For manufacturing companies, the line between physical and digital is fading. Software, data, and services are becoming integral to these firms’ offerings, requiring changes in product-development approaches. By applying the agile approach used for software development to hardware development, companies can meet customers’ expectations for speed and innovation—shortening the typical multi-year development cycles and conferring a competitive advantage.

KONE, a global elevator and escalator manufacturer and service provider, is at the forefront of this movement. Over three years, its program for agile transformation has helped the company develop physical products faster and pursue its mission to improve the flow of urban life. Several projects completed in the first six months of 2022 would have taken years with the company’s old operating model. In this article, we share lessons from KONE’s journey and offer several takeaways for leaders who want to fast track their agile transformations and value creation.

Join us for an info session with KONE‘s Executive Vice President – Chief Technology Officer Maciej Kranz.

Kranz will discuss KONE, a global leader in the elevator and escalator market with offices in over 60 countries and net sales of 10.9 billion in 2022. In recent years, KONE has revolutionized its product development strategy by utilizing data analytics to adopt a more agile approach, allowing KONE to reduce typical multi-year development cycles and providing KONE with a significant competitive advantage over other companies in their industry.

Kranz will deliver a special talk discussing how KONE is using digital tools, APIs, and data to create future-proof solutions for their customers while transforming the urban journey for over 1B people. Kranz will also discuss employment opportunities with KONE, and a special Summer 2023 KONE Internship program that will allow students to work directly with field officers, customers, and members of KONE’s global team.

Bio: Maciej Kranz brings 30 years of experience to his role as EVP & CTO at KONE, responsible for the physical+digital R&D, IT, Innovation, and Strategic Partnership teams in their mission to improve the flow of urban life. Previously, he built Cisco’s IoT business unit and pioneered dozens of IoT projects across industries. He wrote the New York Times Best Seller, Building the Internet of Things.

Watch the video found here to learn more about KONE.

Please RSVP to attend this event: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1gQzFUS8m9Qpkj27-fA_QBoJxXESOXs0GVJc1TOzlOuY/edit

Food and beverages will be provided.