Applicability of Advanced Manufacturing Technologies for Agile Product Development in the Internet of Production: A Strategic Framework

Abstract

Evolving product complexities and customer demands in an increasingly unstable environment are challenging companies worldwide. Agile product development can help to overcome these challenges but originates in software development. It is argued whether it is completely transferable towards the build-up of physical products. This paper aims to support agile product development for physical products by classifying appropriate advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs) and identifying their demand for further research and development. A framework - the agile readiness level (ARL) for AMTs - is derived. It is consisting of five main factors of agile product development: testing & self-improvement, distribution & availability, accessibility for non-experts, time from idea to product, and overall flexibility. The ARL is evaluated for eight AMTs which are developed within the research cluster “Internet of Production” (IoP) at RWTH Aachen University. It is found that the ARL helps to identify similarities of diverse AMTs as well as research directions that need to be taken. It therefore contributes to the transfer of agile development methodologies from software to hardware products with the use of AMTs. Differences in technological feasibility for agile prototyping arise due to safety and complexity, targeted user group, and varying demands for support by artificial intelligence (AI) solutions.