Understanding an agile approach to product lifecycle management

In this blog we deliver a comprehensive overview of how an agile approach to product lifecycle management helps to create innovative, high-quality food products.

Agile methodologies were first conceived in the software industry, but they can benefit a wide range of industries and are particularly applicable to food businesses. Agile methodologies aim to reduce risk and turnaround times in product development. They emphasise collaboration and customer satisfaction and require a flexible approach characterised by continuous improvement.   

What is the product lifecycle and how does it apply to the food industry? 

Product ideation & introduction

Before a product sees the light of day there’s an ideation phase. For example, you might decide to work on a gluten-free addition to your product range. Once you’ve gone through recipe development and testing, you may feel ready for the big launch. The product life cycle begins in earnest when a new product is introduced. At first, consumers don’t know about the product or are tentative, and marketers work to encourage sales by informing them about the new option.

Growth

If marketing efforts are effective, you’ve gauged the product’s appeal well, and consumers become enthusiastic about the new addition to their shopping baskets, your new product enters a growth phase. This phase is often characterised by rising demand as retailers are eager to give your product a prime position on their shelves and consumers are telling their friends to try it. 

Maturity

Maturity is usually the longest stage of the product lifecycle. Growing demand can’t continue forever - it usually becomes consistent when a product has reached a point of maturity in its lifecycle. By this time, competitors will have begun producing their own versions and price competition intensifies. 

Decline

As consumer preferences change, new trends take off or other alternatives become available, products enter a decline stage in which demand begins to fall. At this point, companies can discontinue the product or try repositioning it to extend its lifecycle through a new pricing strategy, marketing campaign or even changing the product itself. 

What are the core principles of agile product lifecycle management?   

Agile methodology follows a process of iterative development with an emphasis on collaboration and responsiveness to change. Cross-functional teams work towards continuous improvement, allowing for products to be developed faster without sacrificing quality. In the following section, we investigate the primary principles of Agile methodology in greater detail.

Customer collaboration

Agile product lifecycle management prioritises collaboration with customers. After all, they’re the people who will buy your products, so offering them what they want and prefer should give you a competitive advantage.  

This collaboration can be direct, for example, by recruiting consumers to test products or respond to surveys. Alternatively, it can be based on data that indicates consumer trends. The latter approach allows for faster and more cost-effective decision-making since AI tools can rapidly process and analyse data and can even use it to forecast market demand.  

Responding to change

Change is inevitable. But, instead of rolling with the punches, agile product management embraces change and seeks to improve products based on new information, prevailing market conditions, and customer feedback.  

Iterative & incremental development

Smaller, more manageable increments, termed "sprints", allow you to deliver a subset of improvements. Each one is developed, tested, and reviewed to help you see whether you’re delivering features that match market demand. 

Cross-functional collaboration

Agile product lifecycle management breaks down silos to foster collaboration between cross-functional teams. For instance, product development teams must work with marketing and sales departments to create lucrative and appealing products.

Continuous feedback

Agile product lifecycle management produces rapid results, but not at the cost of consumer satisfaction. Your assumptions are put to the test, and feedback allows you to refine the product based on taste tests, reviews, and interactions with your target market. 

Focus on delivering value

Ultimately, your customers and consumers are seeking value from your products. Some features add significant value but others may not. Here’s a simple scenario to consider: 

You’ve identified gluten-free products as having appeal, but not all customers want this. Among those who do, price sensitivity may preclude the use of alternative ingredients. It can be hard to leave a good idea behind, but there are times when your focus on value will indicate that abandoning or substantially modifying an idea is better than pursuing it. The deciding factors are customer satisfaction, market competitiveness, and your own business’s goals.  

Embrace simplicity

Perhaps one of the best things about agile product lifecycle management is its simplicity. Agile approaches never over-engineer. Instead, they look for effective solutions to immediate needs.  

Traditionally, you would develop and finalise a product with all the features you think customers want before considering a launch. With this approach, the time needed for product development is extended and the result could include features that aren’t important to consumers.  

By implementing agile methodologies, you can undertake an iterative process in which you continuously improve products until they match the ideal profile that customers truly require.  

What are the benefits of agile product lifecycle management? 

Flexibility

As a consumer-centric approach, agile product lifecycle management is flexible. You can respond quickly to market conditions and changing customer needs. Align your products with customer needs and trends without disrupting your entire business. It’s a simple matter of keeping your finger on the pulse of market demand, projecting future trends, and responding accordingly. 

Faster time to market 

Because product development is broken down into short sprints, you can evaluate each step along the way. You’ll be able to see if you’re on the right track early on, allowing you to adjust your plans to maximise your competitive edge and take advantage of opportunities faster.  

Improved quality 

As a company that implements an agile product lifecycle management plan, you’re geared to identify issues promptly and adapt. After all, you’re undertaking frequent testing to enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty, and as you work through iterations, your product quality continues to improve. 

Enhanced customer satisfaction 

You're not just doing what you think might please customers. You’re doing what you know they want. Whether they realise it or not, you’re involving your customers, and you’re working to match their needs. Of course, you might survey them directly - but looking at market trends can be as informative and give you faster results.  

Increased transparency 

It takes several teams working together to implement agile product lifecycle management. By bringing them all together in sprint reviews, meetings, and taste tests, you collaborate transparently and effectively - and this will show in the results you achieve. For instance, product development teams don’t have to use guesswork when product testing and marketing teams are transparent in their observations. 

Empowered teams 

Your teams own their work. That's empowering. They understand their goals, are included in feedback loops, and feel motivated and engaged. Ultimately, everyone has a single, shared goal: creating innovative and high-quality products that satisfy consumers. 

Risk mitigation  

You’re not relying on a single success at any time. You’re going through a process in which you explore issues and address challenges in small increments. This helps to reduce overall project risk because you aren’t adopting an all-or-nothing approach. 

Continuous improvement 

After every sprint, there’s time to reflect. Was the process productive? Can it be enhanced? With the ability to identify areas for improvement following every step in the agile approach to product lifecycle management, it becomes more efficient and effective over time.  

Cost efficiency 

The most efficient way to focus resources is indicated by effective prioritisation. Using agile product lifecycle management means you seek rapid feedback on incremental development steps. You’ll be able to avoid adding features that customers don’t care about. And, you’ll limit unnecessary rework stemming from mistaken priorities. 

How to implement agile product lifecycle management in the food industry 

Understand your market 

Gut feel can be spot-on, but nothing beats real data. Gain a deep understanding of what your market prefers and how regulatory requirements may affect your response. Use this information to identify common pain points and guide your product development efforts. 

Define goals & priorities 

Your agile approach requires you to target specific goals for each sprint you undertake. Decide what you want each of these to achieve. You might be prioritising customer satisfaction, but you also need to consider competitiveness. Determine what you want to achieve and set your goals accordingly. 

Adapt agile frameworks to food production 

Adapt agile frameworks like Scrum or Kanban to food product development. You’ll need to incorporate factors like recipe formulation, nutrition and shelf life along with food safety regulatory requirements into your processes.  

Achieve a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) as a starting point 

Determine the essential features that customers need. Develop an MVP and launch it. Use it to gather feedback and to confirm, refute, or refine your assumptions before you begin to scale up production. 

Iterative development, ongoing feedback & regulatory compliance 

Decide on a series of sprints that will define the development process. Use feedback to determine the direction each sprint will follow. Test recipe prototypes, gather feedback, and develop accordingly. Involve consumers, chefs and nutritionists and keep tabs on regulatory compliance throughout.  

Be transparent, foster constructive communication & continuously improve 

Encourage your cross-disciplinary teams to provide feedback, and keep communication channels with external stakeholders open. Conduct regular meetings, reviews and retrospective analyses and look for ways to improve. Search for improved efficiency, enhance product quality, and aim for customer satisfaction throughout.  

Invest in agile tools  

Digital tools and technologies enhance product lifecycle management by gathering and analysing data and forecasting market trends using real-time measurements. Combine the best technological tools with your team’s expertise to enhance decision-making.  

Implement success metrics 

When you define your goals and priorities, you will have determined the key performance indicators (KPIs) you can use to measure your success. These might include time to market, product quality metrics, and customer satisfaction scores as well as revenue growth targets. Use your metrics to evaluate your current efforts and to inform future agile product lifecycle management projects.  

Although a great deal of creative thinking goes into agile product lifecycle management, access to up-to-date analytics is key to your success. With Foods Connected, you gain access to award-winning software solutions that help you forecast market demand and evaluate supply chain impacts. Request a demo today, or contact us to discover how we can keep your food business agile in an ever-changing market.