On the Verge of Innovation: Embracing agility

At Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week 2024, The Manufacturer sat down with keynote speaker and Top 100 winner, Krishna Mistry, VP of Series Engineering at Verge Motorcycles, to discuss the start-up’s approach to optimising design, development and deployment. 

Verge Motorcycles is a Finnish technology start-up company, that manufactures fully electric motorcycles. With a production centre in Estonia, the company currently operates across Europe and other continents, with a talented team of people from across the globe consistently working on new innovations.

One recent development is the company’s new sports motorcycle which it showcased on the show floor at Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week 2024. “We have developed a sports tour motorcycle called The Verge TS Pro which features some key innovations,” explained Krishna. One of the key features is the hubless motor, which is developed and manufactured in-house.

This motor provides high torque density situated in the rear wheel, directing torque with minimum losses to the road surface. “The fact that there is no power unit in the middle of the bike leaves plenty of room for a high-capacity battery, meaning an EV range far superior to most conventional motorcycles,” she said.

As well as the HMI system and fully connected capabilities, this opens up unimaginable possibilities for connected features, riding data and safety in the motorcycle riding experience.

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Flavour of keynote

Krishna took to the stage of the Drives & Technology Theatre on the second day of Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week to discuss agile product development cycles and adapting to the fast pace of change in the automotive industry.

“For me, the industry is constantly changing due to the technological advancements that are happening before our eyes. Take your phone for example, the technology within that is already in our vehicles, and it’s getting better and better every month,” she said.

Any motorcycle is an expensive purchase, so Verge needs to ensure that its customers get the best possible product. During the keynote, Krishna explored that topic based on the experience she had at previous companies and the strategy currently being deployed at Verge Motorcycles.

“My keynote looked at a mix of ideas and key themes to explore and consider when you’re looking at the traditional product development cycle. It then looked at how you can actually pivot from them to deliver key technologies that need to go into the market sooner rather than later,” she explained.

As a young company there are a few key themes that Verge is exploring to ensure the delivery of its new programmes remain innovative, yet efficient, to support its future models. “Our key philosophies include less rigid upfront R&D so we can explore possibilities without having strict targets set from day one.

“We’re also looking at reducing waste in the delivery processes, in a similar vein to Lean manufacturing principles, and ensuring that engineers are focused on problem solving and not burdened by administrative actions to support delivery,” Krishna added.

As Verge continues to develop its methodology, tools and processes, these are two of the core principles that it looks towards. Manufacturing agility Agile product development is about moving at a fast pace, which is what Verge strives to do. For Krishna, this is the ethos a company needs to be able to deliver technology that is quickly adapting and changing.

“It’s about having the ability to think outside the norms of what we’re used to as engineers. My background is one of a very traditional OEM culture which includes very fixed processes. For me, moving into a start-up environment has opened my eyes to what is achievable with agile development,” she explained.

At the beginning of developing a unique product or system, there are priorities that must be considered. “You must be able to select the right activities that need to be prioritised in order to get the highest value from the resources that you have,” added Krishna.

Falling short

She added that there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to agility. “There is no one-size-fits-all approach. It’s got to be right for the company at that point in time. It must suit the business ambitions, and what they need to deliver,” said Krishna. For Verge Motorcycles, the company wanted to be the first to market with its products. And, to do this, it has had to deploy some unique methods within its development process, while learning on the way.

Now, when approaching its next project, the company is equipped with the knowledge of how best to leverage the tools it has created, and improve. These can be used to make the product more efficient, faster and get the next new technology to market.

“In automotive specifically, customer demand is predominantly driven by advancing technology and regulation. If regulation drives a certain technology which is needed at a certain point in time, that’s always a challenge to overcome,” she said.

Rapid prototyping

Technology is constantly driving forward and it’s up to companies to explore what it can do to keep up. For Krishna, she is interested in artificial intelligence (AI) within engineering, not to find the final solution, but rather to aid in getting a rolling start.

“The possibilities of removing inefficiencies with AI in the engineering process are endless. In some instances engineers are not concentrating on engineering tasks because they’re weighed down with administration issues, change management, bill of materials etc. AI could be extremely useful in those areas.” She added that technology is creating possibilities that will remove the need for engineers to be focused on these activities and spend more on innovating.

Pivoting in a challenging landscape

It is crucial to be agile in the current landscape of automotive. Over the last five to six years there has been more volatility in the supply chain and Krishna believes there are typically two approaches to this uncertainty, depending on the company size. An established manufacturer, like an OEM, that has large volume production, will already have adopted dual sourcing of raw materials from multiple sources from around the globe, which will help mitigate any volatility.

“For us at Verge Motorcycles, we understand that there is a supply chain risk every day for our products, because we’re so small right now. There are always factors to be considered when we look at our supply,” explained Krishna. “We will be doing all we can to make sure we have the right level of supply from the different areas where we’re manufacturing.”

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