Siemens Brings Agile Software Development to NX CAM
Agile software development promotes shorter release cycles and close collaboration with users, which encourages rapid and flexible response to the market needs. In this video, Siemen’s Yaron Riany, vice president, product management & industry solutions, Manufacturing Engineering Software division, explains the three key areas of focus and how Siemens is achieving success with agile software development.
Agile Development Video Transcript
Yaron Riany, Vice President, Product Management & Industry Solutions, MES, Siemens PLM Software.
I would like to talk to you about agile software development within our organization. It is something we have introduced recently. There are three things that we are focusing on as key values for lean and agile software development.
First is business orientation. We are business oriented and not just doing development for software. For technical reasons, for technology reasons, we are business oriented. We are looking for the value, the key value proposition for our business and our customers. Agile helps us think in that way and work with our customers.
The other value is customer focus. How do we make our software match the needs of customers in a better way? The only way to get things right is by iteration. We all know that. So agile basically showed us iteration. We used to have big, longer, cycles of releases. Now are moving into significantly shorter cycles from a year of lead time we are now going down to a couple of months. That means that the responsiveness is there for our customers.
The third value is flexibility. So, what happens if a business opportunity arises or something that you learned from your recent release that is validated but it’s not really that good for some reason? It is not matching a specific need. How do you adapt to that? Flexibility is being able to re-plan, get that input, and come up with the next release in a very short time. We have reduced from years, from the initial concept to the right solution, to months. In some situations we are able to do that in weeks.
The key part that sometimes people miss about agile development is customer involvement. We are working now with a significant number of customers in agile engagement. I’m talking about top enterprise software companies in automotive and aerospace industries that are engaging with us in a very short cycle on small features and small additions and enhancements. They are working with us because they see the opportunity to shape and help influence our product.
Agile Development: Delivering proven digital manufacturing solutions on time.
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Have you seen our free, “Manufacturing 360,” tablet app? Manufacturing 360 allows viewers to experience advanced manufacturing in a virtual factory environment. Viewers can swipe to explore and tap to learn how manufacturers can compete more effectively with next generation technology. Currently available from the Apple App Store, Manufacturing 360 is a gateway to all the latest information about Siemens part and assembly manufacturing solutions, with access to video demonstrations, case studies, blog posts, and tech tips by experts. The Android version will be available soon. Download the app here.
