So Latecoere is an aircraft parts manufacturer
operating for airframers and airlines.
And we deliver parts for aerostructures
and interconnection system.
We have decided to go for the agile methodology
because the market is requiring to inject a breakthrough
in a shorter time than what we could reach
using the conventional methodology.
As an example, it takes four years approximately,
to fully develop a door starting from scratch.
And if we were to follow the schedule,
we wouldn't meet the market milestones
for the next aircraft development.
So we said what can we do?
And we say let's move for the agile methodology.
And we say we want to divide the schedule by two,
by a ratio of two,
and what we achieved actually was slightly better.
It started with a trust we had with you
and the ability to embark us on that journey.
We wouldn't have tried this otherwise.
It took 18 months,
starting from the white paper, from nowhere,
up to that minimum viable product at level three
which was exhibited at the Paris Air Show this year.
And that was a really big change in our expectation,
but also in our customer's expectations.
We had ideas, and we have generated solutions
that we wouldn't find
if we were to develop the program in the standard way.
So the team is very proud to be the first team in aerospace
to inject agile methodology,
or to apply agile methodology on a structures product,
and they are really proud of that,
because actually it's their success.
The customer was not initially convinced
that this will deliver a breakthrough
and significant result.
Actually they were a bit skeptical,
but this progressively changed into a conviction
that yes, it will work, and then by the proof of the result,
the actual outcome, they were really convinced
that this is a great approach.
The main leadership skill that we have to show
and that we have to leverage
when we go through this agile journey is twofold.
The first one is trust.
And the second one is empowerment.
You have to refrain from being intrusive
of micromanaging the team.
After running the project
and after this journey through the agile methodology,
we wouldn't change anything
because the customer is happy,
the executive committee is happy, the team is happy,
all the results have been met ahead of schedule
with a result in excess or beyond expectation
regarding the technical outcome
and the performance of the system
and the cost was reduced as well.
If I was to provide an advice to another aerospace company
to implement the agile methodology-is just do it.
Don't be afraid, but be sure that you're prepared to support
this key change in the organization
and to make it successful.