Test Devices Increases Testing Volume by 50% with Standardized Work

Test Devices by SCHENCK is a specialized testing and inspection manufacturer serving aerospace, power generation, medical, and automotive customers. Each year, the team performs spin testing, balancing, machining, and inspection on 10,000–12,000 high-value serialized parts, where every step must be completed in order and documented for long-term traceability.

Historically, that documentation lived in paper travelers and binders. Once approved, processes were frozen, requiring complete records for every part — including material certifications, calibration data, and detailed spin test results — with the ability to retrieve them on demand. Each job generated large paper packages with measurements, checklists, and manual sign-offs.

The approach worked, but it strained as volumes increased. Preparing travelers took time, retrieving records meant searching through storage, and issues discovered late in the process carried serious consequences. A single part can be worth $20,000 to $80,000, and procedural errors during spin testing risk scrapping parts, damaging equipment, and taking test rigs offline for weeks.

Facing growing volume and rising risk, the team needed stronger process control and traceability — without slowing operators down or adding administrative headcount. That inflection point pushed Test Devices to pursue a more flexible, digital approach.

Rather than attempting a large-scale transformation all at once, Test Devices took a pragmatic, composable approach. They began by digitizing work instructions and travelers — the foundation of daily execution — and then expanded into connected, composable workflows that could adapt as requirements evolved.

Each serialized part now follows a defined digital route controlled in tables. Technicians scan a part’s barcode and the system tells them exactly what comes next, enforcing flow through every operation. Operators scan the part or traveler and immediately see the correct next step, eliminating guesswork and preventing steps from being skipped.

The routing logic enforces sequence while still allowing flexibility when needed. If a part must be redirected or reviewed, the system captures that decision in context, preserving a complete record of what happened and why.

Validation rules ensure that required data is entered and within tolerance before work can continue. In-process inspections can’t be missed: measurements are validated in real time, calculations run automatically against drawing tolerances, and out-of-tolerance results immediately block further processing. If a measurement falls outside specification, the system flags it immediately instead of allowing the issue to travel downstream unnoticed.

Importantly, Test Devices designed these controls to support the realities of production. In some cases, machining can continue while a nonconformance is automatically created in parallel, allowing work to progress without losing visibility or accountability.

Nonconformance workflows are now embedded directly into the production process. Any out-of-tolerance result automatically generates a nonconformance and places the part in quality hold until it’s reviewed and released. When an issue occurs, operators and quality leaders receive alerts immediately and can review details in real time.

What once required paper forms, manual routing, and physical handoffs now happens digitally — accelerating triage and reducing the time parts spend waiting for disposition.

Tool scanning ensures that only calibrated equipment is used at each step. Technicians scan tools during use to validate calibration status, and quality teams receive automatic alerts if a tool is out of calibration. This adds another layer of compliance while reducing reliance on manual checks and handwritten logs.

All records — instructions, measurements, approvals, test results, and certificates of conformance — live together in one system, making audits faster and less disruptive.

In less than a year, Test Devices transformed how work is executed and documented across its core production lines. Paper travelers were eliminated and replaced with connected digital workflows and a centralized system that logs every action, measurement, and approval.

By taking a composable, step-by-step approach, the team digitized execution quickly without disrupting production. This allowed Test Devices to realize value early while continuing to operate at full capacity.

The Test Devices team increased its volume by 50% from ~8000 parts per year to ~12,000 parts per year. Administrative effort tied to documentation and record handling dropped by 79%, eliminating many paperwork-related rework events. OCR and automatic verification further reduced manual data entry during testing and inspection.

Risk now surfaces earlier in the process. In-process inspections automatically validate measurements against tolerances, while enforced routing ensures parts move through the correct sequence of operations. When issues occur, parts are automatically placed on quality hold until reviewed and released.

These controls help protect high-value customer parts and critical spin testing equipment, enabling Test Devices to scale with greater confidence and control.

With digital execution in place, Test Devices changed how the team prepares for and supports audits. Instead of pulling binders and archived paperwork, the team can access records instantly, with every action, measurement, approval, and exception tied directly to each serialized part.

During AS9100-aligned audits, the team can demonstrate process adherence, traceability, and calibration control without interrupting production. Rather than preparing for audits reactively, Test Devices operates in a state of continuous readiness, which reduces stress on the team and increases confidence during audit reviews.

Because many of Test Devices' customers are in the aerospace and defense industry, strict security and compliance are essential. Test Devices deployed Tulip on AWS GovCloud to ensure ITAR compliance and to align with the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) standards for cloud security.

With Tulip, Test Devices can confidently digitize operations for its regulated customers, knowing data is protected with required access controls and audit trails.

With a digital backbone in place, Test Devices continues to expand how they use the platform. Next steps include deeper integration with test equipment and HMIs, automatically passing parameters and results to further reduce manual entry and variability.

Test Devices is also beginning to leverage Tulip AI to further improve operations. Using AWS Textract-powered capabilities in Tulip, they are able to scan and digitize legacy documents and automate data extraction, creating a unified digital record of past and present operations.

By continuing to connect data, workflows, and decision-making, Test Devices is building an operation that can adapt to new requirements without reverting to paper or workarounds — ensuring serialized aerospace work stays controlled, efficient, and ready for whatever comes next.