Lean Product and Process Development

"The P-51 Mustang—perhaps the finest piston engine fighter ever built—was designed and put into flight in just a few months. Specifications were finalized on March 15, 1940; the airfoil prototype was complete on September 9; and the aircraft made its maiden flight on October 26. Now that is a lean development process!" —Allen Ward and Durward Sobek, commenting on the development of the P-51 Mustang and its exemplary use of trade-off curves. Shingo Research and Professional Publication Award recipient, 2008 Despite attempts to interpret and apply lean product development techniques, companies still struggle with design quality problems, long lead times, and high development costs. To be successful, lean product development must go beyond techniques and technologies, conventional concurrent engineering methods, standardized engineering work, and heavyweight project managers. In the truly groundbreaking first edition of Lean Product and Process Development, Allen Ward showed the way. He delivered—with passion and penetrating insights that cannot be found elsewhere—a comprehensive view of lean principles for developing and sustaining product and process development. In this second edition, Durward Sobek, professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at Montana State University—and one of Ward’s premier students—edits and reorganizes the original text to make it more accessible and actionable. This new edition builds on the first by: Adding five in-depth and inspiring case studies. Including insightful new examples and illustrations. Updating concepts and tools based on recent developments in product development. Expanding the discussion around the critical concept of set-based concurrent engineering. Adding a detailed table of contents and an index, to make the book…