At Monday’s drop-in session (January 19), HiveMind Expert and Director at VREF Consultants, Col Sweetman, discussed how a Lean / Agile approach can drastically accelerate product development and design the right product for your target market.

Col, who has been working in the technology sector for 20 years, explained how a Lean / Agile approach outside of IT has disrupted the military aircraft market, and more importantly, how this approach can be applied to your business in a similar way.

Col drew upon three main points during the presentation:

• How a Lean/Agile approach has supported a small aviation company in reducing ‘concept to flight’ time by over 75%, from 9 years to 20 months.
• How the same approach is being implemented with our help at a Major Utilities provider in the UK
• Applying the fundamental principles in your organisation

The issue of how to balance the cultural change aspects of lean / agile was also covered; how to work together as individuals, how organisational groups work together, and also changing perceptions of what the client supplier relationship is with your supply chain, which involves moving away from the traditional contractual model.