The challenges for engineering are considerable. There is ever increasing complexity, competition and shrinking life cycles. Engineers also have to contend with an increasingly complex regulatory environement, rapid improvements in technology and ever tighter program deadlines.
And that is just on the output side!
For inputs there are cost reductions, a ceiling on research and development, a scarce supply of talented employees and increasignly scarce resources.
There is also a disconnect between what customers want and what is being produced. Not being in tune with what customers want can be a project killer.
Agile becomes necessary as the speed of products coming to market increases. Engineering companies need to innovate continuously in order to provide their clients with updates and innovative products. They need to be adaptive and be flexible enough to pivot in order to remain competitive in the marketplace. Agile engineering focuses on breaking down batch sizes to smaller sizes with frequent delivery to the client. Using this iterative approach engineering firms can deliver products that are more in line with consumer expectations.
One of the characteristics of engineering projects is that end users aren’t aware of what they are receiving until the project is delivered. If the output doesn’t sit within the expectations of customers, the project may need to be changed. The cost of change increases through the life of a project, and engineering projects in particular are expensive to alter. Therefore, project teams try and avoid late changes as the costs may be excessive and may place the success of the project in jeopardy.
The Agile solution is to reduce batch sizes and provide value early in the process. An example of how this may be achieved is by producing prototypes that can be presented to stakeholders. This provides an opportunity for early feedback that the team can build into the workflow.
Within engineering the project life cycle is linear and progresses through several phases. This process is represented by the V Cycle as shown below in Figure 1. The left side entails concept design whilst the right side encompasses validation and further maintenance.
Figure 1
BENEFITS OF USING AGILE IN ENGINEERING
Agile has been the norm for a considerable time in software development organisations. It is not the only industry sector to benefit from the Agile approach though. Even tradiitonal industries such as construction, aerospace, automotive and pharma are all benefitting from the Agile process. The implementation of Agile can provide the following benefits:
- Engineers can see the impact of their work on a daily basis
- Breaking up large bodies of work into smaller work packages helps with goal setting and motivation
- Working in smaller teams can also be motivating as it all a diversity of job allocations
- The teamwork continues when bottle necks appear. Team members assist the person with the problem and helo them to get back on track. This also benefits the team and the overall output of the work.
- The small iterative cycles with constant customer feedback is also important in keeping the actions in tune with what customers want.
- The relationship between design, engineering, manufacturing and marketing provide a greater understanding between departments.
- Testing is continuous through the iterations providing an opportunity for risks to be exposed through the process.
- Agile engineering brings teams across the organisation together which can help to create a better product.
HURDLES FOR AGILE
There are substantial obstacles in place when implementing agile principles into an engineering department or organisation. These can include:
- Relatively high cost/long lead times
- Supplier relationships
- Products that have previously been developed in traditional waterfall approaches
- Costly roll out for most of the components and systems in scope.
It is clear that in certain departments of the organisation implementing Agile will be almost impossible without significant change. This is why in certain hardware engineering organisations the success of Agile implementation has been unsuccessful.
Where there has been success is with organisations that place an emphasis on individual product aspects and introduce a mix of software/hardware environments. This minimises the risk when implementing Agile as it does not expose the organisation to the full product pipeline.
The difficulty when only introducing certain aspects of Agile is that it might just be an introduction of buzzwords and misses out on the full benefits that Agile has to offer.
COMPARING THE OLD WAY WITH AGILE
Traditional approaches meant engineering teams were trying to predict demand monts in advance. A single prototype was produced and this was quickly mass manusfactured. Predicting demand so far out menat there were supply issues with companies having product shortage or unsold inventory.
Agile has feedback and testing loops that are set in short cycles. This provides the opportunity for prototypes to be developed, tested and improved with the benefit of customer feedback.
Another benefit of implementing agile is that it encourages teams to fail quickly. By bringing in a culture of embracing many small failures, learning and improvements can be made quickly.
BRINGING AGILE INTO THE ORGANISATION
There are other hurdles when looking to implement Agile into Engineering organisations. For instance there will be requirements management implications. This means that there will be times when you will need to hand the work over to someone else. Having clear documentation of where you are in terms of time, cost and scope need to be clearly communicated. Your team member will need to know which requirements have been fulfilled and your stopping point and what is your design intent.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The evidence seems clear that bringing Agile into the Engineering organisation provides many positive benefits. These positives are more pronounced in the product design, R & D and IT functions of the firm. The challenge for management is how to bring the same approach to the manufacturing department which falls naturally into a waterfall approach.