Workshop Track 1 - Half-day

Lean Product and Process Development basics

Dantar Oosterwal, Sr. VP and Partner, Argo-Efeso Consulting Group

This workshop introduces participants to the foundational principles of lean product and process development. It is targeted specifically for newcomers to the community to help get them up to speed on some of the basic concepts so they can get the most from the main conference. The workshop is based on Dantar´s model “The Lean Machine 7+1”

In 2003 Harley-Davidson was awarded the Outstanding Corporate Innovator award by the Product Development Management Association (PDMA) yet a short time later the same organization was able to deliver over 4 times as much innovation. Through a significant investment in production capacity, the backlog of motorcycle demand Harley-Davidson had enjoyed in the 1990’s drastically reduced. In order to generate product demand, Harley-Davidson adopted lean product development methods to their product development system powering this dramatic improvement in innovation output and demand. Not many people recognized the business significance of the article in the November 2005 issue of Easy Rider Magazine.

At a glance it was like every other article in every other bike magazine with a write-up on the latest products launches and the new model line-up for Harley-Davidson. After all, Easy Rider is not generally considered a scholarly journal. The headline of the article proclaimed in big bold print, “The Sleeping Giant Awakens”. The Sleeping Giant Awakens?

Harley-Davidson had seen 24 quarters of record sales and record profits. But these were bike guys and they were blown away by the torrent of new products flowing from the motor company. The largest introduction of new products they had ever seen. Harley-Davidson’s lean product development efforts resulted in 50% reduction in time to market and a 4-fold increase in throughput while maintaining a quality level of 98% repurchase intent. Later as the Vice President of Innovation for Sara Lee, Dantar once again applied these principles in leading the creation and implementation of Sara Lee’s global Innovation process resulting in 35% improvement in R&D efficiency and 5-fold increase in revenue from new products.

Over the years, Dantar has worked with numerous companies as an adviser, coach, and consultant to help them learn and implement these techniques. In his book Shingo Prize awarded book, ‘The Lean Machine’, Dantar shares the story from this product development transformation. In this session, he will share lessons from his learning journey as he tells his story of applying lean product development principles in a corporate environment that didn’t want to change. He will explore the complexities, the challenges, and the pitfalls associated with creating organizational change to improve the innovation process. He will also discuss key principles of ‘Knowledge based product development’ and how you can utilize them to improve any product development system to improve innovation flow, revenue growth, and profitability.

7 Keys to successful Lean Product Development that will be covered include:

• Manufacture customers
• Portfolio Cadence & Flow
• Set-Based
• Reusable Knowledge
• Visual Management
• Lead with Entrepreneur System Designers
• Teams of Responsible Experts

+ 1:

• Match Throughput to Business Need

These 7+1 key aspects to Lean Product Development and the all-important connection to the business are summarized in a one-page document called Lean Product Development in a nutshell and can be downloaded here: https://www.developlean.com/lean-product-development-in-a-nutshell

5 Take-aways you can expect from this session:

• What Lean Product Development is and why it is sometimes referred to as Knowledge-Based or Set-Based Product Development
• The benefits of Lean Product Development for the organization
• Key aspects of Lean Product Development which can be applied to improve product development in any organization
• Why moving lean from manufacturing upstream to product development doesn’t work
• How to apply and integrate Lean Product development to an organization

In more recent time Dantar has teamed up with Andreas Dörken and developed the model even further.

Dantar Oosterwal, Sr. Vice-president at Argo-Efeso consulting group, is highly regarded as a global thought-leader in Lean Innovation & Product Development systems as well as an advisor, speaker and award-winning author. He has a passion for learning and applying lean product development systems to impact improvements of business performance. Dantar has championed many large and global operational improvement initiatives as well as developed and led Lean Innovation transformations for organizations resulting in profound improvements to both top-line revenue and bottom-line efficiency.

He has been awarded the Shingo Prize for his work in Lean Innovation by the Shingo Institute, the Outstanding Corporate Innovator award from PDMA and several product patents. Dantar has served as the Global Vice President of Innovation at Sara Lee and Product Development & Product Planning Leader at Harley-Davidson Motor Company. His consulting experience spans a diversity of industries ranging from raw materials (mining and chemicals) to high-tech defense systems.

Dantar is the author of The Lean Machine and co-author of Visible Knowledge for Flawless Design.

Workshop Track 1 - Half-day

Promoting & Retaining Women in Engineering

Bob Stavig, retired HP

Wendy Cocke, Founder of Engineering Leadership Solutions LLC

Despite decades of effort to increase the number of women in engineering, women make up only 15% of engineers. This workshop examines the challenges women face within the field of engineering and prior efforts to increase the number of women engineers. To address this long-standing problem, we propose a change to the way work is done in order to level the playing field for women.

During the work shop we will focus on

• the learnings from the field of medicine (women make up 35% of physicians)
• the principles of Lean Development to find a new approach, and
• the need for flexible work schedules and enabling part-time work

At the current rate, it will take 350 years to achieve gender parity!

During this workshop, we will focus on 5 areas:

• The Gender Schema (broader than stereotypes) that begin to form as early as 2 years old which shape our expectations and believes of girls and boys which eventually drive career and life choices.
• The risks and benefits of women focusing on relational work (vs technical)
• The current methods of traditional product development, how they create an unlevel playing field for women, and the learnings from medicine.
• How to apply the six Principles of Lean Development to:
  1. Significantly improve your organizations business performance.
  2. Drive innovation, and
  3. Level the playing field for women
• How to create a flexible (non traditional work schedule) using simple engineering principles using the Making Flex Work Workbook (provided to each attendee) to “Get what’s right for you when it comes to work/life balance”

Disclaimer: Bob is not a consultant or a coach, he’s just a guy who wrote a book…

Bob Stavig is a retired HP R&D Project and Program Manager. Experienced in Lean Product and Process Development and Scrum/Agile.

During his 35 year career with Hewlett-Packard, Bob spent the last twenty years in Product Research and Development in various management and technical roles. During sixteen years of that time, he utilized the principles and methods of Lean Development in the delivery of nearly a dozen areas of work within product programs, process development, and technical asset development. Bob considers himself an engineer first and a manager second. In addition, Bob has fifteen years of experience in the areas of: manufacturing development, factory support, factory operational management, and worldwide manufacturing leadership. He has over twenty years of experience working with international partners.
Bob has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Washington State University and is certified as a Six Sigma Black Belt through American Society of Quality. Bob has a certification in Lean Development from University of Michigan and is a Certified Scrum Master. He has taught Lean Development methods in multiple venues including Lean Product and Process Development Exchange (LPPDE) Virtual Summits.

Bob is the co-author of the book (written with his daughter Alissa Stavig, MD) “Retaining Women in Engineering: The Empowerment of Lean Development”. For more details on this topic, book focus, promoting change, going home on time while delivering more value, please visit www.Leanreimagined.com

Wendy Cocke is a chemical engineer by training and spent over 20 years in Fortune 500 companies leading technical teams across time zones, borders, and languages.
As a working mother. Wendy has redefined success for herself according to her values. About 10 years into her career, when her oldest child was still an infant, Wendy pursued a flexible work arrangement. She was told that while the company supported her desire to pull back, her career would stall and she would never move up in the organization, but her successful negotiation of flexible working arrangements did not slow her career trajectory and eventually led her to publish a book about how others can do the same. She is an inspiration to all those who want to thrive in both their personal and professional lives.

Today Wendy manages her extended family (lovingly referred to as the rolling circus) which includes support for her mother grandmother and is the Founder of Engineering Leadership Solutions LLC where she provides technical consulting, management coaching and leadership development. Please visit Makingflexwork.com for more information.

Wendy is the author of “Making Flex Work: Defining Success on Your Own Terms”.

Workshop Track 2 - Full-day

Building a Culture of Innovation Excellence

Norbert Majerus and Sam Landers, retired Goodyear

Tuesday, October 3, 2023 Conference Day 1

Conference Welcome - Focus Culture of Innovation

Dantar Oosterwal, LPPDE  Conference Chair

Keynote: It Literally Takes a Village; How to Start, Maintain, and Grow an Innovation Ecosystem

Bill Mayer, Senior Vice President Entrepreneurial Services at Sandia National Laboratories

The presentation will illustrate how SPARK work to foster an ecosystem of Innovation and startup support in Ann Arbor.
• Overview of why fostering an innovation ecosystem is valuable to a community
• Strategic Priorities for the Ecosystem
• Where to start and the stages of evolution
• What to do and how to do it
• Partners are the key
• Goals, metrics, and what success looks like
• Q&A

Bill Mayer has founded and exited multiple start-ups in the technology and finance sectors. His areas of expertise are in finance, securities and quantitative analysis. He has founded and worked with numerous businesses covering a broad range of industry sectors, ranging from start-up ventures through Fortune 500 companies.

Client engagements have covered a broad range of services including market strategy, portfolio structure, and the IPO process. Bill has managed over $125 million in client assets.

Areas of specialty are financial modeling, pricing strategies, the process of private and public equity securitization, management of business assets, and fundraising. He has extensive experience in creating financial models, business valuations, and capitalization tables, as well as navigating advanced business tax issues and the complex issues surrounding securitization. This allows Bill to effectively position clients from an investor’s viewpoint in order to maximize a venture’s ability to receive funding.

Bill Mayer has held multiple securities broker licenses for over ten years. This positions him to facilitate the placement of capital directly.

Keynote: NG Fellow for Lean-Agile focused on space systems

Suzette Johnson, NG Fellow, Lean-Agile at Northrop Grumman Corporation, Space Sector

Innovation and collaboration across all levels of the organization, are critical for a company’s growth and survival in today’s fast-paced working environments where new digital capabilities emerge every day. The challenge often faced is how to adopt new ways of working while addressing the barriers to change organizations often face.
To address this need we must foster Lean-Agile environments that promote teams who are creative problem solvers, are energized, and engaged to contribute their best every day. We bring together the concepts of Lean and Agile and apply them across all functions within the value stream. This new way of working and set of principles has been defined as Industrial DevOps. Industrial DevOps offers the ability to adapt to changing needs, reduce cycle time for delivery, increase value for money, and leverage innovation.
Become familiar with the principles and success patterns that have emerged along with how to address some of the challenges that organizations often encounter when adopting new ways of working.
For some of you these principles may already be part of your environment and you will resonate with the potential they offer; for others, these principles will be a paradigm shift in how to create teams that leverage everyone’s talents for increased productivity and innovation and delivering results in the shortest sustainable lead time.

Suzette S. Johnson works for Northrop Grumman Corporation near Baltimore, Maryland. As an NG Fellow for Lean-Agile, she works for Space Systems fostering operational and program excellence to achieve mission and business outcomes. Her experience with Lean-Agile began over twenty years ago with experience across IT systems and software and systems engineering for cyber-physical systems. She has led the adoption of Lean-Agile across the enterprise and has supported over 100 internal projects and government programs on the Lean-Agile journey. She holds several certifications including Scaled Agile Program Consultant Trainer (SPCT), Certified Enterprise Coach, CSM, PMP, and PMI-ACP. She received a Doctorate of Management Technology at the University of Maryland with a dissertation focused on investigating the Impact of leadership styles on software project outcomes in traditional and agile environments.

Networking Break

Value of Diversity in Development

Bob Stavig, LPPDE

Bob Stavig is a retired HP R&D Project and Program Manager. Experienced in Lean Product and Process Development and Scrum/Agile. Bob spent 35 years at HP, the last 20 as R&D Project and Program Manager in Vancouver, WA.

Bob is an experienced Research and Development Project Manager with strong technical skills, a demonstrated history of working in the information technology and services industry. Skilled in Product Development/Management, Vendor Management, Engineering Management, Business Process Improvement, Factory Operations, and Cross-functional Team Leadership. Strong background and experience with the use of Lean Product and Process Development (16 years) and Lean Manufacturing. International business experience (Asia) in the areas of supplier development, factory operations, and technical management. Program and project management professional with a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Washington State University. He is certified Six Sigma Black Belt- ASQ, Certification in Lean Development from University of Michigan, and Certified Scrum Master through Scrum Alliance.

Together with his daughter Alissa Stavig, Bob share some of his experience in the recently released book: Retaining Women in Engineering. Book Pre-announce

Innovation Performance: The Good, The Bad and The Worthy

Larry Navarre, Kettering University

This session will introduce the challenges of defining, measuring, and improving performance of the innovation development system. Innovation performance has a reputation for failure. Our organizations expect us to do better. This is an introduction to a workshop later in the conference that will engage you to lead innovation to be worthy of your organization’s resources.

Larry Navarre is a full-time Lecturer at Kettering University teaching courses in innovation development, supply chain management, project management, and business analytics since 2008.  Larry has earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Kent State University (Kent, Ohio) and a Master of Science in Management degree from Purdue University's Krannert Graduate School of Management (West Lafayette, Indiana).  Larry has 20 years of management experience in the steel, machinery, and plastics industries.  His management responsibilities have spanned from Production Supervisor to Director of Global Product Management and Asian Operations. He has worked internationally with customers, suppliers, and colleagues in 20 countries.  Larry is also a managing owner of two family-owned small businesses managing commercial real estate.

Networking Lunch with the Board of Directors, LPPDE

2 High-Tech Anthropologists

James Goebel and Annika Themm , Menlo Innovations

James Goebel is a founding partner of Menlo Innovations. Menlo uses highly collaborative project teams to design and implement innovative products for clients that place high value on user adoption.
The team he helped build at Menlo Innovations has successfully blended an Extreme Programming development team, usability design specialists, a quality assurance practice, and formal project management. Representatives from start-up companies as well as large Fortune 500 firms routinely tour Menlo's Software Factory environment to study its implementation of agile.
James has worked in a variety of environments, from 2 employee startups up to billion-dollar organizations. As a coach and change agent, James has helped organizations achieve dramatic transformations in both process and culture. He enjoys speaking at conferences, teaching classes, and speaking to small local groups in order to share the lessons he has learned.
James has an MBA from Eastern Michigan University. He has practiced software product development for more than twenty years as a developer, team lead, system architect, project manager, practice director, and executive coach. For the past twenty years he has been building and managing Agile software teams.

Annika Themm is a High-Tech Anthropologist® at Menlo Innovations. In this role she
works in the areas of user research, UI/UX design, and process consulting to solve business
problems for clients across a wide range of industries. She is also a part of the
Marketing team at Menlo – leading tours and teaching workshops to share Menlo’s culture
and processes with the world. Annika has been with Menlo for one year, and previously worked as a User Experience specialist for the University of Michigan Library and the Harvard Library.

Networking Break

Menlo Innovation Tour

Learning Circles

Networking Dinner Reception

Wednesday, October 4, 2023 Conference Day 2

Welome back and Reflection

Carolyn Carter, LPPDE Conference Co-Chair

Keynote: Developing Leadership Behaviors and CI Infrastructure to Support LPPD: Two Case Studies

Edward Blackman, ADM

This presentation will reflect on 2 case studies. The first involved successfully improving LPPD to accelerate innovation at a 90,000 employee global appliance manufacturing company. The second case study was set in a $100 billion global food sourcing company and successfully led a team to generate 201 innovative ideas in 3 days. To achieve both accomplishments and many others, the teams built on the shoulders of the traditional CI giants like Dr. Spear and Dr. Liker; while also incorporating the wisdom of lesser-known giants from Behavioral Science (Dr. Aubrey Daniels, Dr. Dale Brethower) to ensure the success of daily CI behaviors from front line staff to the executive suite.

 Edward Blackman joined ADM as Global Director of the Enterprise Process Office in 2021. ADM is a $100 billion global food sourcing company. He has over 23 years of transformational continuous improvement experience working with companies like Dematic, Whirlpool, Spectrum Health and Meijer. His professional activities include: conference keynote presentations, webinars, podcasts, published articles, and book contributions (most notably “The Toyota Way, 2nd Edition” by Dr. Liker). Edward has a Masters in Behavioral Science with undergraduate degrees in psychology and mathematics. He specializes in coaching executives and other leaders in problem solving behaviors; as well as developing project-based, event-based, and daily-based problem solving systems.

Networking Break

Keynote: Venturing Outside the Box and Building a Lean Culture of Innovation Excellence

Sam Landers, retired Goodyear – Venturing Outside the Box

Norbert Majerus, retired Goodyear – Building a Culture of Innovation Excellence – The Principles

Creating a Lean Culture of Innovation - Success or failure with innovation is all based on culture just as it is with operational excellence.

​A successful innovation culture starts with the right strategy and appropriate deployment. Knowledge about the principles of innovation leads to the right processes. The values and right behaviors are based on respect for people and humble leadership, but they also include management of fear and risk. Many people think that waste elimination and standardization (which come with a lean system) can hurt creativity and they cite Toyota's delay of electric vehicles as an example. That is unfortunate because a good lean culture can actually promote innovation.

First San Landers will present ‘Venturing Outside the Box’.  It is the story of two of Goodyear’s most innovative tire products beginning in 1980 with the initial idea for the Aquatred through 2004 with the development of the Assurance TripleTred. He will highlight the cultural environment, contributing events, and innovation techniques employed when Goodyear ventured outside the box.

Norbert Majerus will follow with ‘Creating a Lean Culture of Innovation’. And explore what is needed through the principle view of the system.

They will end the presentation answering questions and interacting with the audience.

Norbert Majerus is a highly experienced man. Beginning in 2005, Norbert implemented a principles-based lean product development process at the three Global Innovation Centers of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. For more than a decade he was Goodyear’s lean champion in research and development.

Norbert, born and raised in Luxembourg, has a Master’s degree in Chemistry from the Universitaet des Saarlandes, Saarbruecken, Germany. He joined Goodyear in Luxembourg in 1978, transferred to Akron in 1983, and has worked most disciplines in the Goodyear innovation centers in Luxembourg and Akron.

In 2016, Norbert published his first book, Lean-Driven Innovation (Norbert Majerus, CRC Press, 2016), which received the Shingo Research Award. Also in 2016, with Norbert’s guidance the Goodyear R&D organization applied for and received the AME Excellence Award. Norbert has spoken at many conferences in the United States and other countries. Since retiring from Goodyear in 2017, he continues to share his extensive lean expertise via norbert majerus consulting. His latest contribution is his second book Winning Innovation, recently released!

Sam Landers is retired R&D Fellow at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., graduated from The University of Akron with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1969. During his 42 years at Goodyear, Sam has been granted more than 60 patents and has directed cross-functional teams in the successful development and release of more than 30 new passenger tire products including the award winning Aquatred and the Assurance featuring TripleTred technology.

In 2004, Sam was promoted to R&D Fellow, the highest non-management title in Goodyear's Research & Development organization. The position recognizes technical proficiency, experience, creativity, foresight and a demonstrated ability to anticipate and solve complex technical problems. Sam was only the fifth person to achieve this honor since the position was created in 1980.

During Sam’s career he has received many of Goodyear’s highest honors for a technology associate. He won Goodyear’s Dinsmore Merit Award for original thinking and cooperative action in the development of better products in 2001 and was twice named Inventor of the Year. Other notable awards include being named a Distinguished Inventor by the Intellectual Property Owners and Distinguished Corporate Inventor by the American Society of Patent Holders in 1993.

After retirement from Goodyear, Sam formed an LLC to provide what he learned during his career about innovation, technology development, and product development. Over the ten years that the LLC was active, Sam provided papers and lectures to numerous companies in many different markets as well as volunteering as an Engineer in Residence for a middle and high STEM school. Today, Sam continues to freely share his insights.

Networking Break

Kaizen, AI, and Beyond: Achieving the Possible Through Lean

Vincent Stamper, Transformation Program Manager

Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and other new technologies are dramatically changing industry and the nature of work. These disruptions will dramatically transform our world in the decades to come.

This will also disrupt people’s livelihoods. They promise dramatic increases in productivity, and at the same time the danger of automating waste, and alienating our teams. How do we reassure and inspire our teams to embrace these changes, while honoring their collaboration and expertise?

We will share Trident Refit Facility Bangor’s twenty year journey to understand how to:

• Develop a holistic strategy, balancing Kaizan with Kaikaku to build teams
• Build organic capability, innovating and enabling the adjacent possible

We must stay true to Lean Principles, to create highly effective and collaborative teams in a changing world.

We must reject our worldview of scarcity, and embrace new ways of creating value, to inspire our teams to achieve more than we believe possible.

New skills will be required, but also deep understanding of our past and present.

It is easy to be mesmerized by the possible, but it will be impossible unless we look to and understand that past and present.

Vincent Stamper is the Trident Refit Facility Bangor (TRFB) Transformation Program Manager. He leads Lean Process Improvement, Moonshine rapid prototyping, and New Technology deployment. With a team of three assigned and eight imbedded Black Belts (BB’s), twenty-eight imbedded (GB’s), they transformation for the Pacific Strategic Deterrence Mission.

The son of two teachers, growing up in Seaside Oregon, he developed a deep love and respect for public service and the sea. He serves as Federal Managers Association Region Four Director.

Vince enlisted as a Nuclear Machinist Mate in 1987, submarines, serving on the USS Louisville, Gurnard, Whale and Finback. He qualified through Engineering Watch Supervisor, and Diving Officer, as well as Nuclear Repair Welder and Scuba Diver.

He began civil service in 2001. In 2004 he was certified as a NAVSEA Lean Six Sigma BB and founded the TRFB Lean Office. In 2010 he stood up the Command Moonshine Lab then Inside Shop Product Line at PSNS, returning to TRFB in 2015.

Vince and his wife Carrie are restoring their 1928 yacht, to spend their retirement years cruising, and promoting preservation and sustainability. Follow their journey at www.yachtfifer1928.com . They have three children who share their passion for innovation.

Networking Lunch

Enabling Innovation in All Aspects of the Enterprise

Tamara Rodriguez and Marlena Taylor, Lean Process Engineers at Sandia National Laboratories

What are the real enablers for Innovation? And are they different in different areas of an Enterprise? Tamara and Marlena are two very experienced lean process engineers and they will share some of their experience and secrets on these topics to cover all aspects of this interesting topic.

Tamara Rodriguez is a Lean Process Engineer.  She joined SNL in 1999 as an Industrial Engineer supporting the Neutron Generator Enterprise (NGE).  She has held a variety of engineering and management roles supporting technology maturation, new product development, component production, and systems engineering.  She is a certified lean/six sigma blackbelt and a highlight of her career was helping to lead the NGE through a lean transformation and the pursue of the Shingo Prize, which was awarded in 2007. Tamara has a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from University of Texas at El Paso, a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University, and an MBA from Arizona State University. Her passions include systems thinking, strategy deployment, continuous improvement, and culture change. Tamara resides in Albuquerque, NM with her husband and two daughters. She enjoys soccer, hiking, spending time with family, and volunteering in the community.

Marlena Taylor is a Distinguished Member of Labs Staff at Sandia National Laboratories and has over twenty years of experience in performance improvement, organizational change, and strategic management. Marlena leads performance excellence and innovation for a cross Nuclear Security Enterprise team to enable product and process improvement. She enjoys a systems thinking approach to problem solving and innovation and is passionate about working with others to achieve improved outcomes.

Marlena resides in Albuquerque with her husband, Daniel, and their identical twin boys Ethan and Tristan. She enjoys a variety of outdoor activities including skiing, backpacking, cycling, and most of all, running.

Visual Management for Innovation

Dan Caputo, HP

Visual Management is a demanding task, especially if you want it to focus on increasing innovation. Dan will share some of his knowledge and experience from many years at HP. He will pull from recent experiences and discuss conditions for success, what went well, and barriers to excellence.

Dan Caputo is a strategist, systems thinker, and innovation champion with over 35 years developing and bringing new products to market. Having a broad range of experiences in R&D, Manufacturing Engineering, and Procurement at IBM and HP, Dan became skilled at collaborating seamlessly across organizational boundaries and creating methods and process frameworks that consistently achieved better results. He has extensive experience in leading technology asset and product development teams, and a deep background in global manufacturing and procurement strategies. Dan’s recent charter as Technology and New Product Development Strategist, coupled with Lean Product Development principles, enabled him to mutually drive product innovation and program excellence.

Networking Break

The Next Step of Visual Management

Carolyn Carter, Carolyn Carter Consulting

Networking Break

Practicing Lean Product and Process Development

Dantar Oosterwal, Argo-Efeso Consulting Group

Learning Circles

Closing Address

Dantar Oosterwal, Chair of the conference, LPPDE

How will you disseminate this at home?

Thursday, October 5, 2023:

Post Conference Workshops

How to Create Visible Knowledge

Dantar Oosterwal,  Argo-Efeso Consulting Group

Durward Sobek, Montana State University

This workshop gives you practical tools described in the fabulous book Visible Knowledge for Flawless Design. Learn the key elements of this forgotten art.

The description of the book says: “Visible knowledge is a tool nearly lost in the West, but it has been used to great effect by Toyota in its 50-year march from non-competitiveness to its current status as the second largest automobile company in the world. It is key for the 50% growth in market share Toyota plans for this decade despite worldwide overcapacity in the auto business. This book presents the reader with a systematic approach to create, capture, and display knowledge in a way that allows development teams to optimize the design of their products and production processes. Visible knowledge not only applies to knowledge management, but provides a means of collaboration to facilitate better decision-making in the development process. This book has evolved out of a manuscript that Allen Ward, the foremost U.S. expert on lean product development, was writing at the time of his untimely death. It is not intended to be a treatise of Lean product development methods. Quite the opposite-it is focused on one small piece, "visible knowledge." It is, however, one technique that Dantar Oosterwal and Durward Sobek have found to be very effective at Harley-Davidson and other places, and a tool that can make a difference whether used by itself or as a starting point for a larger journey into Lean product development. In completing this work, Oosterwal and Sobek kept the aim true to Allen's original intent. The preface and first three chapters are essentially Allen's original intellectual contribution. They have made editorial changes to improve readability and clarity of explanation. Throughout, they have attempted to preserve Allen's voice in the writing, even keeping the narrative in first person as it was originally written. They have also added a fourth chapter that highlights some practical ways to apply the ideas presented in earlier chapters, illustrated with case examples from their experience.”

In the morning session of the workshop you will learn valuable methods to capture, visualize and re-use knowledge. During the afternoon Dantar and Durward will coach and guide you of how to do this at home, in your own environment and with your own captured knowledge.

Dantar Oosterwal, Sr. Vice-president at Argo-Efeso consulting group, is highly regarded as a global thought-leader in Lean Innovation & Product Development systems as well as an advisor, speaker and award-winning author. He has a passion for learning and applying lean product development systems to impact improvements of business performance. Dantar has championed many large and global operational improvement initiatives as well as developed and led Lean Innovation transformations for organizations resulting in profound improvements to both top-line revenue and bottom-line efficiency.

He has been awarded the Shingo Prize for his work in Lean Innovation by the Shingo Institute, the Outstanding Corporate Innovator award from PDMA and several product patents. Dantar has served as the Global Vice President of Innovation at Sara Lee and Product Development & Product Planning Leader at Harley-Davidson Motor Company. His consulting experience spans a diversity of industries ranging from raw materials (mining and chemicals) to high-tech defense systems.

Dantar is the author of The Lean Machine and co-author of Visible Knowledge for Flawless Design.

Durward K. Sobek II is a Professor at Montana State University in Bozeman, MT, and Program Coordinator of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering. He holds Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan, and an A.B. degree in Engineering Sciences from Dartmouth College.

Dr. Sobek has been researching lean product development and lean healthcare for nearly two decades, focusing on how organizations can increase their performance capacity through the application of lean principles. He is a co-founder of the Lean Product and Process Development Exchange, Inc., and has published numerous articles in publications such as Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, and IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. He is also co-author of three books: Lean Product and Process Development, 2nd edition, Understanding A3 Thinking: A Critical Component of Toyota's PDCA Management System and Visible Knowledge for Flawless Design.

LPPD and Agile, Hardware / Software Interaction

Geoff Neiley, Rapiscan, American Science & Engineering

Peter Palmér, Scania

This brand new workshop treats the question: What happens when you are on a clear LPPD journey and suddenly Agile appear as a silver bullet? and how to take advantage of the challenge.

​We will start by describing the current situation at two stable companies working with LPPD (Rapiscan and Scania) and discuss the possibilities, threats and problems that agile brings to the table, both for software as well as hardware development. We will share many practical examples and solutions, both those who worked and those who didn´t and what we can learn from both.

During the workshop we will discuss the different variants of agile and concentrate on the different principles behind. Starting with the agile manifesto and it´s principles, scrum, modern agile and more up and including LESS and SAFe.

We will compare the values and principles from the agile world and look into the similarities and differences and try to reach a common understanding on to how to treat an agile way of working comparing to the way of working with Lean Product and Process Development.

Geoff Neiley has been in the mechanical engineering field for 25 years, starting at NESLAB Instruments designing water chilling systems. After he spent 15 years working for BTU International where he began to see the reap the values of concurrent engineering.

3 years after joining AS&E in 2011, the leadership team introduced the concept of Lean Product Development. Geoff joined the leadership team reading many Lean PD books, inviting Lead PD practitioners to AS&E and attending LPPDE for several consecutive years. AS&E has roundly embraced the concurrent engineering aspects of Lean PD focusing greatly of Set-Base Innovation and cross-functional collaboration with our supply chain and manufacturing team. Today he is still learning and experimenting with lean processes and enjoys the pride felt in the team by enabling cross-functional to achieve challenging, rewarding goals.

Peter Palmér has extensive experience in lean management in both production and product development, as well as experience of leadership in other cultures. With 18 years of experience within production, engineering and quality followed by 20 years in various management positions in product development Peter has many stories to tell. Since the beginning of the 1990es he has been closely involved with the Scania Way development journey both in Sweden and South America.

He is a frequent speaker at international and national conferences on the subject about LPPD and leadership. Peter has been working closely with LPPDE since the organization's start 2008 including seven years on the LPPDE board with a second period started 2023. Through LPPDE Peter has organized and chaired or co-chaired many conferences in Europe and in the US. Since the end of 2020 he runs the monthly LPPDE Virtual Summits, a four hour learning exchange with four different speakers. He is a member of various LPD-networks and has co-developed LPD training courses with Chalmers Professional Education and The KTH Royal Institute of Technology.

Lunch for workshop participants

Workshop Track 1 - Afternoon Half-day

How to Create Visible Knowledge – Practical Deep Dive on Your Problems

Dantar Oosterwal,  Argo-Efeso Consulting Group

Durward Sobek, Montana State University

This workshop gives you practical tools described in the fabulous book Visible Knowledge for Flawless Design. Learn the key elements of this forgotten art.

The description of the book says: “Visible knowledge is a tool nearly lost in the West, but it has been used to great effect by Toyota in its 50-year march from non-competitiveness to its current status as the second largest automobile company in the world. It is key for the 50% growth in market share Toyota plans for this decade despite worldwide overcapacity in the auto business. This book presents the reader with a systematic approach to create, capture, and display knowledge in a way that allows development teams to optimize the design of their products and production processes. Visible knowledge not only applies to knowledge management, but provides a means of collaboration to facilitate better decision-making in the development process. This book has evolved out of a manuscript that Allen Ward, the foremost U.S. expert on lean product development, was writing at the time of his untimely death. It is not intended to be a treatise of Lean product development methods. Quite the opposite-it is focused on one small piece, "visible knowledge." It is, however, one technique that Dantar Oosterwal and Durward Sobek have found to be very effective at Harley-Davidson and other places, and a tool that can make a difference whether used by itself or as a starting point for a larger journey into Lean product development. In completing this work, Oosterwal and Sobek kept the aim true to Allen's original intent. The preface and first three chapters are essentially Allen's original intellectual contribution. They have made editorial changes to improve readability and clarity of explanation. Throughout, they have attempted to preserve Allen's voice in the writing, even keeping the narrative in first person as it was originally written. They have also added a fourth chapter that highlights some practical ways to apply the ideas presented in earlier chapters, illustrated with case examples from their experience.”

In the morning session of the workshop you will learn valuable methods to capture, visualize and re-use knowledge. During the afternoon Dantar and Durward will coach and guide you of how to do this at home, in your own environment and with your own captured knowledge.

Dantar Oosterwal, Sr. Vice-president at Argo-Efeso consulting group, is highly regarded as a global thought-leader in Lean Innovation & Product Development systems as well as an advisor, speaker and award-winning author. He has a passion for learning and applying lean product development systems to impact improvements of business performance. Dantar has championed many large and global operational improvement initiatives as well as developed and led Lean Innovation transformations for organizations resulting in profound improvements to both top-line revenue and bottom-line efficiency.

He has been awarded the Shingo Prize for his work in Lean Innovation by the Shingo Institute, the Outstanding Corporate Innovator award from PDMA and several product patents. Dantar has served as the Global Vice President of Innovation at Sara Lee and Product Development & Product Planning Leader at Harley-Davidson Motor Company. His consulting experience spans a diversity of industries ranging from raw materials (mining and chemicals) to high-tech defense systems.

Dantar is the author of The Lean Machine and co-author of Visible Knowledge for Flawless Design.

Durward K. Sobek II is a Professor at Montana State University in Bozeman, MT, and Program Coordinator of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering. He holds Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan, and an A.B. degree in Engineering Sciences from Dartmouth College.

Dr. Sobek has been researching lean product development and lean healthcare for nearly two decades, focusing on how organizations can increase their performance capacity through the application of lean principles. He is a co-founder of the Lean Product and Process Development Exchange, Inc., and has published numerous articles in publications such as Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, and IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. He is also co-author of three books: Lean Product and Process Development, 2nd edition, Understanding A3 Thinking: A Critical Component of Toyota's PDCA Management System and Visible Knowledge for Flawless Design.

Workshop Track 2 - Afternoon Half-day

Innovation Performance: The Good, The Bad and The Worthy

Larry Navarre, Kettering University

This workshop will guide the development of a system to improve Innovation Performance. Attendees will actively define measurements, structure a measurement process, and plan implementation of the system. Innovation performance has a reputation for failure. Our organizations expect us to do better. Participants can choose to use their own organization as context, or use the example case of BrauHaus Frankfort, a fictitious craft brewery. This workshop will engage you to lead innovation to be worthy of your organization’s resources in three interactive modules:

• Defining Your Critical Few Measurements
  • Innovation Performance Mythology and Reality
  • Why Performance is Poor, and How to Make it Worthy
  • What are the Typical Innovation Measurements
  • Defining Your Critical Few Innovation Measurements
• Creating Your Innovation Performance Process
  • Innovation as a System
  • Pulling Performance by Leveraging Lean Processes
  • Defining Your Innovation Performance Process
• Implementing Improved Innovation Performance
  • Leading Like a Chief Entrepreneur
  • Defining Your Innovation Performance Improvement Plan

Larry Navarre is a full-time Lecturer at Kettering University teaching courses in innovation development, supply chain management, project management, and business analytics since 2008.  Larry has earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Kent State University (Kent, Ohio) and a Master of Science in Management degree from Purdue University's Krannert Graduate School of Management (West Lafayette, Indiana).  Larry has 20 years of management experience in the steel, machinery, and plastics industries.  His management responsibilities have spanned from Production Supervisor to Director of Global Product Management and Asian Operations. He has worked internationally with customers, suppliers, and colleagues in 20 countries.  Larry is also a managing owner of two family-owned small businesses managing commercial real estate.