lean development

The entire product development process consists, in addition to the effectively value-adding parts, of activities that must be regarded as waste from the customer's point of view. These wastes extend the lead time and reduce efficiency. This is where Lean Development comes in, the application of the Lean philosophy in the product development process with the aim of avoiding waste in any form. This guarantees that products reach the market on time and in a mature state. (Graphic 1)

Waste can be divided into two categories: necessary waste and obvious waste. A large number of activities, such as project planning and project tracking or participation in project meetings, fall into the category of necessary waste. These are not considered to be directly value-adding for the customer and should therefore be optimized as much as possible, i.e. minimized. The obvious wastes must be eliminated altogether. Examples of this are waiting for specialists, correcting errors or inappropriate reporting and controlling. In order to be able to reduce them with all consequence, they must first be recognized as such in the company. Full transparency in the product creation process provides significant support in this regard.

The causes of waste Poor project start

Projects are very often started poorly. It starts with unclear requirements in the specifications, which lead to many changes as the project progresses. In addition, these changes are usually not planned in terms of costs or deadlines. The causes lie in inadequate project frontloading, lack of standards and insufficient basic development. The fact that necessary project specialists are still working on other (delayed) projects can also be a cause.

Deficiencies in project frontloading usually start with insufficient clarification of customer requirements. In the course of the project, the requirements then gradually become apparent and repeatedly lead to changes. Very often, this happens only when the product is already in production or assembly. Efficient project frontloading with interdisciplinary clarification at the start of the project can remedy this situation.

Poor project implementation

The second main cause lies in the inadequate implementation of the projects in the execution. Here, waste occurs in large quantities: due to too many interfaces, duplications or also due to insufficient process discipline of the project team members involved.

A major factor in project implementation that leads to excessive waste is also so-called "negative multitasking". This usually occurs when several projects are completed at the same time and additional work is caused by the fact that those involved have to repeatedly clarify their tasks (so-called setup time). The waste caused by negative multitasking becomes particularly acute when team members are overloaded or when key people whose expertise cannot be dispensed with represent bottlenecks because they are involved in several projects at the same time.

Inadequate product design

Another main cause of waste in the product development process is inadequate product design. It ensures that products cannot be manufactured without waste in the subsequent process steps. Here it is important to ensure that product design is coordinated with procurement, production, assembly and logistics. The point is to ensure that the classic seven types of waste are avoided: Overproduction and inventories, scrap and rework, waste in the process and in transport, unnecessary movements and waiting times.

There is still great potential hidden in this area. In many companies, lean projects are usually only started when the products have already been developed and transferred to production and assembly. From this point on, optimizations can very often only be implemented at great additional expense.

In order to design new products according to lean criteria already at the creation stage, it is necessary that the employees involved in the product creation process are aware of the waste of their downstream processes and can influence it to the maximum.

The seven fields of action

In order to significantly reduce waste in a product development process, not only selective improvements are necessary. Often, the causes are to be found in the interaction of various fields of action. In practice, it has been shown that optimization opportunities arise in the following seven fields of action, which lead to a holistic lean development system (Figure 2).

1. strategy

The strategy forms the basis for developing the right products. For this, there must be clear specifications for target markets and industries.

2. technology management

Technology management ensures that pre-development and product development run in sync. New technologies are made available as needed and it is ensured that only validated technologies are brought to market in products.

3. product design

Product design ensures that products can be manufactured without waste and thus serves to avoid the classic seven types of waste.

4. organization

The development organization ensures a smooth product development process. The organization is set up in such a way that negative multitasking is avoided.

5. leadership

Management regulates the cooperation between managers, employees, customers and suppliers. Leadership is ensured at the point of action and systematically regulated communication leads to a trouble-free process.

6. process

A clearly structured product development process forms the framework for successful projects. A clear delineation of the phases with corresponding milestones/gates and effective frontloading ensure smooth project processing.

7. project management

Efficient project execution serves to meet deadlines, quality and costs. A clear prioritization of the project landscape leads to the correct use of resources in case of conflict. Project-relevant data is transparently available and standards are installed in project processing.

Conclusion

A large number of implemented lean development projects have shown that the causes of waste in the product creation process are very often to be found in several fields of action. The basic prerequisite for optimization lies in the willingness to identify and consistently address the existing waste. For this purpose, full transparency throughout the entire product creation process is an absolute necessity.