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Today, equipment manufacturers are faced with a set of key challenges, in their quest to become and stay market leaders:
Therefore thoroughly testing devices before they reach the market is critical. However, simply testing the functionality of a device without understanding in depth the technology behind it can leave room for errors. Testing engineers need to have a solid background in engineering, understand networking protocols, security protocols, as well as have QA and software development skills.
Based on Wirtek’s history of building embedded software and testing equipment for the telecommunications industry, we combined these two capabilities into a unique approach.
This is why we created Electronic Equipment Services; to support professional equipment manufacturers to deliver high-quality electronic equipment products that perform as expected.
Our goal is to offer a personalized service, building a team of engineers that understand in detail the technologies used by each client and are able to perform a complete service: from embedded development to conformance testing.
We help our clients navigate these challenges by providing a chain of services that complement each other:
We build firmware and embedded C/C++ software on top of Linux-based or microcontroller platforms. We also develop the software needed to integrate these devices with other systems (such as REST API, drivers, etc.)
We perform a variety of test types (conformance, regression, performance, stress, and more) to make sure the professional equipment you designed and manufactured will perform according to requirements and the Product Manual.
We create Owner's Manuals, User Guides, Interoperability Manuals, Configuration and Setup Manuals, Migration Documentation, and Product sheets for our clients’ equipment, based on our in-depth technical knowledge.
Launching a device built with a novel technology comes with unique challenges related to the privacy of information and little public documentation available. We have experience with testing prototypes for our existing clients and are able to create secured testing environments. We use our knowledge to test prototypes, for example, testing Ultra-Low-Power Embedded Wi-Fi Modules.
We have been delivering product testing services since 2007 and have extended experience in quality assurance for the following industries:
Although we have no prior experience, our current expertise and knowledge are a good basis that enables us to cater to related industries in the near future, including:
When we onboard a new client, regardless of the scope of our collaboration (be it conformance testing and QA alone or conformance testing bundled with embedded software development), the first step is a Business and Technical Ramp-up. At this stage, our goal is to understand your business and technical needs.
We then move on to Define processes together with our clients: how will we work together, define our testing framework, decide what tools we will be using.
Embedded software development
When developing firmware or embedded software, we work in an Agile way, building user stories from the Product Backlog in iterations (Sprints) that last 3 to 4 weeks.
At the end of each Sprint, we release a set of features and demo them to the client. The software testing goes hand in hand with development, we test during the Sprint and run conformance, regression, and functional tests on the release candidate.
Electronic equipment QA and conformance testing
Once a Release candidate is ready, we move on to Conformance testing.
In each release cycle, our teams receive requirements that the tested equipment must conform to, and based on those requirements, we create test scenarios with test cases.
Our QA teams inside Wirtek execute the test cases and then report the defects found using a bug tracking system (typically Jira or a similar proprietary system).
The main types of tests we can perform on electronic equipment:
Our team executes manual tests and automates testing in areas with repetitive tasks, to increase efficiency.
Besides creating test scenarios, executing them, and reporting issues, our electronic equipment teams are also in charge of:
Our team members have a background in engineering, with skills in software development, or QA and testing on top of that.
Software architects, team leads, and senior engineers in our team have 10+ years of experience.
We are lucky to be part of a rich and diverse technical environment here in Transylvania, with top tech domains including: 5G, Robotics, AI, Big Data and IoT.
Continuous learning is a priority for us, and our people in Electronic Equipment Services are trained according to CCNA and ISTQB. We organize internal training programs for them on C, C++, automation testing, networking and telecommunications.
We have over 21 years of experience in the IT industry and have been delivering electronic equipment testing and conformance for over 14 years. Two of the longest-standing collaborations on equipment testing span 12 years and 14 years respectively.
We’ve built inside Wirtek a knowledge center for networking and telecommunications, by continuously scouting for the most talented people on the market and supporting our team in growing their skills and knowledge.
What our clients appreciate the most about our collaboration is the fact that our teams are able to work independently, with little external guidance. Our clients know they can rely on our technical expertise and on delivering what we committed to, so that they can release high-quality equipment in due time.
We offer two collaboration models, Project-Services and Dedicated Teams.
The most effective collaboration model is a dedicated team because it allows us to build and grow a team of engineers with the right expertise, that specializes in a mix of technologies for each particular client.
With a dedicated team, we are able to invest in continuous development and training and are able to motivate and retain these engineers with niche specialization long term.
The dedicated teams we build inside Wirtek work integrated with our clients’ teams: we adapt our working processes to fit our clients’ needs and our people are deeply immersed in their clients’ technology and products.
If you are interested in working with us, we can start with a Project-based pilot of around 6 months, and later transition to a dedicated team.
We have worked with Spectralink, a leading provider of enterprise mobility solutions, since 2009, providing quality assurance services for their DECT handsets and servers. Our partnership began with a team of just three engineers doing QA, but as Spectralink’s products portfolio grew, so did the opportunity of our partnership. 11 years later, we are managing two dedicated teams for Spectralink, in charge of equipment testing and DECT server embedded development.
Spectralink picked Wirtek to be their quality assurance partner as we were a well-known and experienced provider of software development and testing in the telecommunications industry. We were able to offer the technical expertise required as well as the capability to ensure stable and predictable service delivery on projects.
Read the rest of the case study here.
Some of the telecommunications, network, audio, healthcare and gaming equipment we tested.
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Tools and systems we use in our daily work |
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