The manufacturing testing environment experienced significant changes with accelerated digitization. With digital transformation now impacting how they test and the devices under testing, how will manufacturers venture into this new realm to realize optimization and efficiency? On Deck with Circuit Check host Daniel Litwin spoke with two experts in the space, Shawn Reiler, Senior Vice President of Sales at Circuit Check, and Ian Fountain, Director of Technical Marketing at National Instruments. joined the show.

So, what does digital transformation in testing mean? Reiler explained, “It’s about gaining as much information as possible for the entire process, then deciding how to use that data to influence future design.”

Fountain offered an anecdote about digitally transforming the industry. “I frame in how if there’s too much paper, the process isn’t digitally transformed enough. It’s about leveraging technology from the consumer space and seeing it brought to bear on the manufacturing floor.”

“Unless you own the manufacturing facility, you may not have rights to that data. So, going into a partnership to digitally transform together,” Fountain said.

What’s also clear about data generation and analysis is that it doesn’t end after the product leaves the factory. Everything is connected. “Connectivity is part of most products and will become more prevalent with 5G. This changes the testing strategy. Testing continues after the product leaves to inform design going forward,” Fountain added.

This approach to gathering and analyzing data in the field is something manufacturers must consider as the testing ecosystem evolves. “There are multiple capabilities and an infinite number of data streams. Feeding that back into the test itself offers complete functionality,” Reiler noted.