The Agile for Hardware community and the MAHD Framework were founded by Dorian Simpson and Gary Hinkle of Auxilium Product Development Consulting with input from a wide range of companies from Intel to Technicolor. The effort started with two problems and a need. The first problem is that traditional NPD processes, such as stage-gate systems, are not very effective. As much as we tried to make them work for years, they start with too many assumptions, are contentious by nature and limit real collaboration. The second problem is that our experiences with Agile methods (starting over 10 years ago) were positive, but there were no guidelines to make it consistently work for hardware-based products.
We’ve seen many companies trying to directly apply Scrum or other Agile for SW methods directly to hardware development efforts, even going as far as writing user stories to define every specification and attempting to develop a working prototype every two weeks. While this might work for some projects, it’s more likely to create frustration and result in abandoning the core principles of Agile. These problems created the need to develop the MAHD Framework.
MAHD is designed to use the key methods and principles of Agile while defining a flexible set of tools that meet the needs of companies that develop physical products.
If you are passionate about agile principles with a focus on physical products, we’d love your participation in our growing community. We’re looking for articles, guest bloggers, case studies, tools and other resources that add to our thinking and adds value for practitioners. Contact us to learn more or share.
The Modified Agile for Hardware founders, Dorian and Gary have both worked in product development for over 20 years to deliver a wide range of software and hardware products in a variety of industries. After seeing many processes come and go they came together to work toward a better approach with agile at its core, but not ignoring the valuable elements of lean, design thinking and even stage-gate processes.
Dorian Simpson is an innovation and product development consultant, trainer, speaker and author of The Savvy Corporate Innovator. Companies he’s worked with include ABB, GE, Tyco, Owens Corning, Qwest, Technicolor, FEI, VTech, Freightliner, and many others. Before being a principle consultant at Auxilium, Dorian held key positions at Motorola and AT&T in product management, sales, marketing, business development, and engineering.
Gary Hinkle’ has a rich background in electronics, mechanical and software engineering. He has, worked in design, management and executive leadership of communication, industrial, telemetry, audio, avionics, computers, test & measurement, among other industries. Today, he’s a principal consultant at Auxilium, a company he founded to help engineering-oriented businesses increase productivity.
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