Make the impossible possible – The complete story behind a next-generation self-service banking terminal
Forensic engineering, a factory built mid-program, and 250 components delivered across two countries
Some programs look challenging from the outside. This cassette program was truly difficult from the inside, and the people who delivered it deserve to have the full story shared.
When this program is summarized, the focus is usually on the headline numbers: 250 production-ready components, two manufacturing sites, six months to production. Those numbers are impressive, but they don’t capture what truly made this program extraordinary.
The real story starts earlier, goes deeper, and involves a level of engineering complexity that most contract manufacturers would never have agreed to take on. This is that story.
The program at a glance
- Phase 1 January 2025 – Program kick-off. The client brings cassette parts to Rosti. No original design data was available. Improved design phase begins.
- Phase 2 June 2025 – Tool kick-off. Reverse engineering phase begins. Third-party CT scanning, managed by Rosti, was used to validate the improved design against the unknown original
specification. - Phase 3 Ongoing – Dual-site production ramp. Rosti China (Suzhou) and Rosti India (Chennai) qualified simultaneously. The Chennai facility was under active construction throughout.
- China SOP December 2025 – Start of Production achieved at Rosti China (Suzhou). 120 plastic tools manufactured and qualified. 250 components delivered on time, to specification.
- India SOP February 2026 – Start of Production achieved at Rosti India (Chennai). Site fully qualified, built, and ramped up during the program itself.
The challenge nobody saw coming
The customer came to Rosti with a clear requirement and a physical product—the cassette parts that had to be manufactured at volume. The global team—David Orr, Global Program Director; Roseann Wilson, Global Account Director; and the customer—brought true leadership and commitment to this program from day one, creating the foundation for a real partnership, not just a transactional supplier relationship. What they couldn’t provide, through no fault of their own, was the original design data behind those parts.
The cassette had originally been designed by another company. That design history—the drawings, the tolerances, the engineering reasoning behind every geometric decision—was not available. It didn’t exist anywhere in a form that could be given to a manufacturer and used as a production baseline.
This created a challenge that went far beyond standard tooling and production. Before Rosti could improve the design, tool the component, or qualify a production process, we first had to understand exactly what the part was, at a level of precision matching the original specification—even though that specification was unknown.
In practical terms: we had physical parts but no drawings. We had a customer requirement but no design baseline. We had to reverse engineer the specification from the object itself.
‘We had physical parts but no drawings. The original design data didn’t exist in a form that could be shared. We had to find the specification inside the component itself.’
Phase 1: Improved design (January)
The program kicked off in January with Rosti receiving the physical cassette parts. The first phase wasn’t about tooling—it was about understanding.
Tony Shen, Rosti’s Project Manager, led the Suzhou engineering team through a detailed analysis of the physical parts to establish a working design baseline. From that baseline, the team developed an improved design that addressed manufacturability, tolerance stack, and long-term production consistency, while maintaining strict adherence to the functional requirements of the original component.
The collaboration between Tony’s team, David Orr, Roseann Wilson, the customer, and the local project team in China was critical in this phase. All parties were deeply committed to getting the design right before a single tool was made—an up-front investment of time that paid off throughout the rest of the program.
Improving a design without access to the original intent is a precise and demanding discipline. Every decision had to be based on what the physical part told us—not what a drawing specified. The Rosti engineering team treated the parts themselves as the primary source of truth.
This phase established the foundation for the rest of the program. It also set the tone: rigorous, evidence-led, and unwilling to make assumptions when data could provide answers.
Phase 2: CT scanning and reverse engineering (June)
With the improved design established, the program reached a crucial decision point in June: how do you validate a new design against an original specification that doesn’t formally exist?
The answer was CT scanning—industrial computed tomography, the same technology used in medical imaging, applied to precision-manufactured components. Tony Shen coordinated the commissioning of a specialist third-party CT scanning process, generating detailed three-dimensional internal and external geometry data from the original cassette parts.
The resulting scan data allowed the Rosti engineering team to:
- Map the precise geometry of the original designed parts at a level of detail no manual measurement could achieve
- Compare the improved Rosti design directly against the original part geometry, wall by wall, feature by feature
- Identify and validate critical dimensions that would never have been accessible using traditional inspection methods
- Create a reverse-engineered design record that provided a documented specification baseline for their own component for the very first time
This wasn’t a standard quality step. It was forensic engineering applied to a production program running under significant time pressure. The CT scanning phase brought rigor and confidence to a program where assumptions couldn’t be afforded. It also delivered something that outlasted the program itself: a documented design baseline for the cassette that hadn’t existed until Rosti created it.
‘CT scanning didn’t just verify our design. It provided a documented specification for their own component that never existed before.’
The person who made it happen
Every program of this complexity has a center of gravity—a person around whom trust, decision-making, and momentum come together. For the cassette program, that person was Tony Shen.
Tony didn’t just manage the program—he led it in every sense of the word. He drove engineering standards in Suzhou during the design improvement phase. He coordinated the CT scanning and reverse engineering process that uncovered the original design mystery. He transferred process knowledge and quality standards from China to India in real time, launched a new team in Chennai, and kept the China program running smoothly all at once.
But what really set Tony apart on this program—and made him truly irreplaceable—was something you don’t see on a GANTT chart.
Before any tools were made or the program officially launched, Tony Shen built the trust with the global leadership team that made the entire project possible. David Orr, Roseann Wilson, and the customer had to believe Rosti could deliver something never done before—a dual-site qualification, a new factory, a reverse-engineered specification—all within a timeline that left zero room for error. Tony gave them that confidence. Through technical credibility, open communication, and a personal commitment the customer could see and feel, he created the foundation for them to say yes.
‘Without Tony Shen’s ability to build trust with the
leadership team, this program would never have launched. He didn’t just deliver it—he made it possible.’
That’s a rare quality in any program manager. Being both technically exceptional and commercially trusted—the reason a customer commits to the impossible—is something that defines a career. In this cassette program, it defined the result.
With the design validated and tooling released, the program moved into production qualification at two sites. This is where the full manufacturing complexity of the program became fully apparent.
Rosti China (Suzhou) held the main engineering knowledge base and provided the production stability anchor for the program. The Suzhou team’s experience with precision components and advanced tooling meant the China qualification, while demanding, was within the site’s usual scope.
Rosti India (Chennai) was an entirely different challenge.
Chennai wasn’t an operating factory simply receiving a new project. It was still under construction—infrastructure being installed, equipment being brought online—all while the program itself was underway. Plus, the team was brand new.
Leading this extraordinary effort was T.K. Purushothaman, Managing Director of Rosti India. Building a brownfield factory from the ground up is a huge challenge in itself. Doing it while simultaneously qualifying and delivering a live customer program this complex, in a new country, with a new team, under tight deadlines, is another level entirely. T.K.P’s leadership in making Rosti India a credible, capable, and qualified manufacturing site was essential to everything achieved in Chennai.
The Rosti India team was recruited specifically to set up and run this facility. They arrived to a factory still being built, with no established processes, no set routines, and a live customer program to deliver from day one. What they had was support from the Suzhou team, Tony Shen’s program leadership, ongoing involvement from David Orr and Roseann Wilson, partnership with the local customer project team in India, and the determination to prove Rosti India could deliver.
And they did. The knowledge transfer from Suzhou to Chennai was a real-time capability build, with Tony’s team providing process knowledge, quality frameworks, and technical support to a site and team literally building from the ground up. The global customer team’s engagement throughout this phase, maintaining program confidence and tackling every challenge together, was a crucial factor in the success.
The fact that the new India team qualified a complex precision component, in a factory still under construction, on their very first live customer program—and delivered on time—is one of the most impressive things the Rosti Asia business has accomplished.
What made delivery possible
Three things stood out across this program as truly decisive.
Engineering depth
The CT scanning and reverse engineering phase demanded a level of engineering skill beyond standard contract manufacturing. Rosti’s ability to manage a complex forensic engineering process—coordinating third-party CT scanning, interpreting scan data, comparing it with improved design geometry, and building a validated design record—reflects an engineering culture that treats technical challenges as problems to be solved, not as reasons to reject a program.
Technovation
Rosti’s Technovation platform, built around 72-hour concept-to-prototype capability, was most valuable during the design improvement phase and at tool release. The ability to iterate quickly, test ideas fast, and move from design decision to physical validation without the delays of traditional manufacturing cycles was critical to keeping a complex program on schedule.
The Rosti Asia network
The integrated nature of the Rosti Asia operation—shared quality frameworks, shared process knowledge, and a culture of cross-site support—was what made the Chennai qualification possible. Without deep knowledge transfer from Suzhou, launching a new site on a live program of this complexity and within this timeline would not have been achievable.
The result
250 production-ready cassette components, delivered to specification. To support that delivery, 120 plastic tools were manufactured and qualified throughout the program—a tooling investment that reflects the complexity and precision required by the cassette design. Rosti China (Suzhou) achieved Start of Production in December 2025, with Rosti India (Chennai) following in February 2026. The Indian site was under construction during the entire program.
- Beyond the headline delivery, the program produced results that will outlast the initial order:
- 120 plastic tools manufactured and qualified throughout the program to support delivery of the 250 components, highlighting the engineering depth and complexity of the cassette design.
- For the first time, the customer now has a documented design specification for the cassette, created by Rosti using CT scanning and reverse engineering of the originally designed parts.
- Rosti India (Chennai) is now a fully qualified production site for the customer, accelerating the site’s commercial capability development by years.
- The Suzhou-to-Chennai knowledge transfer model used in this program is now being incorporated into Rosti Asia’s standard multi-site launch framework.
- The CT scanning and reverse engineering methodology is now part of Rosti’s official engineering toolkit for programs where original design data is unavailable.
‘The program didn’t just deliver 250 components. It delivered a design baseline, a qualified new site, and a methodology that will benefit future programs.’
In their own words
A senior procurement leader reflected on the significance of the program:
“This was the most significant program we have ever undertaken, delivered within timeframes that were critical to ensuring continuity of supply. Our manufacturing partner went above and beyond expectations, working collaboratively with our internal team to put this in place. This is the most complex module we have ever outsourced, and the approach—as a true partnership and not just a supplier relationship—made all the difference.”
Senior Procurement Leader, Global Technology Company
That recognition from the CPO of a globally recognized technology company speaks to what the Rosti Asia team built throughout this program. Not just a manufacturing capability, but a relationship and a reputation.
Closing thoughts
The cassette program began in January 2025 with only physical parts, no design data, and a requirement that most manufacturers would have declined. It concluded with Rosti China achieving Start of Production in December 2025 and Rosti India following in February 2026, resulting in two qualified production sites and a design record the customer never had before.
The team that delivered this deserves recognition. Tony Shen, who led the program from Suzhou with the precision and composure the complexity required. T.K. Purushothaman, Managing Director of Rosti India, whose leadership in establishing the Chennai facility created the foundation upon which the India qualification was built—bringing a new factory and team to life under conditions that would have challenged even the most experienced operation. The new Rosti India team in Chennai, who qualified a live customer program in a factory they were building from scratch, on their first program. The local customer project teams in China and India, who worked side by side with Rosti at every stage and never let the program’s challenges slow them down. And from the global team—David Orr, Global Program Director; Roseann Wilson, Global Account Director—whose leadership and true partnership throughout made the impossible possible.
At Rosti, we say that if we aren’t improving your design, we’re not adding value. On this next-generation self-service banking terminal, we improved the design, reverse engineered the original specification, stood up a new factory mid-program, and delivered on time in two countries.
