Test automation; a place where physical meets digital

They may have different backgrounds, career journeys, and interests outside of work, but they have one unified focus; quality. Quality lies at the heart of Kone's digital solutions and services and our own work ethic, expressed by all of the interviewees.

An important aspect of work is what brings you joy in your role. This is what we asked our five Test Automation experts. The answers range from the holistic approach of testing in an embedded environment to the freedom to develop testing practices.

Here at KONE we have several Test Automation teams as the scope of the testing spans physical devices, like escalator and elevator hardware simulators, to software needs and anything in between. Covering such an extensive area of testing is bliss, says Jyri.

“We have the opportunity to have a holistic view of our systems and how embedded device development is done. Simultaneously we get to interact with the cloud resources that are required by a robust IoT platform”, says Daniel.

Atchu continues, “Our team works closely with the software developers, hence we learn all the software technologies in use here at KONE. Test Automation professionals get to work with inspiring tech, such as, IoT AWS, Python, Robot Framework, Squish, Docker, and much more.”

“The most thrilling aspect of my role is to work in an embedded environment where I can code, as well as exercise manual testing” adds Preethi.

To support the best technologies, we also have the most complete testing laboratories, allowing us to run the tests on real hardware devices such as whole elevator systems. I love to see the tangible, immediate results of our work in practice, mentioned Preethi.

I still remember how impressed I was the first time I walked into the laboratory in Hyvinkää, Finland. I was in awe - and still am - of the number of elevator hardware simulators, the material, electronics, and communication devices available. Especially since they are located in one laboratory space, remembers Atchu. It really is a complete picture of end-to-end testing where software and hardware are connected to IoT. “I was sold as soon as I walked in,” Jyri continues. Working in such conditions is a dream come true, as we carry out our work and impact the KONE business daily.

Our end-to-end testing approach translates into the variety of our tasks, mentions Daniel. As we only have a few Test Automation teams at KONE, the amount of responsibility is substantial, we have a lot of autonomy in our roles and tasks. It is really thrilling to have freehand in implementing testing, says Zeenath.

On the one hand, we may monitor the pipelines, test defects, debug, and code, if needed. On the other, we may develop internal tools by identifying gaps, validating, documenting, and automating some testing practices, adds Zeenath. While some of us focus on low-level testing, some of us are working on the customer interface, but quality is where we unite, says Daniel.

At KONE, quality is at the heart of our actions, we are focusing on creating a culture of quality both in hardware and software solutions. As part of this promise, we. Test Automation Engineers participate actively in developing processes and gates that help identify issues at an initial stage, confirms Zeenath.

We are currently integrating a Shift Left paradigm to perform testing at an earlier stage and more often during the product's lifecycle. The goal is that when we push code through, we are able to foresee the regressions or bugs and fix them before it creates more significant problems, Preethi says.

One good example of how we apply Shift Left is that we are developing common continuous pipelines with the development teams. It works in such a way that when code is committed, it first runs into an automated executed testing phase in the development test environment. If passing the first tests, the code is pushed to our end-to-end testing environment, where we test on real hardware. The results are immediately shared with the development team. With this solid practice, we contribute to more sustainable coding by considering the resources in our laboratories and avoiding waste, explains Atchu.

Part of our role also requires coaching and knowledge-sharing to build sustainable processes. For example, in the IoT Test Automation team, we are currently sharing our Python libraries with other test automation teams as well as coaching them on how to use them. As we are all experts and KONE really supports mentoring as well as coaching, it allows us to practise continuous learning and knowledge sharing internationally, says Preethi. You get to learn from the best in the industry!

If you’re a test automation expert and wonder whether KONE could be your next workplace, remember that inspiring technologies, learning opportunities, and impressive testing laboratories are waiting for you in an embedded environment. Learn more about KONE Technology & Innovation.