Lean Development

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Lean Development (also Lean Product Development ) is the application of the lean management concept " Lean Production " to the product development process (PEP).

The application of lean thinking in manufacturing has led to great success. The dynamism and sustainability of Toyota's success story can no longer be explained by lean production alone. The analysis of the past few years has made it clear that lean production at Toyota is not a singular production system, but rather the result of a corporate culture in the area of ​​production.

This lean corporate culture can shape other corporate processes beyond production. This means that traditional organizational fields such as innovation, R&D management, pre-development, application, ramp-up management, development suppliers, etc. can be placed on a self-contained common foundation. If this takes place in the core process of product creation that is directly upstream of production , it is called lean development .

The five guiding principles of lean management

  1. Value: Specify precisely the value of your product
  2. Value stream: recognize the value stream
  3. Flow: Create a value stream flow without interruptions
  4. Pull: Let the customer determine the pace of processing
  5. Perfection: Improve things continuously

are also to be realized in the development and then shape the lean development (English lean product development ) of the respective company .

To put it simply, one can say that Lean Development is essentially based on examining structures, processes and tools for uselessness, i.e. “ waste ” (Japanese Muda ), and using countermeasures to combat the weak points identified and their causes of waste. At the center of the MUDA elimination is the realization that the same design principles that lead to lean production can also be applied to the creation of services in product development and there to an efficient (“do things right”) and effective (“do the right things make ”) lead work sequence. This creates Lean Development, which, due to its enormous scope and leverage, offers the potential for a sustainable competitive advantage. The study "Lean Development in Germany" showed, among other things, that 20-30% of the capacity in development processes is tied up through waste. The aim of the Lean Development Initiatives is to invest this newly gained capacity in value-adding activities. B. the time-to-market is shortened, more projects with the same team become possible, reliable production starts and better product quality are ensured.

“Lean Development” should not be confused with the Toyota production system. Toyota was the benchmark in the study by Womack , Jones & Roos at MIT (Boston, USA). Lean, however, is an academic construct developed from this study that has continued to develop to this day and results in the comprehensive "Lean Thinking" approach. The information that is publicly available on Toyota Product Development (e.g. Morgan & Liker) rather describes the procedure for application construction and is therefore not enough as a copy template. Companies that want to follow Toyota's basic Lean concept are therefore asked to develop a company-specific Lean Development (LD) concept. By introducing design principles, methods and tools that are based on those of lean production , Lean Development is able to achieve significant improvements in terms of delivery times and product development costs .

Lean development is a still under-noticed approach, although the study suggests that many companies are already on the way to adopting it. If you look at the current specialist literature, you can see that different approaches are used. These range from extensive, methodical system descriptions and method kits to specific, task-specific practical solutions. It is to be expected that the concept, driven by practical experience, will develop further in rapid steps.

Design principles of lean product development processes

Design principles of lean product development processes

The implementation of a Lean Development System (LDS) is based, similar to a holistic production system , on a number of design principles that can essentially be reduced to seven principles. This is the result of an extensive literature study by the Institute for Factory Management and Business Research at the TU Braunschweig. The design principles are based on the foundation of “avoidance of waste” and can be represented graphically by a lean development house. The seven design principles are briefly presented below.

Continuous improvement process

Continuous improvement is basically derived from the continuous improvement process (CIP) when implementing holistic production systems . The CIP can also be applied to product development, taking into account some special features. The improvement process must not be limited to the creation of the product. Rather, the entire product life cycle must be considered, since a large part of the life cycle costs are already fixed in the product creation process. Product creation is also driven to a large extent by innovation and creativity, so that continuous process improvement is made more difficult by individuality and uniqueness.

Methods for continuous improvement:

standardization

Product creation is characterized by cognitive and creative processes and is difficult to standardize due to its individuality. A distinction between repetitive and creative processes appears sensible, with repetitive processes in particular showing great potential for standardization. The different areas for standardization can be illustrated using the example of Toyota:

  1. Design standardization : use of the same components, platforms, products
  2. Process standardization : tasks and their order, work instructions
  3. Standardization of engineering qualifications: standardization of the skills and abilities of development engineers

Standardization methods:

Flow and pull principle

The introduction of the pull principle in product creation is limited to providing the necessary information at the right time and in the required quality in the right place. Processes are optimized by distributing work evenly and continuously shortening work phases in the next step through the use of CIP.

Methods for the flow and pull principle:

Employee orientation and goal-oriented leadership

In contrast to classic employee management, goal-oriented management and employee orientation in Lean Development are characterized by mutual trust. The employee acts as an expert who knows the weaknesses and is empowered by the management staff to independently correct grievances, drive improvements forward and monitor them. An open culture, free from mutual accusations ( no-blame culture ) is essential in order to motivate employees to continuously expose and correct grievances.

Methods for employee orientation and goal-oriented leadership:

  • Hoshin Kanri
  • Error and no-blame culture
  • Qualification planning

Zero defect principle

The zero-error principle in product development relates on the one hand to the continuous, careful and complete transfer of information within the processes in a lean development system. Furthermore, it must be ensured that possible deficiencies in the developed product are discovered in the early stages. Methods such as rapid prototyping or cardboard engineering are suitable for this.

Methods for the zero-defect principle:

Visual management

The representation of information and knowledge flows in the product creation process is sometimes difficult, as these are often not visible. The visual management in a lean development system therefore aims at a transparent representation of project progress. The status of the development can be displayed visually and for all employees through continuous, transparent target / actual comparisons.

Visual management methods:

Front loading

Frontloading is based on the knowledge that most of the product costs incurred are determined in the product creation process. It is a central design principle in lean development and aims to avoid future waste through thorough and far-sighted planning activities. In practice, product changes are often initiated late and result in high costs. Lean Development tries to counter this problem by increasing knowledge in the area of ​​product planning, which can essentially be created by increasing personnel capacities. The resulting additional costs can be saved again in later product life cycles.

Methods for front loading:

Goals in lean development

The most important objectives of a lean development system can be broken down into three target dimensions

  • effectiveness
  • Efficiency and
  • Enablers

to be led back. Target values ​​can in turn be assigned to these target dimensions.

effectiveness

Effectiveness in the product creation process describes the development of products that generate market demand and are purchased by customers. “Doing the right things” is the motto of effectiveness and means, in relation to the product development process, to select the right or promising ones from a large number of ideas and to bring products to market profitably. The objectives of effective product creation can include:

Efficiency

Efficiency means “doing things right” and, in relation to product creation, means ensuring low-waste development by reducing activities that do not add value as much as possible. The target values ​​of this dimension are:

  • High quality
  • Short development times
  • Low cost

Enablers

Enablers describe skills that are required to achieve an effective and efficient product development process. Associated objectives are:

  • Qualified employees ("skills")
  • Motivated employees ("want")
  • A competent organization (“allowed”) that promotes a lively exchange of knowledge between departments is necessary. Key figure: number of meetings, number of escalations per project.
  • Capable suppliers

literature

  • Uwe Dombrowski : Lean Development: Current status and future developments. Springer Vieweg, Heidelberg 2015
  • O. Fieth, T. Huber: Entry into lean product development. In: CADplus Business + Engineering , 04/2005, p. 23 ff.
  • H. Joka: Lean management needs a fearless constructive discussion. In: VDI nachrichten , March 7, 2008, No. 10, p. 19.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ M. Graebsch, U. Lindemann, S. Weiss: Lean Development in Germany: A Study of Terms, Waste and Effect. Dr. Hut, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-89963-496-9
  2. ↑ JP Womack, DT Jones, D. Roos: The Machine That Changed the World: The Story of Lean Production - Toyota's Secret Weapon in the Global Car Wars That Is Now Revolutionizing World Ind. Free Press, New York 2007, ISBN 978-0 -7432-9979-4
  3. ↑ a b J.M. Morgan, JK Liker: The Toyota Product Development System - Integrating People, Process, and Technology. Productivity Press, New York 2006, ISBN 978-1-56327-282-0
  4. ↑ Uwe Dombrowski : Lean Development: Current status and future developments. Springer Vieweg, Heidelberg 2015, ISBN 978-3-662-46163-1
  5. ↑ Uwe Dombrowski : Lean Development: Current status and future developments. Springer Vieweg, Heidelberg 2015, ISBN 978-3-662-46163-1 , p. 198
  6. ↑ Uwe Dombrowski : Lean Development: Current status and future developments. Springer Vieweg, Heidelberg 2015, ISBN 978-3-662-46163-1 , p. 12
  7. ↑ Uwe Dombrowski : Lean Development: Current status and future developments. Springer Vieweg, Heidelberg 2015, ISBN 978-3-662-46163-1 , chap. 2
  8. ^ FJ Brunner: Japanese concepts for success - KAIZEN, KVP, Lean Production Management, Total Productive Maintenance, Shopfloor Management, Toyota Production Management . Hanser, Munich 2008
  9. ↑ Uwe Dombrowski , K. Schmidtchen, D. Ebentreich: Balanced Key Performance Indicators in Product Development . Internat Conf on Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering. Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, 2012
  10. ↑ Uwe Dombrowski : Lean Development: Current status and future developments. Springer Vieweg, Heidelberg 2015, ISBN 978-3-662-46163-1 , pp. 170-182