Many companies have not tapped the full potential their product development process, because their management thinking has not evolved as quickly as the technology for execution:
they still approach the Highly variable information-generating work of product development as if it were like manufacturing, failing to recognize it is profoundly different.
Details why lean product development works and applying manufacturing principles to product development does not:
1. What is your new product introduction cadence?
What is the % on time, and percentage on budget? If not consistently on time & on budget, what is the gap you have to close?
Photo: conventional chaos vs lean
credit: Dantar P. Oosterwall,
The Lean Machine: How Harley-Davidson Drove Top-Line Growth and Profitability with Revolutionary Lean Product Development, p.106
2. Where are you applying set based concurrent engineering?
Photo: Denso trade off curves
Credit: Allen C. Ward, Durward K. Sobek,
Lead Product and Process Development, 2nd ed. p.172
3. Where are you using trade off curves in development?
Where is design/engineering creating trade off curves to supply reusable knowledge to accelerate product development?
Some questions I provided an institutional board member to help them validate whether their investment is applying lean business strategy.
If not, it is worth more than traditional financial analysis is capable of revealing.
One of the best articles I’ve read in awhile. From First Round (that writes a lot of great business content) by Amazon’s Kintan Brahmbhatt. I’m not going to summarize it, read the whole thing. Twice.
FRICTION — anything that gets in the way of a customer and a task
https://review.firstround.com/amazons-friction-killing-tactics-to-make-products-more-seamless
– rare footage of Dr. Allen Ward on Lean Product and Process Development / Knowledge Based Development
- Fundamentals of current design & engineering practices most companies are behind on – where is yours?
seminar presented by Allen Ward to Saab
Top tier content by Karl Ohaus
- will help most people who don’t understand 5S; however only those who so will truly appreciate it
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/getting-larger-purpose-5s-karl-ohaus
great blog post by Dantar Oosterwal reflecting on Dr. Allen Ward - Why do organizations expect the results Lean Product Development delivers but are unwilling to do the work?
“Do not try to bring lean manufacturing upstream to product development! “
Allen: “I’m tired of wasting my time on companies that want improvement but won’t do the hard work to get the results.”
Dantar: ‘I can assure you that we are serious about making improvement.’
Allen: “I’ve heard that before. Call me when you know what you are asking and commit to doing the work.”
result: 4-fold improvement in product development
Lean Product Development
- Fundamentals of current design & engineering practices most companies are behind on – where is yours?
seminar presented by Allen Ward