Without successful product development, companies cannot survive, and today we see that far from all new products achieve the success that companies expect. At the same time, new products – from cars to household appliances – are becoming increasingly complex, and the integration of hardware, software and electronics is placing new demands on product development.

The industry is drawing inspiration from agile methods used in the IT sector

Agile methods, with rapid iterations, frequent reviews and teams with a high degree of responsibility have helped the IT industry to both shorten its development cycles and bring more products to the market. These benefits have inspired product development in several fields and Silvia Orejuela, who recently defended her doctoral thesis, has examined how manufacturing companies implement agile methods. She studied both what obstacles and tensions may arise and what opportunities these methods provide for product development.

‘It is important to reflect and think critically before deciding to implement agile methods. They do not work for all types of products or companies. It is difficult to work in short iterations when components are complex and interconnected, lead times are long, and prototype and manufacturing technologies require extensive preparation,’ says Silvia Orejuela.

Agile ways of working deliver benefits beyond faster launches

In software development changes can be made quickly and at a low cost as it involves changing the software code. However, implementing changes in product development often takes a long time and is expensive as it involves physical materials, tools, factory testing and logistics. Therefore, agile methods mean something different in these companies. It is not only about processes, but also about people, culture and responsibility.

In product development, engineers are typically specialists in their field, while software developers often work more broadly. That affects how teams are built, how roles are distributed and how responsibility is taken.

‘Agile teams set their own priorities and choose which tasks they will tackle during a development cycle. That creates accountability but also requires the organisation to relinquish information and control,’ explains Silvia Orejuela.

Agile product development requires time and buy-in

Overall, the research indicates that there is no simple implementation of agile methods in product development. However, it clearly shows that success with agile methods requires a shared understanding of the way of working, through participation across the organisation.

Using agile methods in product development is not about faster processes, but about changing how people think, collaborate and take responsibility. And that requires patience and time.

‘The entire organisation must understand the working method, and the employees' perspective needs to be part of the transition to agile,’ emphasises Silvia Orejuela.