Improving Value Flow in Lean Product Development

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R&D expenditures in Canada by business were $14.8 billion in 2010, the vast majority in development activities, not basic research. Canada would gain significant economic benefit from any improvement to the efficiency of product development time. Lean product development is one means to improve efficiency, where value flows from customer focused, value-adding processes where waste is eliminated. However, applying lean to design processes requires a different orientation as it is substantially different from manufacturing, with an intangible product (knowledge), non-linear and multi-directional flows, the need to take and manage risk, and highly educated specialist workers. The goal of this research program is to improve the efficiency and responsiveness of engineering design processes. This is important because of the large investment made into product design processes and their manufacturing systems to mitigate technical and market risks and compete in a global, dynamic environment. The short term objective of this proposal is to show value is created by good product design and the best value adding activities can be targeted and dynamically controlled, which will improve value flow and reduce risk because good design brings value both in supply, by making products easier to make and at lower cost, and in demand, by making them wanted. The activities of this proposal are to establish means to measure how value can be measured and how it flows through the design process, and how the allocation of resources can be controlled during design project execution in order to maximize value under conditions of uncertainty.