From UAT Findings to a Successful Visitor Management Rollout

Executive summary

The group’s Visitor Management System (VMS) needed significant changes after testing on the factory side showed gaps between what the system did and how our factories actually work. I coordinated user feedback and requirements between the factories and the development team. While the changes were made, I set up a temporary visitor register on Microsoft 365 so that visitor registration kept running. Once the main VMS had been improved and validated, it went into use at both Myanmar factories, and the temporary solution was retired.

Business context

Visitor management is an everyday operational process in a factory: people arrive, are registered, and the person they are visiting needs to know and approve the visit. The group IT team developed a VMS for the factories in which visitors check in at a kiosk and the host approves the visit.

The challenge was not whether the software worked in a technical sense, but whether it fitted the real workflow at our factories. A system that does not match how people work tends to be bypassed, so operational fit had to be confirmed before rollout.

My role

I worked on the Myanmar factory side, as the link between the people who would use the system and the team building it.

• Coordination: worked with users at the factory to understand how visitors are actually handled.
• User acceptance testing: ran UAT with factory users and observed where the system did not fit daily work.
• Requirements: collected feedback, identified practical issues and consolidated them into clear change requests.
• Communication: passed the requirements to the development team and followed them through.
• Business continuity: set up an interim visitor register on Microsoft 365 while the changes were made.
• Validation and adoption: re-tested the improved system and supported users through rollout.

Project journey

1. 01
   Initial VMS

   Group system developed for factory visitor management.

2. 02
   Factory UAT

   Tested with factory users against real daily workflows.

3. 03
   Operational gaps identified

   The system needed many changes before it could support factory operations.

4. 04
   Requirements & change requests

   Feedback consolidated and sent to the development team.

5. 05
   Interim Microsoft 365 solution Temporary

   Kept visitor registration running for about a month during the changes.

6. 06
   Main VMS improvements

   The development team made the requested changes.

7. 07
   Re-testing & validation

   The improved system was checked against factory needs again.

8. 08
   Myanmar factory rollout

   The improved VMS went into use at both Myanmar factories.

9. 09
   Interim solution retired

   The temporary register was removed once it was no longer needed.

UAT & requirements

Factory-side testing was used to find the gaps between what the system offered and what daily operations required. The aim was to confirm operational fit, not only that each feature technically worked.

1. Test
2. Observe
3. Collect feedback
4. Consolidate requirements
5. Communicate changes
6. Re-validate

Feedback from users was grouped into clear requirements before it went to the development team, so that each change request described a real operational need.

Interim business continuity solution

While the main VMS was being improved, visitor registration still had to work. I set up a temporary visitor register using the Microsoft 365 tools the company already had.

This was always intended as a bridge to keep operations running, not as a replacement for the main system.

Decision & transition

The goal was never to run two competing systems. The Microsoft 365 register supported operations for about a month. Once the main VMS had been improved, tested and was working at both Myanmar factories, the temporary solution was no longer needed and was retired.

Final outcome

• Factory feedback and requirements became part of the improvement cycle for the main VMS.
• The main VMS was improved through multiple changes.
• The improved system became suitable for, and is used at, both Myanmar factories.
• The temporary Microsoft 365 register was retired after the main VMS became operational.
• The project moved from testing and operational gaps to a usable long-term visitor management system.

What this project demonstrates

• UAT
• Requirements analysis
• Business–IT alignment
• Stakeholder coordination
• Change management
• Business continuity
• Microsoft 365
• Power Automate
• SharePoint
• Implementation
• Validation
• User adoption

Lessons learned

• Test for operational fit. UAT should confirm that a system fits the way people work, not only that its features function.
• User feedback improves implementation. Clear, consolidated feedback from the factory floor shaped a better system.
• Temporary solutions protect continuity. A short-term tool can keep operations running without becoming permanent technical debt.
• Retire the bridge on time. When the right long-term solution is ready, the temporary one should be removed.
• Decide for sustainable value. Technology decisions should favour what the operation can rely on long term.

The goal is not to keep every solution we build. The goal is to keep the business running while moving toward the right long-term solution.