Uwe Dombrowski

A Framework for Organizing Lean Product Development

Abstract: While in the last 20 years a large number of frameworks have been presented in literature, currently there is no consensus on how to define Lean Product Development (PD). We used content analysis to investigate existing approaches and integrated them into a single, coherent framework consisting of 11 Lean PD components. To better understand the nature of the novel definition of Lean PD, we conducted a theoretical investigation of the component interdependencies. We hypothesize that Lean PD needs to be understood as a system of highly interwoven components that only in their concurrency lead to high performance in PD.

Adaptive Configuration of a Lean Production System in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are facing everyday the hard competition of global markets and higher requirements of the customers. For coping with these changing conditions many large enterprises implement a Lean Production System (LPS). An LPS offers a holistic strategy to eliminate waste in processes, to achieve high product and process quality, and to reduce lead times. The structure of an LPS is described by hierarchical connections of different elements and is configured in four levels: the goals, the sub-goals, the methods, and tools (Dombrowski et al. ZWF Zeitschrift für wirtschaftlichen Fabrikbetrieb 101:113–118, 2006). While large enterprises are able to provide necessary resources and experts’ know-how to configure and implement an LPS, SMEs lack these essential resources for organizational, technological, and workforce-related changes. Due to the complexity of the structure of an LPS, SMEs have in practice a small opportunity to configure a suitable structure and often fail in selecting and evaluating the most adequate methods and tools to be used. In this regard, the paper presents a framework to support an adaptive configuration of an LPS in SMEs which has been partly developed in the research project ProfiL in close cooperation with six SMEs.

Efficient Spare Part Management to Satisfy Customers Need

A well organized spare part management is often a effective way to improve the customer loyalty to the enterprise or the brand. For succeeding in this business a long-term planning is necessary. But the rising application of electronic components in the automotive industry poses new challenges for the spare part management. The life cycles of the primary products and the electronic components are highly different; therefore a new methodology is necessary to handle the uprising problems. The following paper specifies a methodology to identify the optimal supply scenario developed at the Technical University Braunschweig in closely cooperation with the automotive industry. Furthermore an approach for an aftermarket roadmap for a holistic spare part management is described.

Design of a lean development framework

In todays business environment many enterprises react to changing conditions by implementing lean development (LD). LD offers an approach to eliminate waste, achieve high quality, and reduce the time-to-market. Enterprises that want to implement LD are faced with many different concepts. The paper presents the major LD-concepts published during the last 10 years and summarizes the contents in a framework, which contains seven principles. The framework can be used as basis to develop enterprise-specific LD-concept with the consideration of all important aspects of LD. The developed framework was validated in the automotive industry and further research needs are mentioned.

Employee Participation in the Implementation of Lean Production Systems

The rising competition in global economy causes new challenges for manufacturing enterprises. In recent years, many enterprises try to improve their productivity and flexibility by implementing Lean Production Systems (LPS). Employees are a main warrantor for the sustainable success of LPS and should participate in the implementation. The adequate level of participation in the steps of the implementation process varies widely. In strategic questions, it is important to convince employees with a structured information and communication. In contrast, during the rollout the employees should participate actively. The paper describes the objectives of participation and the respective level of participation to achieve them.

Strukturelle Analyse Ganzheitlicher Produktionssysteme

Kurzfassung Ganzheitliche Produktionssysteme werden zurzeit in der Automobilindustrie und auch in anderen Branchen eingeführt. Während in den 90er Jahren die schlanke Produktion in Unternehmen in Form von kleinen Rationalisierungsprojekten realisiert wurde, umfassen diese heute eine ganzheitliche Annäherung zur Produktionsoptimierung, die humane, organisatorische und technologische Faktoren in Betracht zieht. Trotz der zunehmenden Zahl der Firmen, die Ganzheitliche Produktionssysteme implementiert haben, wird ein allgemeines Verständnis und Terminologie vermisst. Auch Methoden, die ein wesentlicher Bestandteil Ganzheitlicher Produktionssysteme sind, sind noch nicht standardisiert oder benötigen weitere Entwicklung. Dieser Artikel beschreibt die Resultate einer Studie von Ganzheitlichen Produktionssystemen, die eine allgemeine Struktur und Gestaltungsfelder aufdecken.

Changes and challenges in the after sales service due to the electric mobility

The automotive aftermarket is an important factor for the sustainable business success of the original equipment manufacturer, the suppliers and the service stations. But the predictable change of technology from internal combustion engine to electric mobility will have a high impact on the whole automotive aftermarket. Enterprises have to adapt their business strategy to stay competitive in the market and to discover new business segments. In this paper possible changes for the aftermarket and the accompanying alterations for the stakeholders of the market are derived.

Visionen für die Digitale Fabrik

Kurzfassung Bei der Planung von Fabriken muss heute von veränderten Rahmenbedingungen ausgegangen werden. Wandlungsfähigkeit und Mobilität der Fabrik bilden die zentralen Ziele, die realisiert werden müssen, um zukünftig wettbewerbsfähig zu bleiben. Mit der Digitalen Fabrik wird ein Lösungsweg zur Bewältigung neuer Anforderungen an die Fabrikplanung vorgeschlagen. Die Vision der Abbildung aller planungsrelevanten Facetten einer Fabrik in rechnerunterstützten Modellen ist bislang nicht so umfassend betrachtet worden wie in dem hier vorgestellten Konzept.

Balanced Key Performance Indicators in Product Development

—In todays business environment many enterprises react to changing conditions by the implementation of lean production systems. Lean offers an approach to eliminate waste and increase customer value in all processes. In the past, the focus of lean has been on the production and is now enhanced to other processes in the enterprise, e.g. product development or sales & services. In particular research approaches, so called lean development, has been introduced to improve efficiency, effectiveness and the skills of staff and organization. Enterprises like Toyota, who work with lean principles in development, can develop products in significant shorter time-to-markets with higher quality and lower costs. Enterprises that applied lean to product development process are facing the challenge of defining key performance indicators to ensure the sustainability of the continuous improvement process. Therefore, the article gives an advice what requirements the performance indicators have to meet. Based on an analysis of 11 performance indicator systems the article shows that yet not all targets are covered by performance indicators. Thus the article shows an approach to develop an enterprise specific KPI-Set.

Structural analysis of approaches for worker participation

The participation of workers is one of the main topics of manufacturing enterprises. The goal is to increase the satisfaction, motivation and thus the productivity of workers, to use the creativity and the knowledge of the whole workforce to improve processes and to reward workers for their commitment. The approaches for worker participation vary widely. Examples would be surveys about labor conditions, participation in planning processes for the layout of their workplaces or employee profit sharing. In the course of a rising spread of lean production systems the degree of participation increases. The common consent for participation declines as more responsibility is assigned to the worker. In this paper the different forms of participation will be described and clustered. Furthermore, criteria for the selection of adequate methods of participation will be derived.