The Toyota Product Development System : Integrating People, Process, and Technology

The ability to bring new and innovative products to market rapidly is the prime critical competence for any successful consumer-driven company. All industries, especially automotive, are slashing product development lead times in the current hyper-competitive marketplace. This book is the first to thoroughly examine and analyze the truly effective product development methodology that has made Toyota the most forward-thinking company in the automotive industry.

In The Toyota Product Development System: Integrating People, Process, and Technology, James Morgan and Jeffrey Liker compare and contrast the world-class product development process of Toyota with that of a U.S. competitor. They use extensive examples from Toyota and the U.S. competitor to demonstrate value stream mapping as an extraordinarily powerful tool for continuous improvement.

Through examples and case studies, this book illustrates specific techniques and proven practices for dealing with challenges associated with product development, such as synchronizing multiple disciplines, multiple function workload leveling, compound process variation, effective technology integration, and knowledge management.

This valuable book:

• Highlights the application of value stream mapping methodology to product development.
• Identifies and defines the categories of waste that are specific to the product development process.
• Presents countermeasures and proven practices, based on Lean principles, developed for the product development process used at Toyota.
• Illustrates and clarifies the methodology by presenting actual case examples at Toyota and a U.S. competitor.
• Readers of this book can focus on optimizing the entire product development value stream rather than focus on a specific tool or technology for local improvements.

Foreword
Acknowledgments
Preface

Section I : Introduction
Chapter 1 : The New Product Development Revolution
Chapter 2 : The Lean Product Development System Model

Section II : Process Subsystem
Chapter 3 : Establish Customer-Defined Value to Separate Value-Added From Waste
Chapter 4 : Front-Load the PD Process to Explore Alternatives Thoroughly
Chapter 5 : Create a Leveled Product Development Process Flow
Chapter 6 : Utilizing Rigorous Standardization to Reduce Variation and Create Flexibility and Predictable Outcomes

Section III : People Subsystem
Chapter 7 : Creating a Chief Engineer System to Lead Development From Start to Finish
Chapter 8 : Organize to Balance Functional Expertise and Cross-Functional Integration
Chapter 9 : Develop Towering Technical Competence in All Engineers
Chapter 10 : Fully Integrate Suppliers into the Product Development System
Chapter 11 : Building in Learning and Continuous Improvement
Chapter 12 : Building a Culture to Support Excellence and Relentless Improvement

Section IV : Tools and Technology Subsystem
Chapter 13 : Adapting Technology to Fit Your People and Process
Chapter 14 : Aligning Your Organization Through Simple, Visual Communication
Chapter 15 : Use Powerful Tools for Standardization and Organizational Learning

Section V : Creating a Coherent Lean PD System
Chapter 16 : A Coherent System : Putting the Pieces Together
Chapter 17 : Eliminating Waste In The Product Development Value Stream
Chapter 18 : Getting to Culture Change: The Heart of Lean PPD

Appendix : Applying Value Stream Mapping to a Product Development Process: The PeopleFlo Manufacturing Inc. Case by Dr. John Drogosz
Bibliography
Index
About the Authors