LAA collaborates with 10 companies to document their best practices in Lean Product Development
LAA, EPFL, Politecnico di Milano and Lean experts from 10 companies successfully concluded the first Lean Best Practices Discovery Project this October in Switzerland. The outcome of this collaboration provides a unique collection of 10 industrial cases, where best practices related to lean product development and innovation are documented and structured in logical chapters.
Between April and September 2015, LAA visited the product development premises of the participating companies around the world to observe companies’ product development practices and interview implementation leaders. The interviews – depending on the company – involved lean directors, managers, coaches, experts, change agents and also engineers that provided unparalleled insights to the way these innovative companies work. Gemba walks (Japanese term referring to “the real place”) have been arranged in most companies where LAA had the opportunity to observe several stand-up meetings using visual communication, Obeya rooms, product development offices and even meet employees. Being in the product development environment enabled LAA to fully understand the way lean principles and practices are employed in real time and to hear the success stories of satisfied employees using lean as part of their everyday routine.
Our cases offer a detailed description of companies` lean implementation journey to achieve quick wins as well as long term success and growth.
Each of 10 cases includes an executive summary and brief company introduction followed by detailed explanation of their best practices. Lean practitioners have provided valuable impact and lessons learnt as a reflection on their Lean Product Development journey. Chapters are organized according to the 4 building blocks of the LAA Lean Innovation Model. For all who are not (yet) familiar with our Lean Innovation Model; it provides a framework for lean thinking implementation in product development and consists of 12 enablers classified into 4 building-blocks: Strategy & Performance, Skilled People & Collaboration, Efficient Processes & Knowledge-Based Environment and Change & Continuous Improvement.
In addition to the documentation of different best practices, all these 10 companies were provided access to the SMART Maturity Assessment online tool which provides their maturity level of lean implementation. LAA`s database of assessments provides a unique benchmarking opportunity for innovative companies to understand today`s trends towards effectiveness in product development.
The Lean Product Development Best Practices Discovery project will continue in 2016 aiming to provide a growing number of available real-business examples of lean thinking implementations from around the world.
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2016 Lean Product Development Best Practices Discovery project?
