Implementation of Lean Tools and Methodologies in Design

Research efforts in lean design are usually focused on enabling lean manufacturing or managing the product development processes. Very few efforts, however, have been directed towards the design process itself. While the most successful lean applications started with the manufacturing process, due to its nature and the ability to identify the process wastes, the full impact of lean thinking can only be achieved when applied at the beginning of the product development process starting with early design phases. Considering that the first and most fundamental principle in lean thinking is to realize value from the customer’s perspective, it is essential that a lean product development process implementation assures the flow of this value throughout the process. This can only be accomplished when lean principles, tools, and methodologies are utilized in all phases from concept development in the design phase to manufacturing in the production phase. In this paper, the utilization of lean principles, tools, and methodologies during the design process is discussed. In addition, the adaptation of several lean tools and methodologies to assist in applying the lean principles throughout the different phases of the design process is demonstrated. To illustrate the concepts, adaptation process, and implementation some examples are presented.