Why Agile and Automation Are Stronger Together

At first glance, Agile and automation don’t appear to be immediately connected. Sure, both are related to digital transformation, but Agile product development is a methodology, whereas automation is anchored in technology. Nevertheless, self-identified tech leaders have shown that, when used in tandem, the two complement one another, allowing for greater benefits and competitive advantages. 

Recent research from PTC’s whitepaper, The Approach to Agile Product Development: What Leaders do Differently, explored the nuanced differences between self-identified tech leaders and laggards when it came to evaluating and deploying Agile product development outside the software space. While that whitepaper drew numerous conclusions and insights from the data we researched, we’d like to dig deeper in this blog. Namely, we’re exploring the conclusion of the chart below (Leaders are far more automated), why it matters, and what it has to do with Agile product development.  

Respondents were asked to evaluate the level of automation in several essential physical product workflow processes, including deployment, testing, maintenance, design and development, retirement, and ideation and planning. As their name suggests, leaders dominated in every segment, and it wasn’t particularly close. Deployment, testing, and ideation and planning, the three most competitive categories, each saw a 13% divide between leaders and laggards regarding their automation status. Design and development was the largest area of differentiation, with leaders averaging at 25% compared to laggards’ 5%.   

How Agile product development aligns with automation

Now, what does that have to do with Agile? After all, automation refers very expressly to a technological workflow state, whereas Agile is about mindset and methodology.  

Agile product development is an approach to creation ideation, incubation, and deployment; it originated in software and grew into the dominant design philosophy over the past 20 years. More recently, it’s becoming increasingly prevalent in physical product design. 

To give a quick summary: Agile is aligned around 12 principles and 4 core values, all of which prioritize collaboration, communication, and rapid (but sustainable) value delivery during the product development cycle—rather than relying on stages and approval processes (Waterfall product development). As another of our recent whitepapers, Transitioning to Agile Development: How to Develop Hardware like Software, concluded: a convergence of factors, including an evolving workforce, greater prevalence of software experience, increased rate of change/uncertainty, and stronger platform tools, have all led the physical product creation space to an inflection point. It is time for hardware to follow software in seriously evaluating and adapting Agile methodologies into their product creation cycles.  

At its heart, Agile is all about increasing internal visibility and transparency, so that everyone involved in product creation can act with insight and have greater confidence in their decision making. Automation is one of the chief technologies that can help enable these benefits.   

The benefits of workflow automation

When we discuss workflow automation, we’re primarily talking about software designed to perform a set of jobs or tasks without any direct human involvement. Humans can oversee the process--and we can of course make changes to the software—but from there the software takes over. This comes with a litany of benefits, but most revolve around two common ideals: visibility and control.  

Workflow automation replicates the same process over and over, 24 hours a day if needed, with no change in the production process. Any errors are instantly detected and are either corrected by the software or reported to a human. The whole process is also more transparent, as software platforms (particularly SaaS and cloud solutions) are readily accessible regardless of location, allowing managers to monitor the automated workflow anywhere at any time.  

By reducing this barrier to oversight, it is not only possible but easy for multiple colleagues, in multiple locations, to review and collaborate on the same automated workflow process at the same time—even juggling a few simultaneously should they desire. For example, let’s say manufacturing stakeholders are working on developing a new product line, and they want to check various efficiency levels throughout their facilities.

Without any automation, this is a very labor-intensive affair. Either the stakeholders must go there themselves or send specialized technicians in to review all workflows and determine if and where new workflows can be safely implemented. With automated platforms, however, this review can be conducted remotely, with stakeholders simply accessing the production overview, and then reviewing the current systems to see if it is possible, and where it makes the most sense to develop these new products. If this sounds like an Agile process—it’s because it is.  

The benefits of Agile product development strategies  

Agile processes help organizations deliver value in frequent increments, incorporate stakeholder feedback, repeat successes consistently, and collaborate with efficiency, all while reducing risk.  

Let’s focus on this last point: risk. Manufacturers are arguably facing more of it than ever. Time to value is crucial as products must be delivered quicker to stay competitive and ensure reliable growth, but the problems obfuscating this are only multiplying. Pandemics, wars, climate change, new legal regulations, and even structural disasters all negatively impact supply chain consistency, forcing manufacturers to delay, alter, or cancel products without notice.  

One of Agile’s strongest advantages over Waterfall is how it brings the product development team together and encourages open communication. In approval-based workflow structures, product development happens in a straight (descending) line. The researchers ideate a product, the designer outlines a prototype, the manufacturers build it, so on and so forth. If there is a change in the supply chain, this approval-based workflow is not designed to immediately react. Contrast Agile, where the issue would be brought up immediately in the daily meeting and discussed with the full larger team (often including the client). This would allow the product development process to quickly shift away from the problem, reducing its impact and mitigating what could have been a costly disaster.  

This ability to control the risk is hinged on visibility into the product development process. If the manufacturer can’t see what material is being used, they won’t be able to spot the issue. In Agile, visibility is prioritized. In Waterfall, it is an afterthought.  

How automation and Agile reduce risk while promoting secure collaboration  

Together then, it’s not hard to see Agile and automation working together to promote visibility and control risk. The automated software provides the overview, which is studied at the daily meeting. Users discuss the current level of production, how it can be improved, and where any potential hiccups may occur. Should a problem arise, other automated systems can be scanned to see if they can accommodate potential workflow shifts or project overflow. All of this can be done by a fully remote team during a standard daily meeting.  

This is also a case of choosing the right software. Not every automation tool is equal and not all come with the same features or security precautions. For organizations looking to see the full benefits of Agile product development in hardware, choosing software platforms that allow for simultaneous access and real-time collaboration between authorized users will provide the most benefit. These features tend to be more common in SaaS solutions, but the right on-premises software system may also provide these benefits as well.  

Knowing which tools enable Agile and automation 

This brings us full circle to the emerging prevalence of Agile tools for product development. It is no surprise that tech leaders tend to adopt new technologies faster than laggards. The insight comes from looking at where they are investing and which technologies they are prioritizing. In our survey, leaders had far higher PLM (product lifecycle management) and ALM (application lifecycle management) adoption rates.  

• 69% of tech leaders said they used PLM tools to facilitate physical product development vs. 49% of laggards.
• 23% of leaders reported using ALM solutions vs. 14% of laggards. 

Make no mistake: practically every digital transformation tool helps improve oversight and transparency, but PLM and ALM focus specifically on risk control, workflow oversight, and process efficiency improvements.  

The two can even be looked at as different sides of the same coin, with PLM focused on the hardware side of development while ALM oversees all software aspects. In looking at this data, it seems leaders at top companies are sold on the fact that digital transformation technologies can and should work together to create more consistent, positive outcomes. Even methodologies like Agile—which are not truly anchored to any one technology—benefit stronger from tools that prioritize collaboration, communication, and transparency. In the case of pursuing either Agile or automation, it is only natural that one leads into demand for the other.