Industry survey report »Agile Automotive. State of Practice 2021«

Agility refers to the key ability of a company or one of its business functions to adapt quickly to changing requirements. These may be new customer requirements or changes in the market environment. Being an agile company is therefore about being self-organised, with small teams and units that can manage themselves with a strong degree of freedom. These teams keep in close contact with customers and this makes it possible for them to react quickly to customer expectations. Being so close to the market allows your business units to become customer-centric and thus quickly understand what is expected of them. This also empowers an agile company to lay foundations for becoming a ›learning organisation‹.

Companies involved in the development of automotive electronics have to consider a number of guidelines, including industry standards such as Automotive SPICE^® and functional safety, but also requirements such as cybersecurity. They also have to think about any special conditions affecting the company as well as the expectations of senior management. Applying the principles of Agile in Automotive therefore requires agility on two fronts: adaptability when it comes to customers but also adaptability when it comes to the circumstances facing an industry. These are challenges we work through systematically in applying our expertise in automotive electronics.