LPPDE Blog

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Where lean product development experts and practitioners share their stories

Building a Lean Culture of Innovation

Building a Lean Culture of Innovation

In the article “Unlearning What Toyota Taught Us,”1 author John McElroy lauds Tesla’s success with electric vehicles and wonders where Toyota has been. He specifically quotes the book The Toyota Product Development System2 when describing the Toyota product development standard, which he contrasts with the process used by Tesla: much more rapid improvements, no spec freeze, changes after the launch, etc. McElroy also remarks how forgiving Tesla customers are with small quality problems.

Tech-Enabled Lean Product Development

Tech-Enabled Lean Product Development

3D solid modeling. Integrated product simulation. Digital twins. Multi-disciplinary Analysis and Optimization (MDAO). Computerized tools for product design and development are proliferating and advancing in capabilities at an ever-increasing pace. The capabilities of today’s software tools are far advanced from what they were just a couple of years ago becoming more and more realistic, accurate, and speedy with better UX, connectivity, and integration.

Lean Startup – Build-Measure-Learn

Lean Startup – Build-Measure-Learn

Measure twice, cut once. It is this adage that can help us learn through the development process towards maximizing the value delivered with a product or service. However, when our efforts do not turn out the way we expect we have the opportunity to develop the skills and methods to effectively work more methodically and efficiently.

Towering Technical Competency

Towering Technical Competency

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...