Why does TRUMPF need agile methodologies?
Over the years, markets have evolved, moving from the manufacturing age (small
markets, products tailored to the customer) to the industrial age (broader markets, standardized products) and then onwards to today’s knowledge age (global markets, return to customization). Companies in our globalized world are under enormous pressure because they are constantly at risk of being ousted or superseded. This risk doesn’t just stem from competitors in their own markets, but also from providers in other sectors whose products influence those markets. The reason behind all this is digitalization: companies that offer physical products are increasingly facing competition from providers of digital services.
For a flexible organization, you need both stability and agility.
Graph: Denis Gabriel
Nowadays, many things are faster and simpler than they were in previous decades.
And raising capital is no exception. It’s no longer only money that is the limiting factor, but also the search for the brightest minds in the global workforce. In the industrial age, companies invested a lot of time in drawing up detailed plans, because it was difficult to raise capital. But nowadays companies are more willing to experiment. Today, the primary competitive factor is speed, and companies that devote too much time to planning now find themselves left behind by their competitors. What matters is being flexible enough to deliver your goods quickly, because otherwise customers will simply turn to the next provider. Businesses today are shifting from zero-defect strategies to zero-time strategies, and that explains why they need to take a new approach to how they work. The industrial age coined the terms “thinkers” and “doers,” leading to line structures and hierarchical thinking within organizations. And that’s where we’re now seeing the biggest transformation of all – the shift towards collaborative methods of thinking and working.
The company has already made great strides in cross-functional collaboration and encouraged the widespread adoption of iterative planning methods. Based on values such as openness, transparency, and the belief that people should work together on an equal footing, TRUMPF is rapidly pushing ahead with the implementation of agile methodologies. Underpinning these efforts is a fundamental understanding, namely that every single person is there to create value for the customer.
