This Is Why Quality Assurance Is Indispensable for Logistics Software Solutions

“You will not find it difficult to prove that battles, campaigns, and even wars have been won or lost primarily because of logistics.” – General Dwight D. Eisenhower

This statement by General Eisenhower aptly summarizes the value that logistics industry beholds. From military operations to retail, logistics is the key supply chain facilitator for each sector.

Logistics, as a function, has evolved drastically – both in terms of efficiency as well as speed – especially with software-as-a-service gaining momentum in the industry. The digital disruption of logistics is proving to be beneficial in setting up a continuous communication channel and end-to-end visibility throughout the process.

Adoption of digital ways is allowing logistic solutions providers to have enhanced control over freight mobility through real-time tracking, ease of access, and transparency in costs. With the goal of enabling maximum user satisfaction, both industry newbies as well as incumbents of the sector are either already using or strategizing to leverage latest technology and tools.

The modern logistics software solutions utilize advanced cloud computing, IoT, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and automation are for enhanced functionality and performance. However, centering the focus only on the implementation of technology, without checking whether the implemented technology is working as desired or not, might have serious repercussions.

Since, decisions such as digitization are disruptive, the responsibility to make them lies with the leaders. While the leaders in logistics work to make the disruption as least disruptive as possible, they should put significant consideration into making sure that the technology works in the expected manner. Quality assurance becomes critical here to prevent chaos and guarantee that the overall operations are streamlined and optimized.

The benefits of a logistics software

The scope of logistics industry is vast, including air, water, and railroad transportation, pipelines, and courier delivery services. Being a key aspect to maintain a smooth supply chain flow, a bump-free logistics management is essential.

From warehousing, fleet management, inventory tracking to processing orders, vendor management, and transportation management, there is a ton of documentation involved in a single logistic operation. The earlier, pre-digitization methods were laborious, time-consuming, and full of human errors. The absence of transparency in the workflow used to cause severe inefficiencies such as misplaced cargo, untraceable theft, and delayed deliveries. With digital management software solutions, manual intervention is reduced to negligible, which further eliminate the possibility of manual errors. Digitization of logistics offers the benefits of higher accuracy, improved speed, and easy tracking.

By automating functions such as route planning and creation, load planning, documentation, and data entry, the logistics software reduces both costs and efforts. Through a unified portal or dashboard, supply planning and management, vendor management, and shipment tracking become a cakewalk.

Why quality assurance is indispensable for logistics?

Currently, every junction in the operational flow is fortified with advanced software technology with as minimum human interaction as possible. As the digital systems take up the responsibility of upholding an easy-flowing channel, a single technical glitch might cause the whole operation to come to a standstill.

Imagine what chaos an obstruction or a simple server downtime will lead to! The gatekeepers will not be able to access the digital gate passes. Consequently, the cargo carriers will not get permission to move ahead as. Payment and order processing will take several minutes. There will be frantic calls from frustrated customers who cannot track their shipment through the online portal.

As logistics is integrated with every other industry function, the effect of such technical errors expands across various sectors.

The latest technology might make processes more sophisticated, but quality assurance is mandatory to ensure the processes stay sophisticated. End-to-end testing services are imperative to enable an unhindered visibility into the end-to-end logistics operation flow.

Quality assurance services for logistics software

While employing quality assurance services, it is necessary to take a holistic approach encompassing diverse types of testing including:

1. Functional Testing: A logistics software incorporates a variety of features that deal with multiple process flows. Functional testing checks whether all those features are working fine or not.
2. Performance Testing: The vast network and scope of a logistic operation extends across states and countries. Performance testing ensures that the software does not crash under heavy load or simultaneous usage.
3. Security Testing: The widespread network of logistics also exposes it to several security vulnerabilities. This is why, it is absolutely important that security testing is given a high priority.
4. Mobile Testing: Majority of users access the logistics software application through their mobile devices. Mobile testing guarantees that the users get a seamless experience on their mobile devices as well.
5. Cloud Testing: With large storage needs, cloud adoption is gaining popularity. But, migration from physical storage spaces to cloud can be tricky. Cloud testing not only facilitates a smooth migration but also tests the cloud solution for security, performance, and latency.

To Conclude

With digitization of logistics industry, it has become possible to gain end-to-end visibility and orchestrate a seamless operation and supply chain flow. Inventory, warehouse, and vendor management gets automated with accurate and fast software solutions. By adopting the right quality assurance strategy, logistics providers can deliver superior experience to customers while generating greater ROI.

At Cigniti, we implement the best possible software testing methodologies and applications, a Testing Center of Excellence, and world-class software testing Labs to deliver on our promise of Quality Engineering, Quality Assurance, Digital Assurance, and Software Testing Services. Whether desktop, mobile or next-gen based applications, our software testing specialists work with a focused approach to help you get more out of your testing efforts and improve time to market, and thus, your ROI.

Contact Us to know more.