Introduction
In the fast-moving semiconductor industry, innovation isn’t just about faster chips – it’s about smarter automation.
When a leading global provider of process control and metrology solutions needed to scale its test automation coverage, it partnered with Galil Software to design and execute a focused, six-month project.
The goal: expand automation, improve QA efficiency, and ensure reliability across a complex testing infrastructure – all within a demanding timeline.
This case study tells the story of how Galil Software met that challenge, the obstacles encountered, and the lessons learned – showing how strategic partnership and technical expertise drive successful delivery.
The Challenge: Expanding Test Automation at Scale
The client, a prominent semiconductor technology company, set an ambitious target – increase test automation coverage by 500 tests using its proprietary C#-based automation framework.
Project overview:
- Start date: Q4 2024
- Planned duration: 6 months
- Revenue: ~150,000 USD
- Team composition: A team lead and three automation engineers specializing in C# and QA infrastructure
The project required not only strong technical capability but also precise project governance and open communication. The main challenges included navigating the client’s existing infrastructure, aligning with internal QA teams, and maintaining velocity despite external dependencies.
Laying the Groundwork: From Discovery to Proposal
Every successful delivery begins with understanding the customer’s environment. Before development began, Galil Software invested significant effort in discovery and proposal preparation to ensure a transparent and data-driven plan.
Key discovery steps:
- Customer workshops – meetings with technical and project leads to clarify requirements, expectations, and test-coverage goals.
- Technical analysis – reviewing existing automation frameworks, code samples, and development environments.
- Complexity and skills assessment – evaluating the technical learning curve and required onboarding effort.
- Effort estimation – combining Galil’s experience with input from the customer’s automation leads to build realistic workload models.
- High-level project plan – defining milestones, deliverables, and review points.
- Risk identification – highlighting technical, operational, and communication risks early.
- Proposal and negotiation – aligning scope, budget, and delivery structure with the client’s needs.
This process established a strong foundation of trust and ensured the project began with clear expectations and measurable goals.
Execution: Structured Project Management for Predictable Progress
Galil Software’s project philosophy emphasizes transparency, rhythm, and accountability.
Using Monday.com for coordination, the team created a structured delivery plan divided into distinct phases:
- Training & onboarding – ensuring the engineers were fully aligned with the client’s frameworks and processes.
- Practice phase – validating tools and initial test development workflows.
- Test package 1, 2, and 3 – progressive batches of test automation development and validation.
Collaborative Rhythm
The team maintained constant alignment with the client through:
- Daily and weekly synchronization meetings.
- Shared documentation standards for test allocation, review, and approval.
- Defined SLAs for turnaround time on reviews and clarifications.
- Real-time updates to the project plan reflecting progress, blockers, and risk status.
This structure created a shared sense of ownership and visibility – both teams worked as one extended unit.
Proactive Risk Management: Navigating Uncertainty with Agility
No large-scale automation project is free from surprises. What differentiates success is how quickly risks are identified and acted upon.
From the start, Galil implemented an active risk-management process:
- Risks were continuously tracked and reassessed.
- Every identified issue was discussed openly with the customer, along with its estimated impact.
- Agreed mitigation actions were documented and monitored through resolution.
When issues such as unstable simulators or missing framework functionality emerged, they were handled with transparency. This proactive collaboration kept the relationship strong and prevented misunderstandings about delays or deliverables.
What Worked Well: The Strength of Collaboration
Several factors contributed to the project’s resilience and success:
- Engaged customer leadership: The client’s project lead was responsive and involved in daily progress discussions.
- Strong internal leadership: Galil’s team lead provided clear direction, ensuring both technical consistency and team motivation.
- Daily progress tracking: Real-time updates allowed both sides to respond quickly to changing conditions.
- Effective risk communication: Issues were flagged early, keeping the customer informed and confident.
- High adaptability: The engineers quickly mastered the client’s tools and infrastructure.
- Relationship building: Open communication nurtured trust, essential for long-term partnership.
These factors combined to create a delivery culture that valued transparency over perfection – a cornerstone of Galil Software’s customer approach.
Challenges Faced: When Technology Pushes Back
Despite the well-structured plan, several technical and operational challenges arose:
- Tool setup hurdles: The initial practice phase was slowed by environment configuration issues and dependencies on internal infrastructure.
- Framework instability: Some of the client’s automation tools and simulators exhibited inconsistent behavior, impacting productivity.
- Limited availability of customer QA staff: Delayed responses to questions and feedback slowed review cycles.
- Code-review bottlenecks: The customer’s automation team had limited bandwidth for approvals, reducing throughput.
As a result, test development speed dropped from the planned 1.7 tests per day to around 0.3 tests per day.
Still, every delay was communicated promptly, with mitigation actions and schedule adjustments made collaboratively. This ensured that accountability and trust were preserved throughout the engagement.
Results and Impact
Although the timeline was extended, the engagement concluded successfully – both technically and commercially.
Key outcomes:
- Revenue delivered: ~150,000 USD
- Project duration: 6 months
- Customer satisfaction: Maintained due to full transparency and professional communication.
- Technical outcomes: Expanded automation coverage, stabilized internal processes, and improved collaboration frameworks for future projects.
Crucially, the customer acknowledged that most delays stemmed from internal technical constraints rather than delivery performance – validating Galil’s credibility and reinforcing its reputation as a dependable partner for high-complexity software projects.
Lessons Learned: Turning Experience into Continuous Improvement
Every project is a learning opportunity. This engagement provided insights that now inform Galil Software’s best practices across all automation and development teams.
- Perform deeper due diligence – thoroughly assess new customer frameworks and environments before estimation.
- Integrate risk modeling in proposals – include contingency factors for customer-side dependencies and tooling maturity.
- Add buffer margins – expand both time and cost estimates to handle unpredictable technical challenges.
- Strengthen progress tracking – maintain daily visibility into metrics and deliverables to prevent slippage.
- Keep stakeholders continuously engaged – regular involvement ensures shared accountability and faster decision-making.
- Account for personnel transitions – include notice periods and resource continuity in project financials.
- Prioritize documentation and handover quality – enabling long-term maintainability beyond project closure.
These lessons are now embedded in Galil Software’s delivery methodology, ensuring future engagements benefit from accumulated experience.
Conclusion: Building Trust Through Technical Excellence
This project highlighted the balance between engineering expertise, disciplined project management, and partnership culture.
Even when faced with technical limitations outside its control, Galil Software upheld its commitments through transparency, flexibility, and proactive engagement.
By combining technical mastery in C# automation, robust delivery governance, and clear communication, Galil turned a challenging engagement into a long-term partnership opportunity – proving that success isn’t just about timelines or test counts, but about the strength of collaboration.
At Galil Software, each project is a new opportunity to refine our craft – delivering solutions that combine precision, trust, and innovation.
About Galil Software
Galil Software is a leading Israeli provider of software development, automation, and QA services. With more than 15 years of experience supporting technology companies worldwide, Galil builds dedicated engineering teams and tailored solutions that help customers accelerate innovation, improve quality, and achieve measurable business results.
