Lean Management Methods in Product Development: A Case Study

Abstract

The current reality of intense competition has forced many companies to increase their performance and competitive advantages by pursuing innovation and improving and streamlining internal methods of designing products and processes. With shortening of product life cycle, in order for companies to survive, the need for a continuous stream of multiple innovations over time has arisen. However, the resources consumed by companies, whilst developing a product or process, are increasingly high, even in integrated approaches, and often the finished product or process arrives too late to provide the company with an edge over its competitors. Due to the large impact Lean philosophy has had in recent decades, within the manufacturing area, through the increase of efficiency and generation of continuous improvement, more companies have progressively applied Lean methods in their units of product and process development. This paper seeks to present a reference model for Lean implementation in the areas of product and process development in order to support companies in their path to streamline and make their innovative processes more efficient. The proposed reference model includes a concrete case study example that helps to explain the main concepts behind the proposed approach.