Sensitech – Cold Chain Product Development

Overview

Perishable foods, and certain pharmaceuticals and industrial substances, must be stored within a narrow band of temperature throughout the supply chain. Specialized cold chain equipment and software is required to maintain and monitor temperature continuity. Failure to do so could result in serious financial losses as well as threats to health and safety. 

Sensitech, a leading provider of cold chain solutions and a business unit of Carrier Corp., the world’s largest provider of heating, air conditioning and refrigeration solutions, sought the establishment of an integrated offshore testing and development center.

Established in 2006, Bamboo’s Offshore Development Center (ODC) is a virtual extension of Sensitech’s in-house development groups, equipped with ready-to-serve facilities and a team of highly trained specialists.

To date, the ODC has helped Sensitech achieve more than 70 percent of cost savings each year and reduce their product release cycle, resulting in a significant competitive advantage.

Business Objectives

Sensitech wanted to create more enterprise value by reducing the costs of development and testing, while adhering to the highest quality and security standards and generating greater effectiveness.

The objective was to create a truly integrated Offshore Development Center (ODC) that was an extension of its US operation.

Solutions

We developed a plan to minimize risk, capture performance data and continuously improve the ODC and team.

We set up a fully functioning ODC based in Guangzhou with onsite and offshore virtual teams working seamlessly across countries using the same code base and development testing procedures.

Features:

• Using the CMMI5 framework, the ODC adheres to the highest quality standards and processes.
• To start up, Bamboo built a core team averaging more than nine years of practical experience in architecting, designing, implementing, integrating, testing, deploying and maintaining mission critical software applications. This core team has developed complete knowledge of the business and technology and is an essential part of the product development cycle. This team was fully operational within one month.
• The team is a good mix of international and local talent. The leadership team comprises senior talent with international working experience. They understand and appreciate different cultures and can bridge any gaps between the onsite and offsite teams.
• They are supported by developers and testers who are recruited locally to maintain a lower cost structure. Our team is highly qualified – team members have degrees and/or certification in the required skill sets and are English proficient (a requirement of Sensitech).
• Regular communications, meetings and training are conducted to ensure seamless collaboration between the ODC and onsite teams. The ODC continues to maintain a low turnover rate.
• Sensitech wanted to reduce testing costs while increasing the range of tests performed. We constantly monitor the productivity of the team and make improvements using automation test tools (automating testing, automating deployment procedure, automating data preparation, etc.).
• We optimized the development process by removing code merging complexities, enforcing process workflow through software and improved visibility by implementing a quality dashboard. We also reduced dependencies between projects especially around sharing hardware.
• In order to protect Intellectual Property, the ODC applies rigorous security practices including restricted access to the ODC, secure login to the network, island network topology, data encryption, regular back-up of data, virus protection, etc.

Results

• Achieved cost savings of 70%, 20% above targets.
• Faster product cycles: Combined R&D, development and testing operations at the ODC have allowed Sensitech to reduce their release cycle by six months, meaning that they are able to stay way ahead of the competition.

“Our initial challenge was to integrate the two teams (onshore and offsite) and ensure that they work as a virtual extension of one another. Bamboo did a great job by employing the right resources at the right time and we were able to establish a fully functioning offsite team of the highest quality. The team at Bamboo is committed to continuously improving in their process, tools and people, and this is reflective in the results we have seen in our projects.”

                 Tom Weir, Senior VP of Technology, Sensitech

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