Agile Mindset for Manufacturers: Defining the Product

The Action Engineering team embraces an Agile mindset & Scrum practices in our work.
In our Agile articles, we share tips & coaching opportunities that work well for us. 

prod·​uct | \ ˈprä-(ˌ)dəkt
Something produced.
Something (such as a service) that is marketed or sold as a commodity.

After reading the definition of a product from Merriam Webster, what ‘product’ do you think your team is working on? Is it the first part you’ve taken from development to manufacturing, fully using model-based definition? Or is the product the actual MBD process?

Chances are, your team is divided on what they believe the product is. This highlights a common issue for many teams – when we don’t clearly define the product as a team, we have differing definitions of what the product is.

Eventually, the parts that we create using the MBD process will be our product – but while we are starting down the path of development and implementation, our product is the MBD process. We have to make sure the process is solid before we start manufacturing additional parts.

To ensure your team is on the same page about your product, take the first 15 minutes out of your next meeting and have each team member write on a sticky note what they think the product is. Have team members put their sticky notes up on a whiteboard and discuss.

Is your team aligned on what your product is, or could you use a product vision session to figure it out? We’re here and happy to help. Send us a message!