One of the most powerful ways to reduce lead time while increasing development speed is the creation of flow in PD. Flow considers value streams: these include all work and functional expertise required to take the product from the planning phase - and then through design, prototype and testing phases - to product launch, known as Start of Production (SOP). According to Locher (2008:65) a PD process can benefit from flow processing which refers to flow of information and knowledge. Flow can be improved by adopting cross-functional teams, obeya and a shared resources concept which results in the following: process lead time might be reduced by 50-90%, process quality can be improved by 30-90% and process time can be reduced by up to 40%. Morgan and Liker (2006:83-97) describe various methods and techniques used at Toyota to establish continuous value stream in development of products. These are summarized as follows:
Process logic – refers to a framework for coordination of a development programme and
related human resources. Process logic defines tasks, activities and their sequences and contains a step-by-step process description that generates schedules and determines personal responsibilities and time constraints. Although this framework consists of PD process requirements and decisions that must be taken at each milestone, it does not provide specific details or instructions on how to do the work.
Workload leveling – is a critical component of effective resource utilization during a
development programme, which considers the leveling of resources and product planning before the execution phase. Workload leveling is determined by scheduling of resources and product portfolio planning. The product strategies must be aligned with the business strategies and must ensure the best use of available resources.
Platform strategy – refers to the use of common product platforms and families of
product variants which are derived from modular architecture. This involves the use and re-use of sets of engineered components, design alternatives, available tools and manufacturing processes from previous programmes. This can lead to advantages in economies of scale and also to product innovation.
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Staggering vehicle launches – is concerned with the cyclical scheduling of vehicle
development projects, and engineering redesigns of vehicles (facelifts) included in the product portfolio. The purpose is to level and balance workloads related to engineering resources, development programmes and manufacturing facilities over a lengthy period of time.
Cross-functional synchronization – is required for synchronization of activities between
functional departments and development teams. Effective synchronization must be both inter-functional and intra-functional. It all depends on an understanding of work details and instructions, specific activities and their sequences - and roles and responsibilities for each stakeholder in the programme. The effective way to synchronize cross- functional activities is their integration and alignment in cross-functional teams, created from selected experts and around specific vehicle subsystems.
Flexible capacity system – allows allocating extra resources in a development
programme when they are required to enable workload control and leveling of resources. One strategy used is that of flexible staffing, which deals with sharing of highly skilled technical staff across multiple projects. The requisite high level of flexibility in a programme can be only achieved by rigorous standardization of skills and design and through the process itself.
Detailed scheduling – deals mainly with the schedule discipline of all stakeholders and
their commitment to programme milestones. The sense of attentiveness to intermediate target dates is crucial for effective sharing of resources and for managing multiple projects simultaneously.
Staggered releases – attempt to manage and facilitate design and release processes.
LPDS uses a ‘design-release stagger’ where large and more complex parts requiring more time are designed and released first while smaller components are released later.
Management cycle time – refers to regular time schedules or deadlines, where
managers track and control progress in engineering work. In an LPD process the management cycle time occurs on an almost daily basis, which means that management requires daily meetings to review programme status and discuss open issues. Thus, the managers have an opportunity to make decisions and develop effective counter-measures immediately when problems arise: this also allows them to align teams accordingly.
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Jidoka – is a concept used in lean manufacturing and is applicable to PD. It refers to the
practice of recognizing abnormal conditions and detecting failures and more importantly, it involves quick rectification and deletion of errors before they create waste in a process.
Poka Yoke – is another concept known from lean manufacturing and enhances flow in a
process. The concept of Poka Yoke is applicable to PD in various forms including checklists, standards, quality matrices or standardized processes. These concepts provide design guidelines, test and timing requirements and quality characteristics and assist engineers to prevent errors before they occur.
Pull system – is a further concept adapted from manufacturing and applied to PD. It
refers to identifying and delivering the right information and knowledge to the right engineer at the right time. The engineers working on development programmes are responsible for pulling information they require, in order to locate and extract it.
Engineering cadence (takt time) - is commonly utilized in lean manufacturing. However
it is more difficult to apply it in PD. ‘Takt’ is a German word, with its origin in music, and means ‘a precise interval of time’ or ‘uniform pace’.
According to Dennis (2007:53) manufacturing takt time is calculated as follows:
Takt time = Daily operating time / Required quantity per day
Keyte and Locher (2004:69) and Locher (2008:60) use a similar formula for calculating takt time in PD:
Takt time = Effective working time in a period / Demand in a period
Morgan and Liker (2006:93) write that takt time in the PD process is a crucial mechanism to establish engineering cadence and coordinate activities at a regular pace. Engineering cadence mechanisms are achieved through rigorous design reviews scheduled at regular intervals. Input into the design and tool manufacturing process is provided at a later stage through scheduling physical prototype builds and part coordination events.
6.4.5 Linking the theory with the real world
Product development processes can be managed and improved as with any other business process but there is a need to understand the process logic and to identify
154 several critical characteristics of this specific environment. Principle 3, in the Toyota LPDS framework, emphasizes lean manufacturing concepts of waste and flow and their applicability to PD. Waste is one of the first concepts real organizations address when they embark on a lean journey as it is easily understandable and delivers quick wins and tangible outcomes. Once people understand this concept they learn to see waste in their working environment and start to eliminate it in their daily jobs.
This section has aimed to synthesize information regarding various types of waste including the waste which occurs on the production floors and which can be found in PD; specific waste in a development process and the waste in office environments. The practical implications applying to the latter type of waste were discussed in detail with a few practical examples from the PD environment also provided. Basically, all types of waste need to be identified and eliminated, as they can cause significant financial losses and penalties, time delays and communication problems. Finally, a new concept, ‘waste of management’, which aids managers to focus more on improvement activities was discussed. Toyota utilizes powerful tools and techniques to create flow and level workload in order to make production processes more controllable. The techniques were briefly explained and are summarized in Table 6.5 as follows:
Techniques for continuous flow
Workload leveling Staggered releases
Platform strategy Engineering cadence (takt time)
Staggering of vehicle launches Jidoka
Cross-functional synchronization Poka Yoke
Flexible capacity system Pull system
Detailed scheduling
Table 6. 5: Techniques for continuous flow
Source: Researcher’s own construction based on Morgan and Liker (2006:67-98)
The majority of the methods listed in Table 6.5 originate from lean manufacturing and are part of the successful TPS. However, it is also possible to adopt and adjust them to the requirements of a PD environment. Through implementation of these techniques an organization can develop flow and create controllable and predictable design processes. PD is challenging as variation needs to be minimized and the creativity of
155 engineers sustained. Creativity of engineers contrasts with standardization of the process which is discussed in the next principle.
6.5 PRINCIPLE 4: UTILIZE RIGOROUS STANDARDIZATION TO REDUCE