QC Automation - Case Study

This case study explores how we tackled a critical quality control (QC) failure, redesigned the workflow with user-centered design, and delivered a scalable solution through Mecwin Nethra. Let’s unpack the journey from chaos to clarity, step by step.

The Spark: A Crisis That Demanded Action

It all began on an ordinary August morning in 2024 at Mecwin. At 11 AM, we could all hear our Director shouting, the reason? another QC failure had struck. This wasn’t a one off; it was the breaking point. Our newly launched Mecwin Nethra system, meant to revolutionize solar pump management, hit a wall: data for nearly 15,000 pumps was missing or scattered across tattered notebooks. The QC team, armed with incomplete handwritten logs, struggled to onboard pumps, leading to chaos.

Then came the knockout punch: a 15 HP pump was shipped in a 5 HP package. A glaring human error with hefty financial and operational fallout. Our Director, visibly furious, summoned the team. “Fix this permanently,” he demanded. That moment ignited our mission to overhaul QC with a user-focused, automated solution.

Defining the Problem: Research as the Foundation

To craft a lasting fix, we adopted a dual pronged research approach, blending top down and ground up insights:

Executive-Level Immersion

• What I Did: Spent a day with directors and executives, dissecting the QC workflow.

• Findings: The root causes were clear manual data entry bred errors (as expected), inconsistent documentation crippled traceability, and no digital validation left gaps in pump and Remote Monitoring System (RMS) data.

Ground-Level Observation

• What I Did: Shadowed the QC team for a day, watching their daily grind.

• Findings:

  • Human Errors: Manual entries led to frequent mistakes.

  • Inconsistent Logs: Critical data was lost or misinterpreted.

  • Memory Reliance: Teams leaned on memory, risking data loss.

  • No Digital Backbone: No system to validate pump & RMS pairings.

This research painted a vivid picture: the QC process was a bottleneck begging for automation and structure.

The User Journey: Pain Points and Needs

Understanding the users was key. Here’s who we served and what they faced:

• QC Team (e.g., Anil, 32, Factory Floor)

  • Pain: Hours spent flipping through notebooks, chasing lost data, and fearing errors.

  • Need: A fast, accurate way to log and validate pumps.

• Embedded Team (e.g., Priya, 28, R&D)

  • Pain: Manual PO entry slowed production tracking.

  • Need: Seamless PO integration with real-time updates.

• Management (e.g., Director, 40, Leadership)

  • Pain: Invisibility into QC failures and financial losses.

  • Need: Traceability and error-free data for decision making.

• Customers (e.g., Raj, Distributor, 35)

  • Pain: Receiving wrong pumps due to QC slip-ups.

  • Need: Reliable products from a trusted process.

The Solution: Designing QC Automation with Mecwin Nethra

Our solution? A three-step QC automation workflow integrated into Mecwin Nethra, designed with users at the heart. Here’s how we built it:

Step 1: PO Data Entry by the Embedded Team

• Process: Upon receiving a Purchase Order (PO), the Embedded Team logs it into Mecwin Nethra.

• Details Captured: Device count, component requirements.

• UX Design: A simple form with dropdowns for specs, reducing entry time by 50%.

Step 2: RMS Testing and Barcode Scanning

• Process: The RMS Testing Team scans each device with a barcode scanner.

• Details Captured: IMEI numbers, device parameters.

• UX Design: Realtime feedback on scan success, with alerts for mismatches, easing the team’s workload.

Step 3: QC Scanning & Automated Serial Number Generation

• Process: The QC Team scans pumps, linking them to RMS units, with auto generated serial numbers and Pre Delivery Inspection (PDI) reports.

• UX Design: A dashboard shows scan progress, with a “Submit” button triggering automated reports cutting manual work by 99%. Including the registration process.

Implementation: Bringing It to Life

We rolled out the solution with a clear plan, ensuring user buy-in and system reliability:

Defining User Roles

• Embedded Team:

  • Who: R&D staff tracking POs.

  • Tasks: Log POs, assign specs, scan RMS devices.

• QC Team:

  • Who: Factory floor staff ensuring quality.

  • Tasks: Scan pumps, validate data, generate reports.

Platform Integration

• Tool: Leveraged Mecwin Nethra, avoiding a new system.

• Flow:

  • PO Creation → Embedded Team logs details.

    RMS Registration → Scanned and tagged.

    QC Verification → Pump-RMS linking and serial assignment.

    PDI Report → Auto-generated.

    Dispatch → QC-approved only.

Timeline

• Week 1: Planned roles and workflow design.

💡 Implementation Tip:raining with real POs ensured the QC team embraced the new system fast.

• Week 2: Integrate barcode module(as per printer) and automation features.

• Week 3: Trained teams, soft-launched, and tweaked UI/UX.

• Week 3(Post training): Full deployment with monitoring.

The Impact: Numbers That Speak

The results? A game changer for Mecwin:

• Error Elimination: 100% accuracy in pump and RMS data, ending wrong shipments.

• Speed Surge: QC time dropped from hours to minutes, 80% faster.

• Cost Savings: Prevented losses like the 15 HP/5 HP fiasco, saving ₹5,00,000 annually (min approx.).

• Data Integrity: A complete, error-free database for every product manifactured pumps.

• User Adoption: 100% of the QC team adopted the system within a week.

Reflections: Lessons Learned

• Empathy Drives Design: Shadowing the QC team uncovered their pain points. (More like, the shouting Director did)

• Simplicity Wins: Barcode scans replaced notebooks, boosting efficiency.

• Iteration Matters: Feedback loops refined the UI mid process.

• Collaboration Fuels Success: Aligning Embedded and QC teams built trust.

• Data Validates Impact: Metrics proved the solution’s worth.