The testing cycle is one of the most critical and time-consuming phases in any implementation cycle. Balancing a full suite of testing new features and existing fixes all while striving to be quicker to market than your competitors is a challenge we all face.
With advanced test case automation platforms, multiple retailers have built automated testing tools for core WMS functions. Automating repetitive regression test scenarios is a method that can be utilized to reduce the overall testing effort and improve quality as focus is diverted to more complex, detailed scenarios, ensuring WMS system readiness.
There are several benefits of automated testing, the first being improved confidence.
System testing can be stressful for you and everyone involved in the process. There may be hundreds of requirements or even ambiguous requirements plus the many, many exceptions. As time goes on and additional layers are added to your systems, having an established base of core unit and regression testing scenarios can give you the confidence that your existing functionality will continue to operate as is.
Another benefit is the improvement of quality you will face. Along with improved confidence comes improved quality. If you are confident that your existing systems will continue to operate smoothly, you and your team can turn your focus to more complex and detailed scenarios. The re-testing and redundancy is automated and reduced therefore allowing fixes and new features to be pushed to production with better quality.
Lastly, the third and most obvious benefit of automated testing is a quicker testing cycle. Once you are more confident in the quality of unit and regression testing, the overall testing cycle can be shorted significantly. The base of testing scenarios can be run simultaneous to the move significant tests run by your QA team. Previous the same team would have to perform both tasks in succession rather than in parallel. A quicker testing cycle leads to both a reduction in costs and a quicker return on investment.
At Bricz, we have seen the benefits over and over of implementing automation features into the software testing cycle. We see improvements in the confidence and quality of testing as well as a quicker testing cycle and reduced testing costs. As you constantly try to improve your business and process, I encourage you to take a long look at the benefits of automated testing and what it can do for your supply chain systems!
Contributor: Chas Robinson