How can you use agile methods for PLM?

1 What are agile methods?

Agile methods are a set of principles and practices that emphasize collaboration, flexibility, and customer feedback over rigid plans, documentation, and contracts. Agile methods aim to deliver working software or products in short iterations, called sprints, that can be adapted to changing requirements and market conditions. Some of the common agile methods are Scrum, Kanban, Lean, and Extreme Programming (XP).

2 Why use agile methods for PLM?

Agile methods can offer several advantages for PLM, such as faster time to market, higher quality, lower cost, and higher customer satisfaction. By delivering products in small increments, you can test and validate them with real customers and stakeholders sooner to avoid wasting resources on unnecessary features. Additionally, incorporating feedback and testing into every sprint can help identify and fix defects early, as well as optimize resources and budget. Involving customers and stakeholders throughout the PLM process ensures that products meet their needs and expectations, resulting in a loyal user base.

3 How to use agile methods for PLM?

Using agile methods for PLM is not a one-size-fits-all approach as different products and contexts may require different adaptations and customizations. However, some of the general steps and best practices include defining your product vision and strategy, creating a product backlog, planning and executing sprints, implementing continuous integration and delivery, and adopting a lean mindset. Before you start developing your product, you need to have a clear understanding of what problem you are solving, who your target customers are, what value proposition you are offering, and how you will measure success. A product backlog is a list of features and requirements that your product needs to have, prioritized by value and urgency. Sprints are fixed time periods in which you develop and deliver a potentially shippable product increment. Continuous integration and delivery automate the building, testing, and deployment of your product. A lean mindset focuses on eliminating waste, maximizing value, and embracing change. Techniques like the build-measure-learn loop, the minimum viable product (MVP), and the pivot can be used to test assumptions, learn from experiments, and adjust direction accordingly.

4 What are the challenges of using agile methods for PLM?

Utilizing agile methods for PLM is not without its challenges, such as cultural and organizational resistance, technical and operational complexity, and team skills and capabilities. The shift from traditional to collaborative ways of working may be met with resistance from those who are used to fixed plans. Additionally, high levels of integration and coordination are needed when dealing with multiple products, platforms, teams, and locations. This could lead to issues like legacy systems, technical debt, incompatible tools, conflicting standards, and regulatory compliance. Lastly, a team's success in an agile environment depends on their communication, collaboration, problem-solving, creativity, and self-organization - all of which may require training or hiring to ensure the necessary competencies and attitudes.

5 How to overcome the challenges of using agile methods for PLM?

In order to overcome the challenges of using agile methods for PLM, it is important to communicate and educate senior management, customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders about the benefits and principles of agile methods. This can be done with case studies, testimonials, demos, and workshops. Additionally, technical and operational systems should be aligned and coordinated with your agile methods, while tools like Jira, Confluence, Slack, and Zoom can be used to facilitate collaboration and communication. Lastly, team members should be empowered and developed by providing them with autonomy, responsibility, feedback, resources, tools, and support. This can be accomplished with methods like Scrum of Scrums, Communities of Practice, and Pair Programming to enhance team skills and capabilities while fostering a culture of learning and improvement.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?