...
unrelated to device characterization, and can thereby accelerate test system development.
*Product
data management
Data management comprises all disciplines related to handling data as a valuable resource.
Concept
The concept of data management arose in the 1980s as technology moved from sequential processing (first punched cards, then magnetic tape) to ...
—In this application, the engineer collects, stores, aggregates, distributes, and shares product and test data in a central database. One significant advantage of ETS is reported to be product
traceability Traceability is the capability to trace something. In some cases, it is interpreted as the ability to verify the history, location, or application of an item by means of documented recorded identification.
Other common definitions include the capab ...
. It is designed to make performance reporting easier, and to increase the chances that products are built correctly, from the first
prototype, reducing design iterations.
*
Process control
An industrial process control in continuous production processes is a discipline that uses industrial control systems to achieve a production level of consistency, economy and safety which could not be achieved purely by human manual control. ...
—The engineer manages the flow of activities between test, repair, and assembly stations, and enforces or suggests how a set of work instructions are to be applied. This application is designed to orchestrate product test strategies from
validation
Validation may refer to:
* Data validation, in computer science, ensuring that data inserted into an application satisfies defined formats and other input criteria
* Forecast verification, validating and verifying prognostic output from a numerica ...
to delivery.
*Multi-site collaboration—This purpose of this application is avoid
time zone
A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between countries and their subdivisions instead of strictly following longitude, because i ...
difficulties and error-prone updates of new product and test system releases, by sharing information with other departments and remote
contract manufacturer
A contract manufacturer (CM) is a manufacturer that contracts with a firm for components or products (in which case it is a turnkey supplier). It is a form of outsourcing. A contract manufacturer performing packaging operations is called copacker ...
s electronically. It is designed to offer real-time visibility over global test operations.
*Test asset management—This application is intended to help design and test engineers track
product configurations, tolerances, test sequences, and software being used by each test system, as well as distribute new updates electronically in real-time. Engineers can update their test systems automatically, in synch with their new releases.
See also
*
Commercial off-the-shelf
Commercial off-the-shelf or commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) products are packaged or canned (ready-made) hardware or software, which are adapted aftermarket to the needs of the purchasing organization, rather than the commissioning of ...
*
Electronic test equipment
Electronic test equipment is used to create signals and capture responses from electronic devices under test (DUTs). In this way, the proper operation of the DUT can be proven or faults in the device can be traced. Use of electronic test equipmen ...
*
Enterprise Data Management
Enterprise data management (EDM) is the ability of an organization to precisely define, easily integrate and effectively retrieve data for both internal applications and external communication. EDM focuses on the creation of accurate, consistent, ...
*
Enterprise resource planning
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is the integrated management of main business processes, often in real time and mediated by software and technology. ERP is usually referred to as a category of business management software—typically a sui ...
*
Enterprise software
Enterprise software, also known as enterprise application software (EAS), is computer software used to satisfy the needs of an organization rather than individual users. Such organizations include businesses, schools, interest-based user group ...
*
Process control
An industrial process control in continuous production processes is a discipline that uses industrial control systems to achieve a production level of consistency, economy and safety which could not be achieved purely by human manual control. ...
*
Test automation
In software testing, test automation is the use of software separate from the software being tested to control the execution of tests and the comparison of actual outcomes with predicted outcomes. Test automation can automate some repetitive bu ...
References
{{Reflist
General
*''Wall Street Journal'' June 19, 200
*''Wall Street & Technology'', February 21, 200
*''BusinessWeek'', May 24, 200
*''Dell'' (white paper), February 200
*''University of California'' (lecture), November 30, 200
*''Evaluation Engineering'', September 200
*''World Intellectual Property Organization'', 200
*''Evaluation Engineering'', October 199
*''Evaluation Engineering'', May 1996
Software testing tools
Electronic engineering
Electronics manufacturing
Hardware testing
Quality control