Approaching lean product development using system dynamics: investigating front-load effects

Competing with successful products has become perplexing with several uncertainties and transmutes from time to time as customers’ expectations are dynamic. That is why manufacturing firms exhaustively strive to look for a better competitive frontier using well-established and innovative product development (PD) processes. In this paper, we would like to answer three research questions: (i) What would be the effects of front-loading in PD? (ii) Can we improve our PD process endlessly? (iii) When is the critical time that the firm should take remedial action for improvements? As a contribution to the vast numbers of improvement methods in new product development (NPD), this paper investigates the effects of front-loading using set-based concurrent engineering (SBCE) on cost and lead time. Models are developed and treated using a system dynamics (SD) approach. We assign a hypothetical upfront investment for SBCE and compare its effects on total cost and lead time of the development process. From the research, it is found that the total cost of PD is reduced almost by half—although the front loading is higher in order to encompass multiple design alternatives. The total product lead time is reduced by almost 20 %. The model reveals the critical time for improvement of the PD process. We use SD tool (e.g., STELLA) for simulation and visualization of the complex PD model, using SBCE as one of several strategies to front-load activities in the NPD process.

[1]  Jeffrey K. Liker,et al.  Lean Product Development as a System: A Case Study of Body and Stamping Development at Ford , 2011 .

[2]  Durward K. Sobek,et al.  Toyota's Principles of Set-Based Concurrent Engineering , 1999 .

[3]  Jostein Pettersen,et al.  Defining Lean Production : Some conceptual and practical issues , 2008 .

[4]  B. Prasad.  Analysis of pricing strategies for new product introduction , 1997 .

[5]  Pär Åhlström,et al.  The difficult path to lean product development , 1996 .

[6]  Durward K. Sobek,et al.  Adapting real options to new product development by modeling the second Toyota paradox , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

[7]  Evelina Ericsson,et al.  Abstract model of LPD: A critical review of the Lean Product Development concept , 2011, 2011 Proceedings of PICMET '11: Technology Management in the Energy Smart World (PICMET).

[8]  Eric Rebentisch,et al.  A Framework for Organizing Lean Product Development , 2011 .

[9]  Torgeir Welo,et al.  On the application of lean principles in Product Development: a commentary on models and practices , 2011 .

[10]  David N. Ford.  A behavioral approach to feedback loop dominance analysis , 1999 .

[11]  Kansallisesta Kansainväliseksi.  ALSO AVAILABLE IN PRINTED FORMAT , 1999 .

[12]  Donovan R. Hardenbrook,et al.  Ready, Set, Dominate: Implement Toyota's Set-Based Learning for Developing Products and Nobody Can Catch You! by Michael Kennedy, Kent Harmon, and Ed Minnock , 2009 .

[13]  Jeffrey K. Liker,et al.  The Toyota Product Development System: Integrating People, Process And Technology , 2006 .

[14]  J. Bicheno.  The New Lean Toolbox: Towards Fast, Flexible Flow , 2008 .

[15]  David N. Ford,et al.  Overcoming the 90% Syndrome: Iteration Management in Concurrent Development Projects , 2003, Concurr. Eng. Res. Appl..

[16]  David M. Kennedy.  Engineering Design and Development , 2011 .

[17]  Hilda C. Martínez León,et al.  Lean Product Development Research: Current State and Future Directions , 2011 .

[18]  Stefan H. Thomke,et al.  The Effect of 'Front-Loading' Problem-Solving on Product Development Performance , 2000 .

[19]  Chaoan Lai,et al.  Research on Modeling of Product Development Complex System Based on System Dynamics , 2008, 2008 International Symposium on Knowledge Acquisition and Modeling.

[20]  Durward K. Sobek,et al.  The Second Toyota Paradox: How Delaying Decisions Can Make Better Cars Faster , 1995 .

[21]  David N. Ford,et al.  Dynamic modeling of product development processes , 1998 .

[22]  Pascal Dennis,et al.  Lean Production Simplified : A Plain-Language Guide to the World's Most Powerful Production System , 2002 .

[23]  Lino Guimarães Marujo.  Rework Impacts Evaluation Through System Dynamics Approach in Overlapped Product Development Schedule , 2009 .

[24]  Petri Helo,et al.  Time-to-market and concurrent engineering in product development processes , 2011 .

[25]  Robert G. Cooper,et al.  Winning at new products : accelerating the process from idea to launch , 2001 .

[26]  Dag Raudberget,et al.  Practical Applications of Set-Based Concurrent Engineering in Industry , 2010 .