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Software Development Arm for FUJIFILM Group Turned to Eggplant to Automate Testing of its Embedded Software for Medical Devices

Headquartered in Kanagawa, Japan, FUJIFILM Software Co., Ltd. is the main developer of software products and ICT infrastructure for the entire FUJIFILM Group. In recent years, the former has redefined its mission to include a commitment to delivering a superior healthcare experience for customers and patients, with a variety of medical imaging, radiography and endoscopy solutions. FUJIFILM Software Co. manages the development and testing of these products; a task that can easily become labor and time-intensive given the systems’ complexity and multi-lingual requirements. In addition, with physicians and other healthcare workers relying on these products to diagnose and treat patients, it’s critical that FUJIFILM Software Co. ensure that its technology is devoid of errors prior to shipping. To address these issues, the company began looking for a testing partner that could modernize its testing environment and bring greater efficiencies.

A Push to Improve Quality and Efficiency

As part of its central mission of “Value from Innovation,” FUJIFILM Software Co. integrates cuttingedge digital technology into medical devices such as X-ray image diagnostic systems, endoscope systems, and ultrasonic diagnostic equipment. Manually testing these globally traded devices required significant time and resource investments, as the multi-lingual systems must be tested in all the language patterns. In addition, there was always the risk of human error resulting from manual approaches; something FUJIFILM Software Co. could not afford given the critical function its products serve.

Running parallel to this need for high-quality products was a push for greater efficiency. Mr. Wataru Sasaki, Deputy Department Manager of the Software Development Department at FUJIFILM Software Co., explains, “With the progress of technological advancements in recent years, shortening lead time and cost reduction are becoming important tasks for us to enhance competitiveness, along with maintaining good quality and reliability of our products to meet healthcare needs. In addition, changing the way we work to use time more efficiently and increase productivity is an area of focus.”

FUJIFILM Software Co.’s previous manual testing environment caused issues with quality maintenance and efficiency management, which occupied one-third of development time. The company knew that automating the testing environment could reduce this time and engender greater efficiencies, however, many of the testing vendors it evaluated struggled to automate testing on embedded devices.

Overcoming the Testing Challenges of Embedded Devices

According to Mr. Yohei Yamada at FUJIFILM Software Co.’s Medical Device Group, “In many cases, a test automation tool needs to be installed in a device under test. However, in the testing process during development of embedded devices, installation of a test automation tool can be difficult because of limitations related to disk or memory. Therefore, such a test tool was incompatible with our needs.”

In its search for a test automation partner, FUJIFILM Software Co. narrowed its list to Eggplant and one other vendor. Following a trial in which the company simulated model cases assuming actual testing processes, Eggplant was the clear leader due to its usability, unique user-centric approach and technology-agnostic platform.

The industry’s only completely noninvasive testing tool, Eggplant ensures comprehensive test coverage without ever touching the source code or installing anything on the system-under-test (SUT). In addition, its image recognition technology enables FUJIFILM Software Co. to automate testing across the entire user interface—a key capability for its embedded devices.