Concurrent Product Development is Lean Development

The SCPD (Society for Concurrent Product Development - scpdnet.org) promotes the following 5 components of a good product development system:

-         Strategy

-         Process

-         Tools

-         Technology

-         People

This is a very concise definition of what lean product development is about. (And it has not added any recent “new big thing”  like many other initiatives).

Lean product development has been promoting concurrency for a long time because concurrent development increases speed and promotes collaboration through the process, Strategy is promoted in every good lean system through hoshin kanri. Focus on the process is what lean is all about regardless where it is applied. Lean tools are taught in any lean product development system. Technology is at the heart of every product development effort.

But I am most impressed that the SCPD is formally spelling out the importance of “people” in the product development system. Those of us who spent time implementing lean in a product development  or in other places learned how important it is to engage the people. Lean leadership engagement seems to get appropriate attention but what about the other 95% of the folks in the R&D organization. For me, engaging those folks, who create the value for the customer is one of the most important but also one of the most challenging parts of a lean product development system.

Everything the SCPD promotes is lean .