Evaluating the current situation

The metals industry is characterized by a considerable difference in the extent of automation and digitization. Before thinking about the perfect solution or even Industry 4.0 and the different possibilities of this technology, an assessment and diagnosis of the current situation based on the levels of systematization must be the starting point of every digitization project. Thus, the first phase of the integrated approach for designing future-oriented digital solutions includes the following items:

• Analyze the current situation (status quo) of the degree of automation and digitization
• Document the degree of automation and digitization
• Identify possible problems and weak points

The result of this evaluation and analysis enables an efficient way to identify potential for improvement. It is also the starting point for developing the overall picture of value-adding software.

Understanding requirements, workflows and project targets

When executing software project, the biggest costs arise from errors in the requirements that are discovered after the implementation of the system. Changing the requirements is significantly less expensive than changing the functionality already developed in a tested, documented and delivered system. We support our customers in requirements analysis and management:

• Collect requirements in joint discussion workshops
• Analyze and define requirements
• Validate and specify requirements

Since requirements engineering is equally important in agile processes as in classic process models, requirements engineering and agile methods are not mutually exclusive. The difference lies in how much documentation must be created and maintained and when requirements engineering has to be carried out. With classic approaches to software development, this always happens at the beginning of a project; in agile projects, requirements are continuously collected and maintained over the entire project duration. Whatever approach is chosen, a requirements specification only describes requirements for the desired system; it does not specify solutions. The basic requirements do not explain how the requirements are to be met. Solutions must then be developed based on the requirements analysis. This can be done by potential software providers (open tender) or by qoncept as a further step in our holistic software engineering services.

Working out and describing powerful and efficient solutions

The solution development process requires examining the possibilities to meet requirements and then specifying the best solution. As part of our solution development, we examine the options for fulfilling the requirements defined in the requirements specification. Finally, we develop a concept for the best solution based on the latest methods:

• Assess the requirements
• Work out the best solution
• Check and evaluate the solution against the requirements
• Create a specification of the solution

The result of this process is a specification and/or UX concepts in the form of dynamic mock-ups. The designed solution is often already a suitable approach to verify whether the big picture of a projects and the system context are well understood.

Implementing solutions according to continuous customer feedback

We offer to accompany the execution of a software project in whatever form the project is implemented (agile or waterfall method). The software solution is regularly compared to the requirements, as these may change during the execution of the project. This has to be achieved keeping two processes in mind: verification and validation.

Verification ensures that the solution is created correctly. Validation ensures that the right product is developed. In other words, the specification (the solution worked out) is verified and the requirements are validated. The following activities are part of software project management:

• Communication management
• Project planning
• Project monitoring
• Change request management