The StreetScooter is a $7,000 electric vehicle with only two seats, a 74 mph top speed and a 50-mile range.

The StreetScooter is being built in a very unusual way. What began as a partnership of 10 companies has grown to a collaboration among more than 50 auto parts suppliers, tech companies and software developers. Each one of them had a hand not only in building the StreetScooter, but in creating it. It does have a management team of sorts, but is designed around the Disruptive Network Approach to project management, which is meant to keep the project flexible and to provide ways to work around potential roadblocks. In business school jargon, that’s called PLM – product lifecycle management.

The Chairman of Production Management at RWTH Aachen University, Achim Kampker said:

“Everyone is on par with each other. Everyone can bring in ideas to radically try whatever makes sense. The subject matter expert comes to the table and collaborates with the other LEGs. In case of a conflict that cannot be resolved, the issue is sent to the team of leaders in program management and it is resolved at that level.”

The companies involved are all subject matter experts, with each bringing their expertise and manufacturing capabilities to the project. The goal of the project is to … Read More