Digica

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work in business development for Teledyne Technologies, specifically on the technical side, investigating new technologies and technical direction for our products. My branch makes high-end, high-performance machine vision inspection systems and cameras.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digica?

We were evaluating a novel processor and wanted to develop some test algorithms to define its programming model. The ultimate goal was to build fundamental image-processing functions, such as simple image mass or image rotation, to execute them on the novel processor.

For example, people taking photos with their cell phones can rotate the image with two fingers; it’s a natural function for consumers. However, these are high-performance operations in the machine vision industry, so they have to be fast and precise.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Digica helped us write the programming language and then translate it to write fundamental image-handling functions from scratch. The project was a three-partner collaboration; first, the processor manufacturer provided the documentation on how to program the processor. We provided the requirements and algorithm support, and Digica handled the execution and project management.

They developed three image-processing functions based on C++. The team programmed them as an API, allowing users to access the end system to use the image-handling functions.

What is the team composition?

We worked with four team members: a business development manager, two developers, and someone from management.

How did you come to work with Digica?

We probably found them through a referral. They’d worked with other groups and companies, so their name was floating around.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March–October 2022. We finished this project, but we expect to keep working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They answered the question we asked and helped us mitigate the project's risks. Thanks to them, we’ve proceeded to the next phase.

How did Digica perform from a project management standpoint?

Their execution, project management, communication skills, pricing, and timing were excellent. We communicated via Microsoft Teams and Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were extremely helpful. Digica took the project into their hands, reported back to us, and worked closely with our own product management team. We didn’t have to translate any information; they integrated well with our methodology, making our collaboration seamless. Overall, we hadn’t seen companies with such outstanding project management, communication, and responsiveness.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any improvements to suggest. Things would've been faster if they’d been experts in the matter, but it was a learning experience for all of us. Nonetheless, we were satisfied with their services; they were open-minded, resourceful, and accommodating. The team was happy to work with us, and they executed the project with real drive and passion.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to go for it. If your project falls in their realm of experience, they’re one of the strongest partners for software development.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm an executive at a software company. I'm responsible for creating machine and deep learning models to improve the system.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digica?

They offered to improve one of our models; I had an existing learning model to collect data, and I wanted a product that could beat the number of false alarms, false positives, and false negatives in our system. Secondly, we wanted to learn how to run a data science project and how they get their deep learning.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Digica helped us create the code to do some experiments and gave us tech consulting through their expertise.

How did you come to work with Digica?

They reached out to us, offering their services.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent around €75,000 (approximately $74,000 USD) with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from January–March 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We found out in the end that the model they created didn't score better than what we previously had.

How did Digica perform from a project management standpoint?

They reached the deadlines they promised. Regarding communication, we had weekly meetings with both teams, Slack, email, and three stand-up sessions every week.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were quick to understand the data. Moreover, they had to quickly switch the deep learning library they used and were up to speed with that task.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The code they gave us wasn't easy to understand — I thought its level would be higher. In addition, it seemed like they didn't perform some deep learning tricks that generally give better results because they knew a lot about all kinds of deep learning architectures, but they didn't do the basic tricks to get the best results.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They're great if you don't have something in place yet because they're very good at creating a deep-learning model.

Company Responses

The service provider responded on January 4, 2023.

Digica designed, trained and thoroughly evaluated a model that was by far smaller and performed better than the customer’s solution on the available data. Unfortunately, Digica didn’t participate in the productization of the solution and could not further refine the solution. 

We believe that Digica has made every effort to satisfy the customer with the PoC and that we would be able to help further with the project execution phase.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a product engineering manager for Teledyne DALSA. We design and manufacture detectors for the medical X-ray market. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digica?

We needed help with custom software development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Digica did IT and cloud consulting services for us remotely. The concept of this project was a specific failure mode that we encountered with our large area detectors. We explained the requirements to Digica and provided them with the data to help them develop the software.

After that, we asked them to develop software to identify the numerical data and images within the software to detect the failure mode, and they showed us that they could do it with good precision for failure mode detection.

What is the team composition?

We worked with three members of their team.

How did you come to work with Digica?

A colleague had met Digica and was interested in their track record regarding intelligence software; preventative maintenance is very interesting to us as a company, so we had asked them to work on this project together.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent $25,000–$50,000 with them on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from December 2021–March 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We worked according to the project plan, which Digica nicely monitored. They came with a proposal for the project planning, and they ensured we met all of that planning. We assessed the software, checking its accuracy in predicting the failure mode correctly and, of course, seeing what the software made false predictions. Overall, they were able to achieve everything with good numbers.

How did Digica perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was great; we had weekly meetings via Teams. Also, according to the project planning, they monitored all the activities successfully — they took clear ownership of the process and ensured to make everything quickly.

We also scheduled an extra meeting to sort things out if there were any issues, and it all went well. We met the final milestone with good accuracy, and it was delivered on time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to lead and manage all the processes was outstanding.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't think there's anything they can improve on — I have to say that the outcome was good, the conversations were good, and, as mentioned, the project planning went well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If someone is looking for a company to support them with intelligence software, I would recommend Digica.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a radar algorithms developer working for company that develop radar products for the surveillance market.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Digica, and what were your goals?

We needed to prototype a new kind of classifier to remove unwanted detections in the radar.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

I was put in touch with Digica through someone at my company who thought they would be interesting for me considering that they have radar experience. We then held a meeting where they presented their previous radar projects and that gave us confidence to continue with a prototype project.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

This was a data science project. The goal was to develop a machine learning-based classifier that would be lightweight enough to run on an IoT-device. We supplied the data and Digica developed and evaluated a number of classifiers. The result was delivered to us in the form of a code repository with scripts for training and evaluating the proposed solutions.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

All in all, 4 data scientists.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We saved substantial time in prototyping, and have selected one of the proposed solutions for further development productification.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We used Google meet for week-to-week video meetings, and slack for the day-to-day discussions.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They knew what they were doing, worked independently without us having to manage them. They also acted in an agile fashion when we gave feedback during the project.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Not really.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO and co-founder of a radar system supplier. We design and supply radar systems for border security, perimeter security, and critical asset protection.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digica?

We needed their expertise in custom software development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Digica developed our data processing application from scratch. We specifically needed a military-grade AI product that was compatible with Windows 10 and Linux. The app was embedded into our system so that we could streamline our data identification efforts based on our targets of interest.

What is the team composition?

We worked with one project manager and one developer.

How did you come to work with Digica?

One of Digica’s managers reached out to me through a cold call. I was convinced that they could deliver the results I needed, so I gave their services a try.

How much have you invested with them?

The total project cost was £30,000 (approximately $42,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with Digica ran from April–June 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Digica met all the KPIs we set at the beginning of our engagement. They delivered an efficient platform that allowed us to accurately classify and identify our individual target types, which was our main success metric for their work.

How did Digica perform from a project management standpoint?

We mainly communicated via Microsoft Teams. Digica was particularly on top of their project management game — they followed thorough yet technical processes, which allowed them to meet every deadline we set. Additionally, they were a cooperative team that took our feedback and data into ample consideration.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Digica was a knowledgeable team with accessible services. They were a professional partner that respected our methods and ideas throughout the project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’m not much of a technical person, but I was told that the coding could use some improvement. There were some inconsistencies identified in Digica’s coding methods that prolonged our implementation phase. Refining their code work would lead to a more functional and seamless platform.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a detailed description of everything you want to achieve and make sure to communicate your standards to their team as well. Defining both of these would help Digica to deliver more tailored solutions for you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of software engineering at ANYbotics. We focus on building autonomous robots for industrial inspection.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digica?

We needed their expertise in machine learning and computer vision to improve and expand the performance of our visual inspection framework use on our robots.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We needed to address redevelop our visual inspection framework to be based on machine learning object detection, such that our robots would more intelligently correct detect industrial objects and extract digital information from those detected objects. With the help of Digica's development, we are able detect a larger range of objects and help our industrial clients digitally transform their inspection missions.

What is the team composition?

We worked with two main engineers who separately worked on machine learning and computer vision. We profited from the additional part-time involvement of a senior technical lead from Digica.

How did you come to work with Digica?

We found them online after thoroughly searching for potential agencies to hire for this project. We chose Digica because they knew how to work with our tech stack, and they showed an evident interest in delivering our needs at a reasonable price.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our project ran from April–July 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Digica’s team helped us successfully implement an entirely new machine-learning-based framework for visual robotic inspection. The information extraction works well and helped us identify the limits of classical computer vision vs. machine learning-enabled computer vision. All product metrics, including the number of new object types we wished to analyze, were delivered.

How did Digica perform from a project management standpoint?

ANYbotics had the main project management lead, yet Digica was at the top of their game when interacting with and supporting and efficient project management. They knew how to ask the right questions, and their adaptability helped us achieve a structured scope. On top of that, they delivered innovative solutions without compromising our own ideas and preferences.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We knew that Digica was a genuine partner from the start because they always had our best interests in mind. They strongly cooperated with our team, so we were able to make the most of our engagement. Overall, we were pleased to have worked with a team that delivered what we wanted with utter sincerity and dedication.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I didn’t encounter any areas that needed improvement. Any adjustments that we had to address throughout the process were from our end.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust their team to deliver what your business needs and involve them in both the problems and solution discovery. Digica showed that they could work in a highly interactive project and remain effective, so don't be afraid of working with Digica to discover and clarify project requirements as you progress through the project.

We established a clear image of the desired outcome, then we took the time to collaboratively refine the goals of each upcoming development phase as we all became smarter through the project - and it worked beautifully. The Digica developers were able to very effectively work from these project goals and drive their own in partnership and technical discussion with our engineers.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of radar system design for an electrical manufacturing company. We design human-machine interfaces for washing machines and dishwashers. I develop the electronics for the human-machine interfaces like touch. In this case, it was a radar interface.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digica?

We wanted to try and implement some machine learning algorithms.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Digiga developed source code for us. Their team demonstrated an electronic device that gives them raw data, which they then recorded. They came up with some algorithms and then delivered back the result to us. The final deliverable was a report and source code.

What is the team composition?

We worked with one project manager and two technical people from Digica.

How did you come to work with Digica?

We got in contact at a trade fair in 2018 or 2019. They approached us at an exhibition and we ended up deciding to work with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested €10,000–€30,000 euros (approximately $12,000–$36,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from August–October 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The code was professionally done and well documented. I was able to use the code and work with it afterward.

How did Digica perform from a project management standpoint?

Digica's project management was great, there was nothing to complain about. We had a weekly meeting with them where they would give us reports of the prior week. We also had a phone call once a week using Google Meet, and between those meetings, we corresponded through email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication was impressive, especially since it was a tight project plan and they really stuck to it. It was good working with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only thing I asked to be made better was the code documentation. The first results weren’t documented in the source code. I asked them to and they did.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d have no reservations to recommend working with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a surgical process optimization software company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digica?

We were trying to solve the issues around instrument and implant management within hospitals and surgery centers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’re working with Digica to develop a proprietary image recognition technology for surgical instruments, equipment, and implants.

They are able to deliver on a very complex set of instruments that are laid out for a large number of surgical procedures. Utilizing common technology such as iPhones or Android phones, they are able to build a software that will enable everyday employees and workers within a hospital system, to snap pictures of surgical trays, and identify what’s there and what’s missing. 

This technology will greatly increase our ability to get surgery right. It creates a better work environment for the people,  and the guesswork will be removed thanks to what Digica is building.

What is the team composition?

We’re working with about 6 people on this project. It’s a broad spectrum of data engineers, developers, graphic artists, and a project manager — a full team essentially.

How did you come to work with Digica?

It was actually our CTO who found and connected with them through The World Economic Forum. Our CTO sits on the forum’s council for AI, so I believe they connected that way.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2020, and we’re still continuing to work with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Everything was based on average precision scores and chaos models, where we determine the accuracy in real-time against a tray with a human in the loop interaction.

And in terms of anecdotal feedback, they’re just really a tremendous organization to work with. I had concerns in the beginning that there might be language barriers, but everything has been really seamless — it’s been a great experience.

How did Digica perform from a project management standpoint?

We have a shared communication platform that we work on together. We have bi-weekly progress reports and they constantly update us on their progress. Moreover, they’re really good at documenting the testing throughout the project. As they go, they leave us with the confidence that the algorithms continue to gain as they move through different projects.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We are impressed with their speed.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to mind at the moment. I don’t have anything to declare.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Clearly define your goals and objectives, and give them targets to shoot for. They’re a task-driven team that works hard to achieve their goals in a timely, if not early, manner. They reached our desire threshold a month earlier than expected.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder of a research firm that focuses on visual or video analytics.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digica?

We wanted to explore how we could extract health metrics from video analytics. This goes beyond traditional computer vision techniques which is why we needed outside help. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Digica was in charge of developing the algorithms based on machine learning. It was a mobile app made for internal use. It is a pretty straightforward project. It wasn’t an easy task, but they delivered it. They used Native C++ and Python for development.

What is the team composition?

We have worked with three people from Digica including Rafal (CEO), the lead data scientist, and the project manager, who was our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Digica?

We found them through Clutch before they merged with another company to form Digica. We chose them because of their experience with computer vision.

How much have you invested in them?

We have invested $150,000 USD.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in August 2020, and we are still working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

In general, the feedback is positive. They obviously have the technical know-how. They aren’t permanently focused on the UX and UI because they aren’t a design firm, but when it comes to having the process work, it works. It was just an idea six months ago and now it's a reality. Obviously, that is something to shout about.

How did Digica perform from a project management standpoint?

They were exceptional. If there were any limitations, it was made known early. There were no rude surprises and timeline adherence was a strict priority. Three times a week we have a stand-up where we closely monitor the progress of the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their deep knowledge and technical know-how impressed us. I think those qualities are very underrated. A lot of companies can claim to do certain things, but it is really the ability to really do what you say you can do.

When it comes to Digica, they have the experience and ability to get things done. They could always come up with a very elegant solution. When you engage with a vendor, the last thing that you want is for a ton of money to be spent and have a bunch of time dedicated but not have the results. I am very happy that we have been getting some results.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The project covers a very large canvas, everything from computer vision to engineering. We needed to assemble a team that could fill the gaps to provide the solutions, Their ability to do so shows that they have a large pool of talent so that they can piece people together. They also established a project lead so when they first start the project, they would understand the requirements and know how to assemble the team.

It’s more like an art rather than a science to understand the true requirements of a project, finding the right people, and putting the team together. I think that is really where they shine, and because of that, I don’t have any constructive criticism on how they can improve.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Principle Software Engineer and Team Leader for the leading Japanese global information and communication technology (ICT) company, offering a full range of technology products, solutions and services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Enigma Pattern?

Enigma Pattern did a ML workshops for a team of 8 engineers.

What were your goals for this project?

To gain basic ML knowledge.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We compared the offers from different vendors and chose Enigma Pattern based on that.

Describe the project in detail.

Enigma Pattern did custom ML workshops for us.

What was the team composition?

3 people. Head of Data Science in Enigma Pattern and two Data Scientists.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We were satisfied with the workshops and consider to have a stage 2 training for the same team.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The communication with the vendor was easy. We exchanged few emails and had few phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

It was a very collaborative and positive experience working with Enigma Pattern. They prepared the agenda for the training according to our requirements.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We would like to receive materials after the training in the future.