The techniques that are now called "lean methods" have been used for over 50 years in manufacturing processes. Companies embracing these methods in manufacturing have achieved huge economic benefits-simultaneously improving quality, costs and cycle time. They promise to bring the same benefits to product development and are already producing benefits for leading edge companies. However, applying lean methods in product development is more difficult than it seems. In manufacturing it is always desirable to eliminate variability; in product development eliminating all variability can eliminate all innovation. In manufacturing inventory is both financially and physically visible; in product development inventory is invisible and unmeasured. Fortunately, in the past 5 years Lean Product Development has progressed enough to know which methods truly make a difference. Methods like queue management, batch size reduction, cadence, and WIP constraints have already enabled some companies to get 5x to 10x improvements in some areas of their development process.
This conference will focus on the importance of Lean NPD as a powerful approach with the 'triple play' potential to simultaneously improve quality, efficiency and cycle time. International product development guru Don Reinertsen will explore the often difficult challenge of transferring Lean principles to the world of product development, and focus on how to achieve a practical and economically justifiable approach.
Course Content
This 1-day conference will focus on:
Quantifying the economic cost of waste
Reducing the cost of variability
Quantifying the cost of process queues
Reducing process queues
Reducing batch size in development processes
Establishing a regular process cadence
Using WIP constraints in product development
Creating fast feedback loops in development processes
Using priority systems to manage resource conflicts
Decentralizing control within processes
