Pruebas para el contraste de hipótesis

Value-creating activities.are.those.steps.that.must.be.taken.for.the.prod- uct.to.reach.the.customer..On.a.manufacturing.floor,.we.can.easily.dis-tinguish.value-creating.activities.because.they.transform.materials.into.

products.in.some.tangible.way..All.the.other.activities,.including.many.

things.that.seem.essential,.are.waste:.defects,.scrap,.excess.motion,.trans-portation,.storage,.inspection,.and.all.management.activities..In.product.

development,.any.activity.that.builds.customer.or.technical.knowledge,.or.

uses.knowledge.to.design.the.product,.is.value.creation.

Lean. distinguishes. between. unnecessary. waste. and. necessary. waste..

Most.people.see.unnecessary waste:.defects,.excess.motion,.and.scrap..It’s.

obvious.that.removing.these.from.the.system.will.make.the.system.better..

Necessary waste.is.all.the.non-value-creating.work.we.do.in.order.to.keep.

the.system.working.in.its.current.state..In.product.development,.unnec-essary.waste.looks.like.the.bugs.that.cause.rework.late.in.development..

Necessary.waste.includes.project.management.activities,.most.documen-tation,.verification.testing,.and.status.reports.

Many.of.the.big.performance.gains.we.see.from.Lean.Manufacturing.

arise.from.reducing.the.level.of.necessary.waste:.cutting.inventory.with.

pull. systems,. reducing. transportation. with. better. layouts,. shortening.

changeover.times.so.that.we.can.run.smaller.batch.sizes.economically,.

and.using.better.management.methods.that.refocus.managers’.efforts.on.

supporting.the.people.who.do.value-creating.work.rather.than.controlling.

them..In.product.development,.reducing.the.burden.of.documentation,.

project.management.overhead,.and.other.necessary.waste.gives.product.

developers.more.time.to.innovate.

To.make.things.even.more.challenging,.we.may.choose.to.add.necessary.

waste.to.one.part.of.a.system.to.improve.the.health.of.the.whole.system..

For.example,.we.may.add.an.extra.inspection.step.right.after.a.process- ing.step.that.tends.to.generate.defects.in.order.to.detect.and.then.eventu-ally.eliminate.the.defects.from.that.processing.step..We.may.need.that.

inspection.to.generate.the.data.to.help.us.understand.the.root.causes.of.

the.problem.so.that.we.can.fix.it.permanently,.and.to.avoid.wasting.work.

on.defective.parts..Once.we.have.eliminated.the.source.of.the.defects,.we.

can.remove.the.extra.inspection.

In.product.development,.we.may.do.more.frequent.planning.sessions.

early.to.reduce.the.waste.of.design.changes.late.in.development.

Value streams. are. sequences. of. value-creating. activities,. necessary.

waste,.and.unnecessary.waste..We.use.“value.stream”.to.replace.the.term.

“process”.to.highlight.the.importance.of.understanding.how.value.flows.

through.the.value-creating.activities,.removing.unnecessary.waste.and.

ensuring. that. all. necessary. waste. truly. supports. the. delivery. of. maxi-mum.value.

Value and Waste in Product Development  •  17

LeARninG to See WASte in PRoDUct DeVeLoPMent On. a. manufacturing. floor,. waste. is. easy. to. see. once. you. know.

what.you’re.looking.for..Taichi.Ohno,.the.developer.of.the.Toyota.

Production.System,.defined.seven.wastes.in.manufacturing:.excess.

inventory,.extra.steps,.extra.transportation,.waiting,.defects,.excess.

motion,.and.overproduction..You.can.see.these.things.just.by.walk-ing.a.manufacturing.floor.

It’s.harder.to.see.the.waste.in.product.development.because.the.

“product”. of. new. product. development. is. knowledge:. knowledge.

about. customers. and. knowledge. about. technologies. and. process.

capabilities.integrated.into.specific.knowledge.about.how.to.make.a.

product—the.product.design..Some.people.have.gone.to.great.lengths.

to.create.analogies.for.Ohno’s.seven.wastes.in.product.development,.

but.that.seems.to.me.like.an.unnecessary.stretch..We.have.plenty.of.

waste.of.our.own,.once.we.know.what.to.look.for.

Since. knowledge. is. the. value. created. in. product. development,.

it.tends.to.be.hidden.in.the.IT.systems.and.tools.we.use.to.create.

and.store.our.knowledge,.as.well.as.within.our.seasoned.engineers’.

minds..The.tangible.things.we.produce.in.product.development—all.

the.drawings,.prototypes,.compiled.code.bases,.and.test.reports—are.

merely.artifacts.for.capturing.knowledge..They.are.only.valuable.to.

the.extent.that.they.faithfully.capture.knowledge..It.does.no.good.to.

measure.whether.or.not.a.drawing.is.completed.if.one.has.no.way.to.

know.whether.or.not.the.drawing.adequately.captures.all.the.infor-mation.necessary.to.deliver.the.part,.and.whether.or.not.the.part.

works.in.the.context.of.the.entire.system.

coMMon WASteS in PRoDUct DeVeLoPMent

Here.are.the.common.forms.of.product.development.waste.that.the.

case.study.companies.directly.attacked.in.their.Lean.Product.Devel-opment.programs:

•. Design loopbacks:. This. is.the. most. obvious. source. of. waste.

in.product.development..A.product.gets.almost.all.of.the.way.

to.the.end;.the.team.thinks.it’s.about.ready.to.ship.and.then.

discovers.something.that.sets.them.back.weeks.or.even.months..

By.the.time.they.find.the.problem,.fixing.it.requires.a.lot.of.

expensive.redesign.and.retesting.

•. Reinvention:. Reinvention. is. the. need. to. redesign. or. rework.

something. because. previous. solutions. to. a. problem. are. not.

accessible.to.the.problem.solver.or.not.generalized.enough.to.

be.reusable..The.waste.of.reinvention.consumes.resources.that.

would.be.put.to.better.use.on.innovation;.it.leads.to.part.prolif-eration,.and.it.increases.the.probability.of.late.design.changes.

•. Unproductive meetings:.Any.meeting.that.does.not.have. a.

clear.purpose.or.that.results.in.no.clear.decisions.or.actions.is.

waste..This.includes.all.of.the.meetings.we.hold.just.to.com-municate.status.

•. insufficient customer empathy:.We.cannot.deliver.customer.

value.if.we.don’t.know.what.customer.value.is..The.most.waste-ful. thing. a. product. development. organization. can. do. is. to.

deliver.the.wrong.product.

•. excess requirements and specifications:.Excess.requirements.

and. specifications. create. waste. in. three. ways:. We. develop.

things.the.customer.does.not.want,.we.build.products.to.rigid.

specifications.that.rob.us.of.the.ability.to.maximize.value.as.

our. knowledge. increases. and. we. have. to. maintain. the. extra.

product.complexity.throughout.the.life.of.the.product.

•. excess project management overhead:. Project. management.

is.necessary.waste..Product.development.is.too.complex.to.do.

without.some.way.to.track.schedules.and.budgets..At.the.same.

time,.all.the.effort.expended.on.project.management.contrib-utes.nothing.to.customer.value.and.may.in.fact.make.it.harder.

for.developers.to.contribute.value.

•. overloaded resources:.If.product. developers. have.too.many.

projects.and.do.not.have.a.prioritized.list.of.projects.to.work.

from,.then.senior. product. development. managers.have. dele- gated.responsibility.for.making.strategic.decisions.to.the.peo-ple.least.equipped.to.make.those.decisions..The.overload.slows.

product.development.down.and.ultimately.leads.to.fewer.new.

products—the.opposite.of.what.everyone.intended.