What is Hardware Agility?
Adapt agile principles to physical products
Integrate industrial and regulatory constraints
Accelerate innovation in R&D and technical validation
Adapt agile principles to physical products
Integrate industrial and regulatory constraints
Accelerate innovation in R&D and technical validation
Hardware Agility refers to the adaptation of agile methods to physical product development projects: medical devices, embedded electronics, mechanical engineering, robotics, aerospace, automotive, IoT.
Unlike Scrum applied to software, hardware agility takes into account the specific characteristics of industry:
The objective of Hardware Agility is to reduce time-to-market, improve collaboration between technical functions, and deliver products that meet customer needs whilst respecting quality and regulatory requirements.
Scrum is not mandatory to be Agile in industry. Certain principles (short cycles, roles, rituals) can be useful, but their direct transposition from IT is often counter-productive. Here are the main differences:
Caution: it is a mistake to think that each hardware cycle must end with a physical object. The goal is real project progress, not mere indicators (“literature review done”, “material ordered”). Valid deliverables in non-IT agile and R&D project management include: test reports, risk assessments, technical validations, maturity levels achieved.
SolidScrum is the method developed by SolidCreativity for applying Scrum to R&D and industrialisation projects. It integrates hardware-specific requirements and addresses the challenges of uncertain projects in early stages:
The industrial backlog incorporates user stories adapted to hardware, with physical acceptance criteria (mechanical resistance, power consumption, operating temperature, regulatory compliance). It accounts for manufacturing constraints: component ordering lead times, workshop availability, validation cycles.
Sprint Planning includes a realistic assessment of the time needed to design, build and test a proof of concept. The team plans component orders, books workshops, anticipates procurement lead times. Sprints can be paced around demonstration cycles (2-4 weeks depending on product complexity).
Retrospectives identify concrete problems encountered: procurement delays, machining difficulties, failed tests, communication issues between design offices and workshops. The team implements corrective actions to improve the process.
SolidCreativity offers certified training to master SolidScrum: R&D Product Owner, Industrial Scrum Master, hardware development team. These courses include practical cases from real projects (medical devices, electronics, robotics).
Discover our SolidScrum training R&D Product Owner and Industrial Scrum Master certifications
Systems engineering teams building complex systems (medical devices, aerospace, automotive, embedded electronics) need agile tools that align iterative work with engineering artefacts: specifications, traceability matrices, validation plans, regulatory files.
In a hardware context, “tools” are not just software. They are a system of combined practices:
Products subject to strict standards (ISO 13485, DO-178, EN 9100, GMP) require an agile approach compatible with regulatory traceability. SolidScrum integrates this constraint from the start:
Result: the team works in agile mode without sacrificing compliance, and the regulatory file is built sprint by sprint instead of being assembled at the end of the project.
The best tools combine adapted Scrum practices (technical backlog, physical sprint reviews) and traceability tools (Jira + ALM plugins, Polarion, codeBeamer). The key is not the software tool but the system of practices: prioritisation by technical risk, demonstration of physical deliverables, and incremental subsystem integration.
Each user story in the backlog is linked to system requirements (specifications, traceability matrices). The sprint review includes updating engineering artefacts: validation plans, risk analyses, test reports. Traceability is built iteratively instead of being documented after the fact.
Yes. Platforms such as codeBeamer, Polarion or Jama Connect combine agile management and regulatory compliance (ISO 13485, DO-178, EN 9100). However, the tool alone is not enough: you need an agile process designed for regulation, where each sprint produces deliverables usable for the certification file.
Hardware-software synchronisation is the main challenge. SolidScrum uses cadenced sprints with planned integration points. The backlog is shared with explicit dependencies between hardware and software items. Sprint reviews bring both teams together around integrated demonstrations.
Absolutely. Complex products (automotive, aerospace, medical) particularly benefit from the agile approach because technical uncertainty is high. Short iterations allow subsystem interfaces to be validated progressively, instead of discovering incompatibilities at final integration.
Scrum was designed for software: code delivery every sprint, easy rollback, single-project team. In industrial R&D, deliverables are physical (prototypes, tooling), teams are cross-functional and multi-project, iterations involve component orders and procurement lead times. SolidScrum adapts Scrum principles to these constraints.
Agile Manufacturing applies agile principles to industrial production: line flexibility, rapid response to demand changes, enhanced collaboration between design office and workshop. Hardware Agility focuses on the upstream phase (R&D, design, validation) that precedes production, but the two approaches complement each other.
Yes, and that is where it adds the most value. Design offices face technical uncertainty daily: material choices, tolerances, subsystem integration. Short iterations allow these choices to be validated progressively instead of freezing everything upfront and discovering problems at integration.
IT Agility manages code (instantly deployable, reversible). Hardware Agility manages physical objects (prototypes, components, tooling) with procurement lead times, manufacturing costs and regulatory constraints (ISO, GMP). Rituals are adapted: sprint planning includes supplier orders, retrospectives address workshop issues.
Don't talk about Agility, talk about their problems: recurring delays, rework at integration, lack of visibility. Propose a 3-month pilot project with measurable results. Senior engineers change their minds when they see concrete results, not when they are presented with a methodology.
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