We have plenty of expensive equipment to play with. You might find some of it attached to an IKEA bookcase in our Prague office, and some of it we carry in our bags. And we really do celebrate company achievements as our own. What does it take to be the one to assure that all requirements are being met in a technology startup that services nearly 1,500 businesses? Who are we and what does ShipMonk mean to us?
We get up when America is still asleep and we fix stuff ASAP — possibly even before the problem appears in production. That is our superpower. Every day is a release day here at ShipMonk. Whatever you need is provided in the blink of an eye. That’s us — the ShipMonk R&D Czech team. How come we fix bugs before they even hit our production servers? For the QA team, that is our job. We are also called quality geeks or virtual packers. We are 5 in total — 2 Cypress and 3 manual testers.
At our tester’s table, there is nonstop beeping and buzzing, mostly coming from devices we call Cognex and label printers. Cognex is basically an iPod Touch with a 2D barcode scanner in a protective case with a backup battery slot. Our Cognexes are identical to the ones our warehouse associates use to complete assigned tasks. And then there is our specialty: pick-to-light, or PTL for short. This is a set of light modules integrated with our systems to highlight a desired location at the right time, thus making the orientation in a fast-paced activity easier, which improves effectiveness and reduces the number of errors. This is the utility mounted on a piece of IKEA furniture that we mentioned in the first paragraph. It’s our favourite gadget. A tester’s life is all about imagination.
Black Friday is the biggest challenge for every logistics enterprise, no doubt. And, if that weren’t enough, there’s Christmas right around the corner. As such, we are gradually trying to prepare for these massive events by planning, prioritizing, developing, implementing, and making careful decisions. Last year, the coronavirus shook the world, creating a whole new situation that nobody was ready for. It was quite the ride, but, fortunately, ShipMonk was able to pull through!
It’s May now. Are you ready for Black Friday?