I had been working in software development for more than a decade. Still, I had never tried to develop an understanding of metering hardware, nor had I tried to understand the impact of hardware design on software development.
A few years back, I was assigned to develop software to make scale printing for moving iron and coil-type products easier. Even though I had worked at Secure for more than ten years, I did not know that we manufactured moving iron and moving coil-type products. We, in NPI, did not have extensive knowledge about these products nor a clear understanding of what software would be needed to draw the scale.
Initially, I thought I could develop the software without detailed knowledge of the hardware it would be used to configure. It seemed similar to other software I had developed.
But, during the Mindset-Changing training, I recognised that I had created a barrier against hardware, which had limited me to software development only. I decided to move beyond this barrier and learn more about the hardware. I felt that by understanding the product design, I could make the software easier to use — or more effective at creating the scales.
With the guidance of Parasram sir, I mentally prepared myself to visit the production area with the team. This gave me a good idea about every part used in the product, each step in the manufacturing process, and the time it took. I applied the knowledge and understanding gained to develop the new software so that it would help save time during manufacturing.
We presented our observations to the senior management and explained the limitations of the hardware and software we were developing. We also told them about the direct and indirect benefits of this programme. They were happy with what we showed them and said as much.
The team and I learnt many new things through this experience, such as the behaviour of each hardware component: spring, needle, magnet, coil, shield, etc. This resulted in knowledge building within the NPI team for similar projects in the future.