Agile transformation of the ventilation development unit of one of the world's leading domestic appliance manufacturers

“Thanks to the support of 3DSE, we have found solutions that now make our development significantly more agile .

Reinhard Wiedenmann, Head of Ventilation Development,
BSH Hausgeräte GmbH

With its 61,800 employees and sales of over 13.8 billion euros, BSH Hausgeräte GmbH is one of the sector’s leading companies worldwide, and the largest household appliance manufacturer in Europe. One of the central challenges for many enterprises is the faster introduction of new, innovative products and/or product variants. Shortening the “time-to-market” allows new markets to be entered more quickly and more rapid growth of existing market share. The ventilation development unit of BSH Hausgeräte GmbH also faced this challenge, among others.

The intention was to use the R&D optimization approach to find solutions, in particular to be able to respond to the dynamic ventilation market with short development cycles and complete customer focus. The focus here lay on the introduction of agile methods and approaches in the development process.

The methods were developed through a 4-step procedure: calibration, baselining, diagnosis, and solution shaping. In several workshop series, the team developed just under 40 agile problem solving modules. Examples for this are an “Agile Leadership” approach, an “Interdisciplinary Product Owner” approach and also an “Agile Concept-Phase”, which had already been realized for a new development project. 5 strategic lines of attack which form the solution framework provide orientation for the realization of these components of the solution. Examples for this are “Agile Project Work” or “Inspiring Product”. In order to realize a transformation that would be accepted by all parties and reflect existing development processes, implementation was divided into three stages: 1. “Start Agile” – 2. “Agile Leverage” – 3. “Fit for the Future”. Each of these stages contributes materially to achieving the goal.

“With the aid of the solutions developed, we can now work much more independently in the empowered teams, and so carry out more complex projects in parallel with significantly improved adherence to the timetable. In this way, development resources are applied as efficiently and with as little loss as possible, which also positively affects employee motivation,” says Reinhard Wiedenmann, Head of Ventilation Development at BSH Hausgeräte GmbH.