Product Development (PD) is a multifaceted and challenging process, more so in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) due to issues such as the resource constraints, high dependency on suppliers and the modern day competitiveness. For countries such as New Zealand, where 99.54 % of firms belong to the SME category, the significance of improving the PD system is enormous. These firms have to ‘do a great deal with very little’. The various PD management solutions that have been successfully deployed in large companies require “alterations” or customisation for application in SMEs. The research work presented in this thesis addresses the growing interest in the application of a distinctive best practice, one of the most recent, and promising solutions to product innovation in SMEs: (Toyota’s) ‘Lean Product Development System’. The Lean philosophy has proven time and again as a holistic system to enhance efficiency of the entire supply chain by optimising all internal processes; in addition to bringing about responsiveness to external environment. According to studies conducted by prominent research institutes across the world, Toyota’s excellence is equally seen in its PD as in manufacturing, where projects take half the time of its US equivalents, with four times the productivity, and consistent top quality. In line with the industry trend in exploration of Lean system to PD across the world, this study focuses on: "Evolving a broad framework for PD that incorporates Lean principles for application in Small and Medium Enterprises." In-depth action research within a SME environment showed that Lean Product Development Systems is one solution that provides ideal balance of being a systems based, process oriented, interactive expert managed approach with a clear customer / value focus for these firms. Aspects such as flexibility of engineering infrastructure, the CAD/CAM proficiency, flat organisation structure aiding better communication, and the continuous learning attitude prevalent within SMEs corresponds closely to that in Toyota, and were identified to be great enablers for Lean deployment. On the other hand, few areas were found to pose challenges to the Lean approach within SMEs: including resource scarcity, the dependency on suppliers, and lack of concept reuse, among others. On the whole, the findings have led to the development of a customized framework for Lean innovation in SMEs that addresses the knowledge, people, process, leadership, management, and planning elements, topped with measures to minimize effects of the identified obstacles.

Lean Product Development is a knowledge-based business concept in order to maintain high quality, meetcustomer requirements and to make product development more efficient. An important part of the processis to add a lot of resources at an early stage and execute the development as an iterative process betweendepartments exploring many alternatives thoroughly. The work focuses on how Lean ProductDevelopment is carried out and explores how to manage interaction between different departments andexpertise with regard to cross-functional collaboration and knowledge sharing i.e. learning.The information for the studies was gathered at a major Swedish company from two projects. The projectswere carried out as cross-functional and possible key factors for cross-functional collaboration wasidentified.The results have been correlated with theories of Lean, Product development, Lean product developmentand Learning. The analysis shows that to carry out activities according to Lean product development willrequire more than to follow the concept’s framework for successful implementation. Factors that areidentified as important in cross-functional collaboration is also recognised in the Lean productdevelopment theory. However the theory does not indicate how the factors is implemented and carried outbut how it should be implemented. This will create opportunities and problems for companies that want towork and implement Lean product development.

During the last decades the product lifecycle has been shortened and as a consequence the majority of manufacturing companies have focused on decrease the time to market. Several companies within the automotive industry have during the last years implemented Simulation Driven Product Development as a method to reduce lead time, increase quality and reduce development cost for their products. This study is divided into three areas; (1) Investigate the applicability of Simulation Driven Product Development in a Lean Product Development environment. (2) Examine the preconditions for implementing Simulation Driven Product Development. (3) Study the possible effects in a product development process of using simulations performed by design engineers. By studying available literature in the area of Lean and Simulation Driven Product Development the consistence of the two product development philosophies are rather high. Simulation Driven Product Development tends to support the principles of Lean as well as reduce different kinds of waste that normally is present at a R&D department. In order to implement a Simulation Driven Product Development a number of preconditions were identified; e.g. knowledge and experience within both physical and virtual testing, cross functional synchronizations, trust for simulation results and incentives from management. These factors, among a couple of others, are according to the theory and case studies preconditions for a successful implementation where the primary case is based on Scania, but Saab Automobile AB, Jaguar Land Rover and AB Volvo is also analyzed in the benchmarking study. Simulations performed by design engineers will increase the potential of Simulation Driven Product Development in several ways. A major finding from the study is that it enhances the understanding for properties of the items among design engineers. The increased understanding also increase the knowledge and decrease the learning cycle time for the design engineers. It also seems to be a resource efficient way since waiting times are reduced. The need of support from simulation groups might also reduce the communication barriers between different groups and increase the cross functional work. / Eftersom produktlivscykeln blir allt kortare har utvecklingstiden för produkter fått ett ökat fokus. Inom fordonsindustrin har simuleringsdriven produktutveckling använts som en metod för att reducera ledtid samtidigt som kvaliteten förstärks och den totala utvecklingskostnaden sänks. Detta examensarbete är uppdelat i tre olika områden: Det första utreder huruvida simuleringsdriven produktutveckling är förenligt med Lean produktutveckling. Det andra området fokuserar på förutsättningar för att kunna implementera en simuleringsdriven utvecklingsprocess. Det tredje och sista området fokuserar på konstruktörssimuleringars inverkan på produktutvecklingsprocessens effektivitet. Förenligheten mellan Simuleringsdriven produktutveckling och Lean produktutveckling är hög, enligt befintlig litteratur. Simuleringsdriven produktutveckling stödjer flertalet av principerna till Lean samtidigt som det bidrar till att reducera slöseri på forskning och utvecklingsavdelningen. De två andra forskningsfrågorna angrips med hjälp av litteratur såväl som fallstudier. Den huvudsakliga fallstudien genomförs på Scania, men även Saab Automobile AB, Jaguar Land Rover och AB Volvo studeras i syfte att öka examensarbetets generaliserbarhet. Studierna identifierar ett antal viktiga faktorer för att kunna implementera en simuleringsdriven produktutveckling: incitament för en förändring från ledningen, kunskap inom både fysisk och virtuell provning, tvärfunktionell synkronisering, en tydlig och framtung produktutvecklingsprocess och tillit till simuleringar. Konstruktörssimuleringar kan på flera sätt höja potentialen hos simuleringsdriven produktutveckling. Det ger konstruktören en ökad förståelse för sin komponents fysiska egenskaper. Tät feedback från simuleringarna kortar inlärningstiden hos konstruktörerna och resulterar även i mer genomarbetade produkter. För att lyckas med dessa simuleringar krävs ett nära samarbete mellan konstruktion och beräkning vilket bidrar till att öka det tvärfunktionella arbetet och minskar kommunikationsbarriärerna mellan konstruktions ‐ och beräkningsgrupper.

The increasing demands on producing products in an effective and resource efficient manner has put more focus on modelling internal processes within organizations. Models of internal processes show what work is to be done and how to do the work in order to get to the desired result. Modelling internal processes is also a way to capture knowledge that by many is seen as the most meaningful resource and valuable asset in today’s organizations.  This thesis project has created a model of the project process for customized truck development (s-order) at Scania. The purpose has been to create a model that facilitates the everyday work of the project managers and can be used to improve the process. The goal of this report is to add to the theoretic field of process modelling by focusing on how to use a process model. A qualitative case study was conducted in parallel to a literature study. The result is a model in two layers providing different levels of detail. The model can be used for project planning, project execution, project control and project development the most important part being to create a standardized way of working which is the basis for a lean product development. The process of modelling can in itself generate important insights into a process, the report therefore ends with a discussion on suggestions for improvement of the s-order projects towards becoming a more lean product development process. / De ökande kraven på att producera varor på ett effektivt sätt med minskad användning av resurser ställer ökande krav på att modellera interna processer inom företag. Modeller av interna processer visar vad som ska göras i en process och när arbetet ska utföras för att få önskat resultat. Att modeller interna processer är också ett sätt att fånga kunskap som i stor utsträckning ses som den mest värdefulla tillgången i dagens organisationer. Detta projekt arbete har skapat en processmodell över projektprocessen för specialbeställda lastbilar (s-order) på Scania. Syftet har varit att skapa en modell som underlättar i projektledarnas dagliga arbete och som även kan användas som underlag för förbättringar av processen. Målet har varit att addera till det teoretiska fältet för process modellering genom att fokusera på hur modellen kan användas. En kvalitativ fallstudie har utförs parallellt med en litteraturstudie. Resultatet är en process modell i två lager med olika detaljnivå. Modellen kan användas för projektplanering, i utförandet av projekten, som kontroll av projekten och för utveckling av projekt processen, den viktigaste rollen är att en modell skapar basen för ett standardiserat arbetssätt, grunden för lean produktutveckling. Att modellera en process kan ge viktiga insikter i processen, rapporten avslutas därför med en diskussion kring åtgärder för hur s-order processen kan förbättras för att bli en mer lean produktutvecklingsprocess.

Rolls-Royce AB in Kristinehamn, Sweden, part of Rolls-Royce Marine, is a leading developer and supplier of water jet and propeller based propulsion equipment. Its low volume production series and wide product variety offered to its customers along with an increasingly competitive market has entailed an increased demand on both delivery time and cost reductions. The on-site manufacturing engineering department is responsible for developing all tools and fixtures, and programming required to maintain the on-site production, assembling and quality testing. As part of the departments streamlining efforts this study aimed on evaluating streamlining possibilities related to the existing tool design used for static balancing and function testing controllable pitch propeller assemblies before packaging and shipping, along with the related tool development and manufacturing processes has been conducted.The process evaluation started from the point when a hub assembly design was finalized until when a manufactured tool was delivered for use in production. Work focused on locating inefficient activities and product properties, with respect to tool cost and lead time, followed by setting up an amendment proposal, implementing it and producing an alternate tool design of which the effects on tool cost and manufacturing lead time would be evaluated. Post evaluating the current state of the process and product a set based front loaded product development methodology known as Modular Function Deployment was chosen to be the applied method. This application resulted in a modular tool design that avoided the determined most inefficient manufacturing operation combination of welding and annealing. Modularity increased manufacturing flexibility, enabling more concurrent manufacturing, to reduce the lead time. The tool design also applied integral properties by identifying the common components and features between tool sizes. This led to reducing manufacturing and material costs. Possible lead time reduction for manufacturing was determined to be 35-45%, 3-4weeks, in comparison with the original tool design due to increased parallel manufacturing and avoiding inefficient manufacturing methods. The estimated cost reduction for combined development and manufacturing was determined to be 105K SEK the initial year followed by 175K SEK the second year assuming the current tool manufacturing rate. The combined effects of reduced cost and lead time would be beneficial to Rolls-Royce AB by contributing to an increase in delivery reliability and competitive prices on the market

A decade ago, Toyota, an automobile manufacturer from Japan, came up with a new production system which started the automobile industry called “Lean manufacturing”. Over time, the popularity of the system became apparent and it became the Toyota Production System (TPS). Following this technological development, “Len enterprise” a new concept was produced with the sole purpose of eliminating wastes in every function of the entire organization. As of present, as far as product developing companies are concerned, the development process has become more complex. For instance, in Scrum software development as well as in Lean product development, tools for planning a project using walls and boards have been developed. These methods have so far proved to be very efficient, in so far as the visualization of the work performed, as well as the prioritization of new tasks is concerned. However, there are notable challenges in synchronization, version control and traceability among a company’s different projects. This thesis, investigates how Physical Pulse Board is used and how it can be improved through the introduction of a web-based application for eliminating of difficulties of using Pulse board especially in global environment where different people from various locations might need to join the meeting. The paper consists of three parts. In the first part one set of interviews were conducted along with an observation to figure out related difficulties with the use of Physical Pulse Board especially in global environment. Following this, another set of interviews were conducted to help find out how these issues can be eliminated or resolved. Considering that good principles can never be useful, unless they are applied and used in reality, in the second part of this report, a web-based application was developed to help bring improvements using Pulse Board in global environment based on the finding from the first part. It was then that evaluation of implemented software was done through a workshop with Hellström, and Dr. Amer Ćatić. It is worth noting that the two persons are the Lean Product Development Specialist chosen for market analysis given that the two had implemented the Physical Pulse Board in their organization.

This Master Thesis aims to provide a broader understanding of what Visual Planning is and how it can be combined with other methods to enhance the efficiency in product development projects. The investigation and empirical part of the study has been conducted by qualitative research based on interviews, observations and informal conversations with people from two different Swedish companies. The results were used in a comparative case study conducted with the purpose to provide an overview about how Visual Planning is used and applied in Lean product development projects inside the Swedish industry. It has been found that Visual Planning constitutes a useful and favorable method for enhancing different aspects such as communication and knowledge transfer among the team members, and for avoiding task overlapping, problems and misunderstandings during the project development. However the method has some limitations which become significant barriers to the progress of projects. These hurdles would be eliminated with the use of software tools that would make the project development run in a smoother and more efficient way.

The purpose of this study is to suggest improvements in the field of low current technology for the office of Cegelec which is located in the French town of Le Mans. Cegelec is an international technological service company. First, this master’s thesis report draws the current situation of Cegelec Le Mans thanks to enterprise architecture models, and the study of a specific project as well as different previous projects. The current state is then confronted to the theoretical model lean product development in order to suggest improvements and future scenarios.

Due to knowledge being difficult to imitate, effective knowledge management provides several key competitive advantages. It involves managing knowledge within organizations in order to ensure the right knowledge reaching the right person at the right time.Scania CV AB is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of trucks, busses and engines for marine and industry purposes. As part of the work with streamlining processes, knowledge management has become a focus area within their R&D. This master thesis has been carried out at four groups grouped under the section UTP Process support, consisting of a mechanical workshop, logistics, improvement coaches, and logistics and measurement. The purpose was to identify areas with potential for improvement, and present suggestions for improvements, with reusability of knowledge as the main focus.A total of 132 interviews and surveys, and four workshops were conducted in order to gather data, generate improvement proposals and anchor ideas. A literature study was conducted to provide a frame of reference.A four-quadrant model was generated, to make possible the mapping of knowledge work within the involved groups. This aims to provide a general model supporting improvements in knowledge management, by establishing a conceptual frame of reference where ambition and current state can be compared, providing a base for improvements and follow-ups over time.The improvement coach group is at the forefront of the issues addressed in this thesis report, which in this context also poses their primary challenge. Suggestions on how work can keep improving are presented, including further developments of the group's so called skills matrix.For the other groups, freeing up time of experienced employees is recommended in order to transfer knowledge to less experienced colleagues. Furthermore, improving the availability of documents controlling the employees’ work is recommended, as well as ensuring these are fully updated to a larger extent. Lastly, the groups should work on increasing knowledge exchange between them and external parties, such as customers and suppliers.Future recommendations include carrying out a pilot study of the proposed model, in order to improve the model and examine how different business units within product development organizations can benefit from it. A follow-up should be carried out to examine if the recommendations have made a difference. / En effektiv kunskapshantering kan ge unika konkurrensfördelar, då kunskap är svår att imitera. Knowledge management inbegriper hantering och ledning av kunskap i organisationer för att säkerställa att rätt kunskap når rätt person vid rätt tillfälle.Scania CV AB är en av världens ledande tillverkare av lastbilar, bussar och motorer för marin och industri. I arbetet att effektivisera processer har kunskapshantering blivit ett fokusområde för R&D. Detta examensarbete har utförts mot fyra grupper under sektionen UTP Process support, med en mekanisk verkstad, logistik, förbättringscoacher samt logistik och mätrum. Syftet var att identifiera områden med förbättringspotential och presentera förslag för fortsatt förbättringsarbete, med återanvändbarhet av kunskap som fokus.Totalt 132 intervjuer och enkäter, och fyra workshopar genomfördes för att samla in data, generera förbättringsförslag och förankra idéer. En litteraturstudie genomfördes för att ge en referensram för studien.För att kartlägga hur kunskapsarbetet fungerade på de olika grupperna, genererades en fyrfältsmodell. Denna syftar till att ge en generell metod för förbättringsarbete kring kunskapshantering, genom att formulera en konceptuell referensram där ambitionsnivå och nuläge kan jämföras, för att ge underlag till förbättringsarbete och uppföljning över tid.Gruppen med förbättringscoacher ligger i framkant i frågorna som examensarbetet behandlar, vilket i detta sammanhang också utgör dess främsta utmaning. Förslag ges på hur arbetet kan fortsätta förbättras, däribland en vidareutveckling av gruppens så kallade kompetensmatris.För de övriga grupperna rekommenderas att frigöra tid för erfarna medarbetare att överföra kunskap till mindre erfarna. Vidare rekommenderas att tillgängligheten av dokument som styr arbetet ses över, och att dessa hålls fullständigt uppdaterade i högre utsträckning. Slutligen bör grupperna arbeta för ökat kunskapsutbyte mellan grupperna och externa parter såsom kund och leverantör.Som framtida arbete rekommenderas en pilotstudie av den framtagna modellen, för att förbättra denna och undersöka hur olika grupper inom produktutvecklingsorganisationer kan dra nytta av den. En uppföljning bör genomföras för att undersöka om implementering av givna rekommendationer har gjort skillnad.

The increasing demands on producing products in an effective and resource efficient manner has put more focus on modelling internal processes within organizations. Models of internal processes show what work is to be done and how to do the work in order to get to the desired result. Modelling internal processes is also a way to capture knowledge that by many is seen as the most meaningful resource and valuable asset in today’s organizations.  This thesis project has created a model of the project process for customized truck development (s-order) at Scania. The purpose has been to create a model that facilitates the everyday work of the project managers and can be used to improve the process. The goal of this report is to add to the theoretic field of process modelling by focusing on how to use a process model. A qualitative case study was conducted in parallel to a literature study. The result is a model in two layers providing different levels of detail. The model can be used for project planning, project execution, project control and project development the most important part being to create a standardized way of working which is the basis for a lean product development. The process of modelling can in itself generate important insights into a process, the report therefore ends with a discussion on suggestions for improvement of the s-order projects towards becoming a more lean product development process. / De ökande kraven på att producera varor på ett effektivt sätt med minskad användning av resurser ställer ökande krav på att modellera interna processer inom företag. Modeller av interna processer visar vad som ska göras i en process och när arbetet ska utföras för att få önskat resultat. Att modeller interna processer är också ett sätt att fånga kunskap som i stor utsträckning ses som den mest värdefulla tillgången i dagens organisationer. Detta projekt arbete har skapat en processmodell över projektprocessen för specialbeställda lastbilar (s-order) på Scania. Syftet har varit att skapa en modell som underlättar i projektledarnas dagliga arbete och som även kan användas som underlag för förbättringar av processen. Målet har varit att addera till det teoretiska fältet för process modellering genom att fokusera på hur modellen kan användas. En kvalitativ fallstudie har utförs parallellt med en litteraturstudie. Resultatet är en process modell i två lager med olika detaljnivå. Modellen kan användas för projektplanering, i utförandet av projekten, som kontroll av projekten och för utveckling av projekt processen, den viktigaste rollen är att en modell skapar basen för ett standardiserat arbetssätt, grunden för lean produktutveckling. Att modellera en process kan ge viktiga insikter i processen, rapporten avslutas därför med en diskussion kring åtgärder för hur s-order processen kan förbättras för att bli en mer lean produktutvecklingsprocess.