Help, yet another release!

By Ronald Korporaal

Nowadays, businesses all rely on IT. In the logistics sector, they use the term e-logistics. IT has become a success factor for many logistics businesses. The availability of stable and reliable software is a prerequisite. However, how do you control logistics processes and the tools to achieve this, namely logistics software?

Product development logistics software

In my previous blog, I wrote about the use of flexible standardized software. Flexible standardized software offers the benefits of standardized software but is fully customizable according to the clients’ wishes. All this, without any actual custom work. However, to keep logistics software stable and up to date, it is essential to continuously develop the software on both a functional and technical level. The logistics landscape is ever-changing, so the functionalities of the software need to be adjusted accordingly. On a technical level, because the client deserves the latest technologies and security updates.

Test-driven development

New software releases will always conjure some anxiety. However, through structured software testing and safe methods, risks are reduced to a minimum. At Adaption, we achieve this through test-driven development. A development method in which the main objective is continuously testing the application through fixed scenarios.

How does it work

New functionalities develop during the development phase. During this development, our developers write test scenarios and test programs for every new functionality.

Test scenarios consist of the workflows that the user follows while using the application.

Test programs run the test scenarios and automatically test if the functionalities work.

Each functionality has a test scenario and test program that is run through the software at least four times a day to test the software. With each new functionality added to the system, new scenarios and programs are added to the automated testing environment. Development and testing take place in one single environment. If a functionality turns out to (no longer) be working correctly, we tackle it early on and tweak the code accordingly.

The automated testing environment ensures we also continuously test functionalities that remain untouched. We manually test newly developed functionalities in addition to the automated testing environment. We do this to make sure they perform correctly. If everything works, the release is published. The user can then use all new functionalities and trust that existing functionalities work as they did before.

Extra check

Developers usually write test programs themselves for their code. When the developer overlooks something, you risk the error slipping in the test program and the software itself. Adaption uses automatic test coders. These coders are not involved in product development and create test programs independently from the developer. By using independent test developers we have an extra measure to safeguard the quality and to bring our product to a higher level.

After release

Since all functionalities of the logistics software are automatically tested multiple times in each development phase, the chance of the application not functioning anymore after the release reduces to a minimum. We do this to safeguard the quality of the logistics software.

Benefits of test-driven development

Automatic testing guarantees the stability and quality of the logistics software. Since automated testing already takes place during the development phase, we tackle issues early on. As a result, we discover potential bugs during the development phase instead of during or after the release.

Test-driven development

Signalling errors immediately

Automatic testing

More time for product development

Security & quality

Guaranteed security and quality

Next blog: Successfully implementing logistics software

Research has shown that 80% of all software implementations fail. Usually, it is due to unclear goals, poor project management and insufficiently involving the end-user. Implementation stress is the result during and after the implementation of logistic software. How do you prevent and manage all factors that contribute to this implementation stress? To find out, read our next blog.

Follow us on LinkedIn to stay up to date on the latest developments of Adaption and the Logistics Cloud Suite.

Over de Auteur

Ronald Korporaal is co-founder of Adaption Business Software. After studying Industrial Engineering and Management Science at Eindhoven University of Technology, he supervised implementations at various logistics companies as a Software Architect. Ronald is interested in business processes and optimally setting up logistics systems.