by Geoff Neiley | Jun 21, 2022 | Lean Product Development
A few years ago, at LPPDE NA, I sat at a discussion table with Jim Morgan. The subject at this table was the Chief Engineering role in an organization. He shared that as a chief engineer at Ford he wanted to build “Towering Technical Competency” in the engineering...
by Geoff Neiley | Mar 7, 2022 | Lean Product Development
I heard it once said that “The value that engineering brings to an organization is the creation of useful knowledge.” I thought the value I brought was the new product I develop for the customer!? But where do those products come from? How do we make decisions about...
by Geoff Neiley | Feb 25, 2021 | Knowledge, Lean Product Development
Rowing is a team sport and so is product development. Why is this an important idea? A couple years ago I read the book The Boys In The Boat (Danial James Brown, Penguin Books, 2014) and I learned about the concept of “swing.” Swing is when all eight oarsmen are...
by Geoff Neiley | Oct 27, 2020 | Exchange, Knowledge, Lean Product Development
As engineers, we are trained to solve problems. We are thought to break down problems into smaller parts and seek the root cause of the problem. We are taught a range of analysis skills. Following the scientific method, we begin to postulate solutions and invent...
by Geoff Neiley | Apr 1, 2020 | What is Lean Product Development?
You have probably heard of the A3 method – the tool made famous by Toyota. We have been using A3s at AS&E for about 5 years now and have built up a fairly extensive library of knowledge using them. Along the way we have changed our culture to look for and...
