With the subtitle of the article (Twice the Product in Half the Time) as a generic goal for industry, what is going wrong in today’s industrial environment? What stops or delays improvements in product delivery, despite embracing practices from Lean and Six Sigma? Why does it take years to get a new product out of the manufacturing plant? This article explores the “why” of this question and deep-dives into the solution.
What is the speed with which product launches really happen? The Tesla Model S was announced and prototypes were shown in 2007, and production started in 2012. Is 7 or 10 years a good estimate for the idea-to-launch time? Boeing’s Dreamliner was announced in 2003 and entered production in 2011, estimating the full cycle at 12 to 16 years. Lockheed Martin’s F35 started design in 1992 and entered production in 2018. Microsoft Xbox renews every 4 – 8 years. This long time between idea and production does not only affect new products like the Dreamliner, it also affects you when you respond to a competitor’s move: for example, when your car brand wants to launch an all-electric vehicle, you find yourself 5 – 10 years behind your competitor who has already launched such a vehicle. Shortening this time span is what the Industrial Agile Framework is all about.
