Lean Product Development

Question 1

a) In Lean Product Development, the notion of waste can be expressed in term of “Knowledge waste” which ca be divided into three categories. Explain the rationale behind the expression “knowledge waste” and give three examples of a Knowledge waste; one from each category.

Answer 1

WHISHFULL THINKING
o Discarded knowledge
o Testing to specification. (Interesting explicit mention by Ward!)

SCATTER
o Physical, social and skill Barriers
o Distance, time differences, data formats
o Culture, language and organizational culture
o Busying oneself
o High power differences – “classes”
o Continuous organizational change
o Overspecialization – narrow roles and competencies
o Poor tools and processes
o Mechanical or narrow information channels
o Manual duplication
o Poor communication tools

HAND OFF
o Useless information
o Extraneous documentation and communication, Lost knowledge, False information
o Relearning
o Waiting
o Milestone, investment decision, technical decision, …
o Meeting scheduling, resources, …
o Plans, specs, information, comments, permission …
o Test results, bug fixes, dependent components, integration, service from tool provider/IT,

Question 2

In “Lean Product Development” there is a clear distinction between the “Knowledge Value Stream” and the “Product Value Stream”. What does it mean- what is the meaning and the difference between two value streams (5p)

Answer 2

Lean Principles are applied in Toyota in their Production and Product Development Systems. However Product Development differs from Production in many ways, but especially in the uncertainty of the outcome. While in production the outcome is straightforward. In Product Development the Results are uncertain. Within this context, Håkan, Furuhjelm 2010 mentions the production value stream focus on adding value products from a customer perspective. The value stream in Product Development is Knowledge, that could be used in future Development.
Then a framework of the Toyota production system is proposed, dividing Knowledge Value Stream and Product Value streams.
The Knowledge Value Stream is about enhancing corporate knowledge to be generally applicable. It is in charge of the creation and capturing knowledge in present and future product developments. Closing Knowledge gaps. On the Other hand the Product Development Value Stream is more Operative and focus on specific task and processes for individual product development efforts.
Håkan, Furuhjelm 2010. Present a model where it is possible to evidence the difference between them by dividing product development in two phases. Concept Development and Implementation. Meanwhile in the Concept Phase, Knowledge Value Stream Focus on How to Capture Knowledge and re-use it, the Product Value Stream Focus on How to Close the Knowledge Gaps upfront in an specific project. In the same way, in the Implementation Phase, Knowledge value stream focus on identify root causes of problems and prevent reoccurring; the Product Value Stream focuses on the Efficiency of the development Process.