Lean Product Development

All articles about: Lean Product Development

Simplicity sells
August 23, 2024
Simplicity sells

FEATURE - Presenting the key concepts in her latest book, the author tells us how to escape the feature frenzy trap and build products customers love.

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Pursuing Perfection: Craftsmanship in Product Development
July 5, 2024
Pursuing Perfection: Craftsmanship in Product Development

FEATURE - This month’s Design Brief explores the concept of craftsmanship in design and engineering, how to cultivate it in individuals and organizations, and the benefits of pursuing excellence.

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LPPD: Machan’s path to sustainable success
June 27, 2024
LPPD: Machan’s path to sustainable success

FEATURE – Taiwan-based Machan International Co. manufactures sheet metal products, tool storage and medical trolleys, and smart energy storage cabinets. Last year, they turned to lean to improve their product development process.

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Whatever happened to quality first
April 11, 2024
Whatever happened to quality first

FEATURE - In this article, taken from LEI's Design Brief, Jim Morgan talks about the often-overlooked topic of building quality into new products. Learn how a customer-centric approach in development can prevent costly rework and build lasting trust.

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Breaking new ground in product development
July 6, 2023
Breaking new ground in product development

INTERVIEW – Drawing on 33 years of experience working in product development at Caterpillar, the interviewee reflects on lean in engineering.

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The 7-year LPPD journey of TechnipFMC
June 28, 2023
The 7-year LPPD journey of TechnipFMC

INTERVIEW – In this Q&A, the Chief of Transformation of oil and gas company TechnipFMC tells us about their experience implementing Lean Product and Process Development.

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Leveraging lean to create a new product… and process
April 14, 2023
Leveraging lean to create a new product… and process

INTERVIEW – In 2020, GE Appliances had to stand up a brand-new assembly process for a new dishwasher. The leader responsible for the program explains how LPPD helped them to get it right.

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Getting started with lean process development
September 16, 2022
Getting started with lean process development

SERIES – In the final article in their series on lean process development, the authors discuss what it takes to get started with their 6CON process development model.

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4 leadership considerations for better process development
August 19, 2022
4 leadership considerations for better process development

SERIES – The authors discuss the final elements in their 6CON process development model – CONtinuously Improve – making and sustaining consistent improvements over time that will produce even higher levels of performance.

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Process development – Putting the C in PDCA
July 22, 2022
Process development – Putting the C in PDCA

SERIES – The authors discuss the fifth of six elements in their 6CON process development model – CONfirm – leveraging a robust launch readiness approach to finalize the process while ensuring it meets the targets set in the business plan.

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Moving from learning to executing
June 17, 2022
Moving from learning to executing

SERIES – The authors discuss the fourth of six elements in their 6CON process development model – CONfigure – refining the selected process concept to maximize value-added activities.

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Learning to say “No” on the way to “Yes”
May 19, 2022
Learning to say “No” on the way to “Yes”

SERIES – The authors discuss the third of six elements in their process development model – Converge – using experiments to test key aspects of different ideas, while objectively working towards a single design concept slated for refinement and implementation.

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The value of testing multiple concepts at once
April 21, 2022
The value of testing multiple concepts at once

SERIES—The authors discuss Concepts, the second of six elements in their process development model, discovering the key knowledge gaps and exploring multiple process design options to facilitate learning.

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Understanding the context of your process
March 17, 2022
Understanding the context of your process

SERIES – The authors discuss the first of six elements in their process development model – Context – highlighting the importance of gaining clarity on the objectives of the process being created.

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How to shorten product development lead-time
February 10, 2022
How to shorten product development lead-time

FEATURE – Reflecting on the transformations he has supported, the author provides a few recommendations on how to get products to market faster.

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There are two Ps in LPPD
January 24, 2022
There are two Ps in LPPD

INTERVIEW – The authors of the new book The Power of Process debunk some of the most common myths about lean process development.

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Imprinting on lean
December 6, 2021
Imprinting on lean

CASE STUDY – Combining the lean and agile methodologies, HP’s site in Barcelona has streamlined and greatly improved its product development. Along the way, they transformed their culture, too.

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The power of process
November 1, 2021
The power of process

FEATURE – The introduction of a new process can be disruptive to an organization’s improvement efforts. But what if the process were designed to be lean from the start?

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What lean marketing teaches us about packaging
January 14, 2021
What lean marketing teaches us about packaging

FEATURE – What role does packaging play when it comes to marketing a product? The author discusses “lean packaging” and shares the example of an Italian toilet paper maker.

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Lean and the global Covid-19 vaccine race
November 5, 2020
Lean and the global Covid-19 vaccine race

CASE STUDY – Pall Corporation used lean product and process development principles to create the process to produce billions of doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine for Covid-19 in record time.

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Three strategies to reuse product knowledge
August 17, 2020
Three strategies to reuse product knowledge

FEATURE – Developing new products faster than our competitors can make or break a company. The authors share three strategies to reuse our engineering knowledge and build a competitive advantage.

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Where are we in lean product development?
September 2, 2019
Where are we in lean product development?

FEATURE – The authors discuss some of the most common problems that product development teams experience and what an effective assessment tool for engineering looks like.

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Benefits and difficulties of using a Concept Paper
July 23, 2019
Benefits and difficulties of using a Concept Paper

CASE STUDY – TechnipFMC has introduced the Concept Paper in its lean product development process. This article shares some of the learnings resulting from the experience.

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Lean caters for our product development needs
March 19, 2019
Lean caters for our product development needs

NOTES FROM THE GEMBA – This French company has completely transformed its approach to designing and introducing new products to market by embracing lean product development ideas.

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Flexible by design
March 12, 2019
Flexible by design

FEATURE – By leveraging lean product and process development principles, Nichirin Spain is becoming more flexible managing last-minute changes in product design requested by customers.

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Detecting improvement opportunities
February 19, 2019
Detecting improvement opportunities

NOTES FROM THE GEMBA – A culture in which problems are tackled as soon as they appear and the production and product development teams work closely together is helping this French healthcare technology company to thrive.

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Efficient product design under the sea
February 2, 2019
Efficient product design under the sea

CASE STUDY – Designing good products is challenging in itself, but doing so in harsh, impenetrable environments like the seafloor presents even bigger problems. The answer? Lean product development.

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Where the true strength of an obeya lies
December 4, 2018
Where the true strength of an obeya lies

FEATURE – The obeya room limits the number of unknowns before we start developing a product. In this sense, it’s a tool for discovery more than it is for delivery.

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A playground for lean teamwork and collaboration
September 5, 2018
A playground for lean teamwork and collaboration

FEATURE – Enabling its people to think autonomously about problems and fostering collaboration among departments is allowing a French company that makes and installs playgrounds to thrive.

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The incredible lean turnaround of an engineering department
October 20, 2016
The incredible lean turnaround of an engineering department

FEATURE – A French automotive supplier has been applying lean principles to transform its engineering department with great results. In the process, they have realized they could put in place a really effective system to build innovation.

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Lean product development for new Jaguar Land Rover vehicles
August 11, 2016
Lean product development for new Jaguar Land Rover vehicles

INTERVIEW – Following two successful experiments with kanban boards, Jaguar Land Rover decided to extend the reach of its lean product development activities to include all new vehicle programs. Here’s how the story unfolded.

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Takao Sakai on product and process development at Toyota
August 5, 2016
Takao Sakai on product and process development at Toyota

INTERVIEW – At the recent LPPDE event in England, Planet Lean editor Roberto Priolo sat with Takao Sakai to understand how Toyota approaches product and process development and how the Chief Engineer system works.

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Durward Sobek shares a few valuable insights on LPPD
July 8, 2016
Durward Sobek shares a few valuable insights on LPPD

90-SECOND Q&A – At a recent summit, our editor Roberto Priolo sat down with Durward Sobek to discuss design thinking, obstacles to the application of lean in product and process development, and why LPPD in services is a bit different.

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How to develop the product your customers want
June 22, 2016
How to develop the product your customers want

OPINION – When it comes to lean product development, it doesn’t matter whether you are making wine or motorcycles. Success comes from our ability to tell a story that engages our customers and a product they would line up for.

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Telefonica: applying lean startup principles in a large firm
December 10, 2015
Telefonica: applying lean startup principles in a large firm

INTERVIEW – Planet Lean speaks with telecommunications company Telefónica about the organization's attempt to apply lean startup principles in its R&D department.

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New product development: specialization vs flexibility
July 30, 2015
New product development: specialization vs flexibility

COLUMN – To develop a successful product or service an organization has to effectively manage the tension between the experts' specialization and the entrepreneur's flexible approach to innovation.

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Discussing product development with a leading TPS expert
May 14, 2015
Discussing product development with a leading TPS expert

INTERVIEW – PL speaks to one of America's leading experts on the Toyota Production System about Toyota's unique approach to integrating product development with all other functions in the business.

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How to transform product development with lean management principles
October 28, 2014
How to transform product development with lean management principles

INTERVIEW - We caught up with LEI’s Senior Advisor, Jim Morgan after his plenary talk at the Lean Summit in São Paulo last month and got him to answer a few questions about product development and lean management.

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The importance of new product development
March 26, 2014
The importance of new product development

INTERVIEW - Jim Morgan looks back at his years at Ford Motor Company and talks about the challenges and opportunities of applying lean management ideas to new product development .

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