Incorporating the fundamental principles of lean manufacturing and the rules and behaviors of structured innovation into the development process, Innovative Lean Development: How to Create, Implement and Maintain a Learning Culture Using Fast Learning Cycles unleashes the creativity of everyone involved in developing new products, services, or processes; speeds the process; and leads to higher quality.
Written by two experts who have successfully made the road by walking it for more than 20 years, Innovative Lean Development focuses on six key areas necessary for dramatic development. It shows how to:
1. Identify and fill user gaps
2. Use multiple learning cycles
3. Stabilize the development process
4. Capture knowledge
5. Use rapid prototyping
6. Apply lean management principles, including learning cycles and visual boards
Applying these principles, the authors have helped development teams cut development time in half and increase speed to market, while delivering award-winning, quality solutions. In this manual, they share those examples with you while providing a road map that all companies can follow to reach a lean development culture where creative thinking and practice converge in ways that lead to innovation, improvement, and success.
About the authors:
Timothy H. Schipper is an office lean consultant for Steelcase Inc. in Grand Rapids, Mich. He is a graduate of Calvin College (bachelor of science in mechanical engineering) and the University of Michigan (masters of science). He has been a tool designer, engineering educator, CAD specialist and trainer, senior product engineer and IT manager. He is the co-author of Lean Methods for Creative Development: How to Rapidly Deliver Solutions and Capture Knowledge by Using Lean Techniques” (AME Target, August 2006), which sparked the interest of others outside his company in the methods used to systematically innovate and implement lean development methods. He has presented the concepts found in Innovative Lean Development: How to Create, Implement and Maintain a Learning Culture Using Fast Learning Cycles at conferences, and he has facilitated workshops with various teams who have applied these concepts to product and Information Technology development. He has also facilitated many lean workshops for process improvement at Steelcase. He has worked on lean projects in manufacturing, but has specialized in lean applications in the office.
Mark D. Swets is an office lean consultant for Steelcase Inc. in Grand Rapids, Mich. He has facilitated more than 30 lean workshops at Steelcase. He has led teams that have applied lean development techniques in product development, information technology application development, sales strategy development and business model development. Swets is a graduate of the University of Michigan, earning both a bachelor of science and a master of science degree in mechanical engineering. His work experience includes 23 years of project and program management in product development with Steelcase Inc., Herman Miller Inc., Chrysler Corporation and as an independent consultant.