Leaning the Product Development Process

Through Value Stream Mapping

Event

 

             “Problem Solving” is identified as one of the three primary values streams in “Lean Thinking” (Womack, Jones).  It can also be the one with the most potential value to the organization.  The decisions made during the design process have significant and long term impact on cost and quality, as well as the ability of the organization to service its markets.  Further, as an organization “leans out” other areas of the business and frees up capacity in the office and in manufacturing the question that arises is “how do we leverage this new capacity into delivering more value to the market?” Most often the answer is to develop new products and enter new markets. 

            However, a company may have an inefficient or ineffective design process that will become overwhelmed with even a slight increase in design related projects.  Therefore, it may wish to conduct an actual Value Stream Mapping event of its design process.  Such an event can serve as a springboard for a serious effort to “lean out” the product design process over time. 

            A particular design project or projects can be the subject of the event.  A cross functional team of 6 - 8 people will participate in the event to develop current and future state maps, as well as an implementation plan to make the future state a reality.  A review of value stream mapping is provided to develop the necessary skills of the participants to create a “current state map” of the existing design process.  Then a thorough review of Lean Product Design concepts is provided.  Concepts reviewed include: “voice of the customer”, knowledge re-use, rapid learning cycles, narrowing design alternatives, concurrent engineering, standard work, and flow processing.  Contrasts to traditional design methodologies are also explored. 

            The Lean Product Design concepts are applied to develop a lean “future state map” for the product design process.  This is done in the context of seven future state questions – a structured approach to design the new process.  Participants will learn in-depth the intent of each question, while expanding their understanding of the basic lean concepts of value, flow, pull, leveling and “pitch”.  The concepts reviewed can also be applied to transaction oriented design related processes such as configuration control, engineering change orders, product validation, design release, etc. 

Typically, the team develops a 90-day implementation plan that identifies a series of improvement efforts or “kaizens” that will be completed.  Specific kaizen events are scheduled, responsibilities are assigned, and follow-up is planned for.  The expectation is that the organization will begin to see important benefits within the 90 day period.  Beyond that, another 90-day plan is developed, and possibly another future state map, as the organization gains greater experience in applying lean and it continuously strives to improve the design process.

 

 

 

 

Change Management Associates

31 Lexington Court, Mount Laurel NJ 08054

Tele: 856-235-8051 • Website: cma4results.com

 

 


Typical Event Agenda

 

Pre-event:       Scoping Exercise – to prepare for the mapping event

Day 1:             Education in Value Stream Mapping and the basic lean concepts as applied to the product design process

Begin Current State Map

 

Day 2:             Develop Current State Map

 

Day 3:             Develop Future State Map

Develop Implementation Plan

 

Post-Event:     Periodic follow-up, progress review, direction, kaizen facilitation

 

 

Typical Deliverables

 

·        A Current State Map of the design process

·        A Future State Map that visually depicts the recommendations for improvement, as well as the projected benefits

·        An Implementation Plan to make the future state a reality

·        A cross functional team that has practical experience in Value Stream Mapping, and the means by which Lean Enterprise concepts can be applied to design processes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Change Management Associates

31 Lexington Court, Mount Laurel NJ 08054

Tele: 856-235-8051 • Website: cma4results.com

 


Leaning the Product Development Process

Through Value Stream Mapping

One Day Workshop

 

             “Problem Solving” is identified as one of the three primary values streams in “Lean Thinking” (Womack, Jones).  It can also be the one with the most potential value to the organization.  The decisions made during the design process have significant and long term impact on cost and quality, as well as the ability of the organization to service its markets.  Further, as an organization “leans out” other areas of the business and frees up capacity in the office and in manufacturing the question that arises is “how do we leverage this new capacity into delivering more value to the market?” Most often the answer is to develop new products and enter new markets.

            This workshop demonstrates how the Product Design process can be re-designed based on lean concepts using value stream mapping.  A review of value stream mapping is provided to develop the necessary skills of the participants to create a “current state map” of the existing design process.  Then a thorough review of Lean Product Design concepts is provided.  Concepts reviewed include: “voice of the customer”, re-using existing knowledge, rapid learning cycles, narrowing design alternatives, concurrent engineering, standard work, and flow processing.  Contrasts to traditional design methodologies are also explored. 

            The Lean Product Design concepts are applied to develop a lean “future state map” for the product design process.  This is done in the context of seven future state questions – a structured approach to design the new process.  Participants will learn in-depth the intent of each question, while expanding their understanding of the basic lean concepts of value, flow, pull, leveling and “pitch”. 

            Finally, implementation strategies will be reviewed to successfully implement the envisioned future state.  A case study will be provided to help hone the participants’ value stream mapping skills.  The concepts reviewed can also be applied to transaction oriented design related processes such as configuration control, engineering change orders, product validation, design release, etc. 

            The workshop is based on the book “Value Stream Mapping the Lean Development Process: A How-to Guide to Streamlining Time to Market” by Drew Locher (Productivity Press, 2008).

 

Duration: One day

 

Who should attend:  anyone in an organization who designs products or delivers engineering services, including management.  Product Designers, engineering support personnel, even representatives from manufacturing, purchasing and cost accounting can benefit by attending this workshop.

 

 

 

 

Change Management Associates

31 Lexington Court, Mount Laurel NJ 08054

Tele: 856-235-8051 • Website: cma4results.com