Why PLM users are moving from waterfall to agile development processes.
In today’s fast-paced and ever-evolving world of product development and manufacturing, agile is the name of the game. Everyone likes to be agile these days. Agile methodologies have taken center stage, becoming the driving force behind successful project execution across industries. These methodologies, characterized by their flexibility, collaboration and iterative approach, have not only revolutionized the way teams work but have also ushered in a new era of adaptability and responsiveness.
When change is the only constant, you must manage changes and processes in ways that can best support it. Embracing agile methodologies has become a trend that organizations simply cannot afford to ignore.
In this article, we will explore the reasons behind the surge in agile methodologies’ popularity, how agile methods can be applied to PLM and how they can reshape the way to manage product development and manufacturing processes.
Agile’s Dominance in Software Development
If you’re in the software business, agile methodologies are nothing new. For the last 20 years, agile has become a mainstream for software projects. Its principles, centered on flexibility, collaboration and customer feedback, have empowered teams to create high-quality software products with remarkable efficiency. Today, it’s almost unheard of for a software development project to not embrace some form of agile methodology.
Complex Products and the Demand for Agile in Hardware
The landscape of manufacturing has expanded significantly, encompassing hardware, electronics, software and the principles of Industry 4.0. Traditional hardware production remains crucial, but it has evolved with advanced technologies, integrating electronics and software into physical products. This convergence allows for enhanced functionality, automation and real-time data analysis. Furthermore, Industry 4.0 emphasizes the digital transformation of manufacturing processes while combining hardware, software and data analytics to create smart factories. This revolution enables efficient production, predictive maintenance and improved quality control, driving the industry’s growth and competitiveness.
As products are now combined from different sub-systems, there is a need for multi-disciplinary teams to collaborate. This is a place where mechanical engineers meet electronics and software engineers. From smartphones and smart appliances to autonomous vehicles and IoT devices, these complex products require a holistic approach to development. While software engineers are aligned well with agile methodologies, others are not. This is also true for many engineering tools. CAD, PDM and PLM systems were developed 20 years ago at the time products took months, or maybe years, to develop and the “agile” concept was just starting out. This is where the challenge arises—how to seamlessly blend the proven agility of Agile methodologies with the structured approach of PLM?
The Need for Agile in Hardware Development
Hardware development traditionally followed a linear and waterfall-like approach, where each phase was meticulously planned and executed before moving on to the next. Design was performed first, and it was mostly mechanical. Even if some PCB and electric work was needed, these groups rarely integrated work until the very last engineering releases. The same happened with engineering, supply chain and production planning. The work was finished, released and then was “thrown over the wall to manufacturing” for production. This method of work is problematic for agile product development. Teams need to collaborate. For instance, procurement and supply chain specialists are looking for early supply chain visibility.
In the pictures below, you can see the difference between waterfall and agile processes. In the waterfall process, each step is happening independently. You need to wait until design is completed to get to the engineering BOM, and even later for purchasing and supply chain and assembly.
To make things agile, product development, engineering and manufacturing teams need to have new tools and apply agile product development methods in their work. This is why hardware teams are looking at how to apply the same methods from software development to hardware and electronics. And this is also the reason why modern PLM—and other engineering tool developers—are coming up with ideas on how to support agile processes by providing modern data management, data sharing, review and collaboration functions.
How can you assure that engineering teams will be able to work together, make changes and provide early visibility on what they can do. Besides agile methods, PLM vendors can develop tools that encourage collaboration and real time data sharing. This allows teams to work faster and move in short agile sprints.
The Role of PLM Tools in Complex Product Development
PLM tools have long been a cornerstone in managing product data and processes for complex manufacturing businesses in aerospace, defense and automotive. They provide a structured framework for managing design, engineering release and change management. They also expand across the entire product lifecycle, from conceptualization to disposal. PLM tools also ensure traceability, compliance and collaboration across multidisciplinary teams.
However, many of these capabilities are unused or not implemented because the complex and rigid methods used in legacy PLM tools cannot easily adapt to flexible and dynamic agile product development methods.
This is a big opportunity for PLM businesses and modern PLM software. PLM technology can assist in coordinating hardware and software development efforts by maintaining a unified repository of product information, integrating mechanical, electronics and software item records and ensuring a common change process (where changes in one domain are seamlessly integrated with the other, promoting consistency and reducing the risk of discrepancies).
How to Blend Agile and PLM?
The fusion of agile methodologies and PLM technology presents an opportunity for manufacturing companies to navigate the complexities of modern product development successfully. For PLM developers, agile methodology provides an opportunity to replace existing tools. Here’s how these two approaches can work together:
- Iterative Hardware Development: Agile’s iterative approach can be applied to hardware development, allowing teams to rapidly adapt and refine their designs.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Agile promotes cross-functional teams and PLM tools ensure that these teams can access the same product information, fostering better collaboration between hardware and software specialists.
- Change Management: The change management capabilities of PLM tools can help control and document changes made during Agile sprints, ensuring that no important details are overlooked.
- Quality Assurance: Agile’s focus on continuous testing can be complemented by PLM tools like quality management to ensure product integrity and compliance.
- Traceability: PLM tools maintain a comprehensive history of product changes, ensuring every iteration is tracked and documented, aligning with agile’s transparency principles.
It is important to set milestones to bring agile methods to your team. It starts from education, selection of the technology, testing tools and getting everyone aligned. Think about PLM integration itself as another “agile process.” A picture below can give you an idea of this playbook.
Final Thoughts on an Agile PLM Process
The integration of agile methodologies in product development and manufacturing is not a dream, but a practical necessity. PLM venders are already implementing the tools needed to make this a reality because there is demand from engineering and manufacturing teams looking for tools and methods to collaborate and build products in a more efficient way.
By leveraging the strengths of agile product development, organizations can achieve the dexterity required to respond to market demands while maintaining the structured control needed for successful product development.
Embracing this synergy can help companies stay competitive, innovate faster and deliver superior products that seamlessly blend hardware and software components.
