Agile Project Development in Hardware: How DECTRIS is Reshaping its Portfolio Ap

### Abstract

How can a hardware company make development faster, more focused, and better aligned with strategy—without adding unnecessary complexity?
At DECTRIS, we’ve spent the past year rethinking how we plan and execute development. The result is a lean, structured approach inspired by SAFe for Hardware, OKRs, and agile principles—adapted to the size and needs of our company.
Our products are designed from scratch, from ASICs to detector systems. With ASICs as a core component, we face long iteration cycles of 6 to 12 months and product developments lasting multiple years. To stay focused, we’ve built a company-wide planning process with quarterly cycles and clearly defined execution phases. This helps us align hardware and software projects, prioritize across domains, and give teams clarity on what really matters.
This talk will share what we’ve learned so far—what works, what doesn’t, and how we’re evolving our system to meet the realities of hardware development.

### Speaker Bio

Felix Bachmair is Director of Innovation and Market Strategy at DECTRIS, a Swiss company known for high-performance X-ray and electron detectors. He also co-leads the department responsible for the full value stream—from customer needs to delivered products—spanning sales, operations, and production engineering. With a PhD in particle physics from ETH Zurich and over ten years of experience in development, manufacturing, and portfolio management, Felix focuses on bridging R&D and production to enable robust, scalable product development. He lives in Zurich, is married, and has two children.