Industrial prototype: from proto to production in R&D
From industrial prototype to pre-production through validated steps
Anticipate supplier lead times and secure the schedule
Progressive prototype validation, no surprises at industrialisation
From industrial prototype to pre-production through validated steps
Anticipate supplier lead times and secure the schedule
Progressive prototype validation, no surprises at industrialisation
Hardware Agility refers to the adaptation of agile methods to industrial product development projects: medical devices, embedded electronics, mechanical engineering, robotics, aerospace, automotive, IoT.
Industry-focused Agility accounts for the specific characteristics of engineering and R&D:
The objective of Hardware Agility is to reduce time-to-market, improve collaboration between technical functions, and deliver products that meet customer needs whilst respecting quality and regulatory requirements.
In agility designed for industry, you can use tools and methods similar to what is practised in software, but with essential adaptations. For example, SolidScrum is our variant of Scrum that accounts for the specifics of engineering and R&D: supplier lead times, costly prototypes, cross-functional teams.
Unlike IT Scrum applied to software, non-IT Agility addresses these constraints from the start:
Caution: it is a mistake to think that each hardware cycle must end with a finished object. The goal is real project progress, not mere indicators (“literature review done”, “material ordered”). Valid deliverables in non-IT agile and R&D project management include: test reports, risk assessments, technical validations, maturity levels achieved.
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SolidScrum is SolidCreativity's adaptation of Scrum (originally designed for software) to R&D and industrialisation projects. SolidScrum integrates hardware-specific requirements and addresses the challenges of uncertain projects in early stages:
The industrial work list incorporates measurable objectives (not vague tasks), with measurable acceptance criteria (mechanical resistance, power consumption, operating temperature, regulatory compliance). It accounts for manufacturing constraints: component ordering lead times, workshop availability, validation cycles.
Cycle planning includes a realistic assessment of the time needed to design, build and test a proof of concept. The team plans component orders, books workshops, anticipates procurement lead times. Cycles can be paced around milestone reviews (2-4 weeks depending on product complexity).
Improvement reviews identify concrete problems encountered: procurement delays, machining difficulties, failed tests, communication issues between design offices and workshops. The team implements corrective actions to improve the process.
SolidCreativity offers certified training courses to master SolidScrum: Product Owner (industry), Scrum Master (industry), hardware development team. These courses include practical cases from real projects (medical devices, electronics, robotics).
Discover our SolidScrum training Product Owner (industry) and Scrum Master (industry) certifications
Systems engineering teams building complex systems (medical devices, aerospace, automotive, embedded electronics) need agile tools that align iterative work with engineering artefacts: specifications, traceability matrices, validation plans, regulatory files.
In a hardware context, “tools” are not just software. They are a system of combined practices:
Products subject to strict standards (ISO 13485, DO-178, EN 9100, GMP) require an agile approach compatible with regulatory traceability. SolidScrum integrates this constraint from the start:
Result: the team works in agile mode without sacrificing compliance, and the regulatory file is built cycle by cycle instead of being assembled at the end of the project.
How to combine Agile and the V-model | Deploy Agility in your industry
| Sector | Agile framework | Traceability | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medical devices | SolidScrum + Design Control | codeBeamer, Polarion | ISO 13485, ISO 14971 |
| Aerospace | SolidScrum + DO-178 gates | Polarion, DOORS | DO-178C, EN 9100 |
| Automotive | SolidScrum + APQP | Jama Connect, codeBeamer | IATF 16949 |
| Embedded electronics | SolidScrum + HW/SW integration | Jira + ALM plugins | IEC 62304 |
| General industry | SolidScrum | Jira, Azure DevOps | ISO 9001 |
On a multi-system aerospace programme (mechanical, power electronics, embedded software), integration delays were the main cost overrun factor. Teams worked in silos, each discipline delivering its subsystems independently, and interface incompatibilities were only discovered during final integration. Deploying SolidScrum relied on four levers: a shared work list across disciplines with explicit dependencies, milestone reviews bringing systems engineers and specialists together around integrated demonstrations, agile traceability linking measurable objectives and normative requirements (EN 9100), and planned integration points at the end of each cycle. At Airbus, a similar approach reduced development costs by 10%. At ArcelorMittal, 4 pilot teams validated the model before a wider rollout. The measurable result: shorter integration cycles, early detection of interface incompatibilities, and a certification file built incrementally instead of being assembled under pressure.
Speed up R&D: feasibility sprints | How to deploy Agility in your industry
The transition from industrial prototype to pre-production is where most projects go off track: costs balloon, timelines slip, manufacturability issues discovered too late. An iterative approach structures this transition through progressive validation steps.
Each 3-4 week cycle delivers a testable result: proof of concept, functional prototype, pilot pre-production run. Supplier lead times are anticipated 2-3 cycles ahead. DFM (Design for Manufacturing) is integrated from the first cycles, not discovered at the end.
Result: the schedule advances on real validations, not estimates. Industrialisation is secured before committing heavy investments.
Scrum was designed for software: code delivery every sprint, easy rollback, single-project team. In industrial R&D, deliverables are tangible (prototypes, tooling), teams are cross-functional and multi-project, iterations involve component orders and procurement lead times. SolidScrum adapts Scrum principles to these constraints.
Agile Manufacturing applies agile principles to industrial production: line flexibility, rapid response to demand changes, enhanced collaboration between design office and workshop. Hardware Agility focuses on the upstream phase (R&D, design, validation) that precedes production, but the two approaches complement each other.
Yes, and that is where it adds the most value. Design offices face technical uncertainty daily: material choices, tolerances, subsystem integration. Short iterations allow these choices to be validated progressively instead of freezing everything upfront and discovering problems at integration.
IT Agility manages code (instantly deployable, reversible). Hardware Agility manages industrial objects (prototypes, components, tooling) with procurement lead times, manufacturing costs and regulatory constraints (ISO, GMP). Team practices are adapted: cycle planning includes supplier orders, improvement reviews address workshop issues.
Don't talk about Agility, talk about their problems: recurring delays, rework at integration, lack of visibility. Propose a 3-month pilot project with measurable results. Senior engineers change their minds when they see concrete results, not when they are presented with a methodology.
Supplier lead times are challenge #1 in Hardware Agility. The solution: decouple the work list into two streams. The short stream (simulation, CAD, reviews) moves in 2-week cycles. The long stream (component orders, tooling) is anticipated 2-3 cycles ahead via a dedicated procurement list. Cycle planning integrates supplier delivery dates as constraints. Result: the team no longer waits for parts, it works on other objectives in parallel.
In hardware, the sprint demo does not show a finished product but demonstrable progress. Examples of demonstrable deliverables: validated simulation results, test report on a subsystem, 3D-printed mock-up, validated interface between modules, material choice backed by data. The key: each demo answers the question 'what risk did we mitigate this sprint?', not 'what percentage of the product is complete'.
In hardware development, sprints typically last 3 to 4 weeks, compared to 2 weeks in software. The reason: industrial deliverables (prototypes, tests, orders) have incompressible lead times. Some contexts work in 2 weeks (pure CAD design phases) or up to 6-8 weeks (complex prototypes requiring machining and assembly). The rule: choose the shortest duration that allows delivering a demonstrable result at each sprint.
Modularisation is the #1 lever for making an industrial product 'agile'. By decomposing the product into independent modules (with defined interfaces), each module can be developed, tested and iterated separately. The Wikispeed team demonstrated that with a modular architecture, weekly sprints are achievable in hardware. In practice: define inter-module interfaces upfront, then iterate on each module in parallel. The full product is assembled when individual modules are validated.
The prototype, pre-production, series logic is not administrative: it is the best way to secure heavy investments. Each step validates a higher level: the prototype validates the technical solution, the pre-production run validates the production system (tooling, processes, suppliers, quality). A defect caught in pre-production costs 10 to 100 times less than in series. The iterative approach integrates manufacturability constraints (DFM) from the first design cycles, not at the end.
Validating an industrial prototype relies on objective criteria, not gut feeling. Before moving to pre-production, check: is the proof of concept confirmed by tests? Are specifications stabilised? Are sub-system interfaces validated by test? Is the supply chain secured? Are regulatory requirements integrated? If any of these points remains open, it is one more sprint, not a forced transition.
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