Automating Test Operations to Improve Quality and Productivity

The use of personal computers, DOS programs, and Windows software applications can greatly reduce cycle time and labor costs, lower product costs, increase operator efficiency, and improve product quality. ITT´s Gallium Arsenide Technology Center is automating test operations by converting various manual tasks into computer-executed work-flow tasks. We were able to slash the amount of time required to complete data summary operations by a ratio of 18:1 and quality control operations by a ratio of 4:1. The key to these improvements was approaching operations from more global perspectives and applying recent software innovations that enable automation across multiple software environments. The software that allows these accomplishments, we discovered, is Hewlett Packard´s NewWave.