Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
There is one more concept in mass manufacturing. It is called
pegging
. Any order
consists of many order lines. Each order line will have one manufactured good (item)
with some quantity required to be delivered by some specific date. The manufacturer
determines which raw materials may be needed in manufacturing that item in a
certain quantity. These raw materials then go through processing steps. In each pro-
cessing step, the processed material is known as W IP (work in process) material until
it becomes a finished item. For different items, many times the WIP material may
be the same. For example, in the steel industry hot iron is the same regardless of any
finished product. So the quantity of hot iron needed for all orders can be calculated,
and that much hot iron is to be produced in the manufacturing planning period.
Similarly, in the textile industry, the kind of thread needed for manufacturing dif-
ferent kinds of clothes may be the same. The amount of thread required for all orders
can be calculated and aggregated for orders requiring the same thread. During pro-
duction, the specific order for which the thread is being produced will not be known.
This creates problems in tracking orders. For example, when a customer calls and
asks how much more time will be required for his order to be manufactured, the fac-
tory may not be able to answer this question. By pegging the WIP to the orders, it is
possible to know the order for which the thread is being produced.
Let us see if these manufacturing concepts apply to software testing when it is
done as a mass service.
12.4.1
Setup
When a project arrives, the test manager makes a plan for its execution. He plans for
configuration management, resource requirements, skill requirements, time required
for each activity, and contingency plan for any eventuality. The new project may be
vastly different from earlier projects. So he may have to change many things from
earlier projects. As a result, planning activity may take some time. When the plan is
actually made, tasks are assigned to individual resources. These resources may have
to do some preparation before taking up the assignments. The preparation time may
be considered the setup time (see Figures 12.6 and
12.7)
.
Machine
Part
Setup Time (15 Min)
Idle Time (5 Min)
Processing Time (20 Min)
Figure 12..
Idle, setup, and processing time for a part in manufacturing.
