Oftast har produktutveckling samma generella tillvägagångssätt: En specifikation för en ny produkt lämnas från en marknadsföringsavdelning till en produktutvecklingsavdelning. Produktutvecklare tar sedan fram koncept som utvecklas till prototyper för att sedan tillverkas och säljas. Tillvägagångssättet skiljer sig vanligtvis genom att olika modeller som exempelvis Lean product development eller integrerad produktutveckling används i processen. Delen av Lean product development (LPD) som används vid konceptutveckling kallas set based concurrent engineering (SBCE) och dessa begrepp är relativt nya i Sverige. Vad krävs för att arbeta med set based concurrent engineering på ett framgångsrikt sätt? Går det att identifiera viktiga faktorer vid produktutveckling med SBCE hos företag? En litteraturstudie som resulterade i en lista med fem potentiellt viktiga faktorer vid produktutveckling med SBCE gjordes inför en kvalitativ studie av fem företag. Semistrukturerade intervjuer utfördes på Husqvarna, Saab, Furhoffs, Ericsson Radio och GKN Aerospace för att samla in empiri inför analys. I analysen jämfördes företagens sätt att produktutveckla med listan som togs fram i litteraturstudien. Slutsats av studien var att några viktiga faktorer för att lyckas med produktutveckling enligt SBCE är: Bred lösningsrymd, Kunskapsbaserat bortval av koncept, Återvinning av kunskap, Tekniskt kunnig projektledning, Tvärfunktionella arbetsgrupper. Dessutom framkom att en investering i rätt ledarskap kan vara en viktig faktor vid implementering av SBCE då företagets ledning måste ha förståelse för arbetsmodellen om SBCE ska kunna resultera i en positiv effekt. / Product development usually has the same general approach: A specification for a new product is provided to the product development department from the marketing department. Product developers then generate concepts which are developed into prototypes before the products are manufactured and sold. The procedure usually differs by the use of different models such as Lean product development or integrated product development in the process. The part of Lean product development (LPD) that is used when developing concepts is called set based concurrent engineering (SBCE) and these are new concepts in Sweden. What is required to work with set based concurrent engineering in a successful manner? Is it possible to identify important factors when developing products using SBCE in companies? A literature study which resulted in a list with five potentially important factors when developing products using SBCE was created before a qualitative study was conducted at five companies. Semi structured interviews were conducted at Husqvarna, Saab, Furhoffs, Ericsson Radio and GKN Aerospace to gather data for an analysis. In the analysis, comparisons were made between the companies’ way of developing products with the list that was created in the end of the literature study. A conclusion of the study was a number of important factors when developing products using SBCE could be: Wide solution space, Knowledge based screening of concepts, Recycling of knowledge, Technically competent project management, Cross functional teams. The study also showed that an investment in the right type of leadership could potentially be an important factor when implementing SBCE since the company management need to understand the working model if SBCE is going to have a positive effect.

Globalization has led to that companies’ within the textile industry, now source manufacturing overseas. Supply chains are therefore now ultimately longer, with a lot of activities and people involved. Control and implementation of strategies is now something that companies need to considerate in the supply chain, in order to reduce lead times, meet the unpredictable demand of today’s consumers and compete against other retailers. One important task in this is for retailers to have an efficient PD and sample process, due to the fact that it's in this stage where the retailers still have time to make changes and prevent problems along the supply chain. The Conceptual Framework; describes that the textile industry is not high represented in the use lean even if the strategy doesn’t need large investments in technology or training. A great part of succeeding with lean lies in the development phase, and to build a well developed and thought out system to be able to create future products. In the methodology chapter the authors have chosen to perform a case study on a branded retailer. By conducting interviews, observations and value stream mapping, the researchers can approach the study from different angles in order to double check the results, which tends to increase the validity and reliability of a study. The study's empirical materials are based on seven semi-structured interviews with employees at the case company, two observations on fittings and a Value stream mapping (VSM) of 5 different styles. This was done in order to create a deeper understanding of the sample process and the activities involved and identify non-value adding activities. Discussion; the researchers have noticed that depending on the production country and product type, the sample process looks very different. This can be a result of that people working in the process don’t have a standardized way in handling problems and instead do it in their own way. The results that case company generated could be concluded that there are several problems in sample process, which is further discussed in the analysis chapter, where there are a number of lean tools that can eliminate the identified problems. The conclusion that the researchers made is that working with Lean PD can help the company to improve their capabilities and do more with less, by sorting out the unnecessary activities with a focus on standardizing. The literature say that VSM and 5S are most common in textile companies, but the researchers have seen, through this research, that other lean tools are applicable and appropriate in the PD as well.

I dagsläget är det svårt för företag att behålla en stark marknadsposition och utmaningen ligger dels i att regelbundet presentera nya produkter på marknaden och ständigt skapa nya innovationer. Genom att använda sig av Lean Product Development i produktutvecklingsprocessen kan företagen anta utmaningen. Det kan dock vara svårare för små och medelstora företag då de kan ha begränsade resurser. Syftet med denna studie var därför att ta fram en projektmodell för produktutvecklingsprojekt i små och medelstora företag. Studien bygger på kvalitativa forskningsmetoder där sekundärdata samlades in genom både bibliotekskatalogen vid Mittuniversitetet och sökningar i forskningsdatabaser på Internet. Därefter samlades primärdata in via intervjuer för att göra en fallstudie och ett teoretiskt applicerbarhetstest. Resultatet som genererades visade att det som karakteriserar produktutvecklingen i små och medelstora företag var främst att chefen eller ägaren ofta påverkar produktutvecklingen och nyckelfaktorerna för en framgångsrik produktutveckling är processer, resurser, strategier och en god kommunikation. Den slutgiltiga projektmodellen baseras i stora drag på den generella projektmodellen och genomgick inga större förändringar efter det att det teoretiska applicerbarhetstestet hade genomförts. Projektmodellen består av fem stycken faser: förstudie, planering, genomförande, avslut och effekthemtagning. Samtliga presenterade projektmodeller skulle kunna fungera för att skapa processer, resurser, strategier och en god kommunikation. De nämnda projektmodellerna skiljer sig något i utformning och fokuserar på olika saker. Det som skiljer projektmodellerna åt är både roller och ansvarsbeskrivningar, beslutspunkter samt projektmodellernas olika faser. Det nyhetsvärde som denna studie har bidragit med är hur små och medelstora företag kan arbeta med projekt inom produktutveckling, och en fråga som har väckts är hur denna projektmodell skulle kunna se ut för att främja hela organisationen och inte endast produktutvecklingsavdelningen. / Today it is hard for companies to keep a strong market position and one part of the challenge is to regularly present new products on the market and constantly create new innovations.  The companies can accept that challenge by using Lean Product Development in the product development process. It can however be more difficult for small and medium sized enterprises as they may have limited resources. The purpose with this study was therefore to develop a project model for product development in small and medium sized enterprises. The study was built on qualitative research methodologies, first secondary data was collected through both the Mid Sweden University’s library catalog and searches in research databases on the Internet. Then, the primary data was collected through interviews to create a case study and a theoretical applicability test. The generated result showed that it characterizes the product development in small and medium sized enterprises primarily was that the manager or owner often affect the product development and the key factors for a successful product development was processes, resources, strategies and a good communication. The final project model are in general based on the general project model and did not underwent any major changes after the theoretical applicability test had been carried out. The project model consists of five phases: feasibility study, planning, implementation, closing and effect transfer. All of the presented project models could work to create processes, resources, strategies and a good communication. The mention project models differ slightly in the design and they are focusing on different areas. The differences in the models are the roles and responsibilities descriptions, decision points and the models different phases. The newsworthy this study has contribute with is how small and medium sized enterprises can work on projects in product, and one question that has been raised is how this project model could look like to promote the whole organization not only the product development departure.

Mapping a process enables a greater understanding of the work, and is standard to evaluate and improve a process. This thesis is conducted at Test Bed Mechanical Design at Scania in Södertälje. Test Bed Construction is a complex process, characterized by a large amount of creative work, technical challenges and coordination between different people and different organizational functions. The aim of the thesis was to identify the Test Bed Construction Process and to develop a visual model of the workflow that also served as support for the engineers in their daily work. During the mapping process, comparisons were made with previous research in lean product development to identify process improvement. A literature review on process mapping and process visualisation resulted in a method for process mapping. The study showed that research on process visualisation is neither structured nor well defined. Nevertheless, there are attempts to create a framework to facilitate the selection of modelling technology. The framework used in this thesis categorizes modelling techniques according to the purpose of the model and the models change tolerance. The literature review also led to the identification of a number of success factors for lean product development. A qualitative case study on UTTD mapped the Test Bed Construction Process as well as the engineer's experiences of their work process. The study resulted in a flow chart of the Test Bed Construction Process and a number of areas where the process could be improved. The process improvements essentially related procedures for documentation and coordination.

This PhD project aims to develop a cost modelling system to support lean product and process development. The system enables the designers to assess the design along with associated manufacturing processes and provides decision support at an early development stage. Design assessment at early development stage can help designers to take proactive decisions, eliminate mistakes and enhance product value. The developed cost modelling system to support lean product and process development incorporates three lean product and process development enablers, namely set-based concurrent engineering, knowledge-based engineering, and mistake-proofing (poka-yoke). To facilitate above explained lean enablers, the system architecture contains six modules, six separate groups of database, a CAD modelling system, and a user interface. The system modules are: (i) value identification; (ii) manufacturing process/machines selection; (iii) material selection; (iv) geometric features specification; (v) geometric features and manufacturability assessment; and (vi) manufacturing time and cost estimation. The group of database includes: (i) geometric features database, (ii) material database, (iii) machine database, (iv) geometric features assessment database, (v) manufacturability assessment database, and (vi) previous projects cost database. A number of activities have been accomplished to develop the cost modelling system. Firstly, an extensive literature review related to cost estimation, and lean product and process development was performed. Secondly, a field study in European industry and a case study analysis were carried out to identify current industrial practices and challenges. Thirdly, a cost modelling system to support lean product and process development was developed. Finally, validation of the system was carried out using real life industrial case studies. The system provides a number of benefits, as it enables designers to incorporate lean thinking in cost estimation. It takes into consideration downstream manufacturable process information at an early upstream stage of the design and as a result the designer performs the process concurrently and makes decisions quickly. Moreover, the system helps to avoid mistakes during product features design, material and manufacturing process selection, and process parameters generation; hence it guides toward a mistake-proof product development. The main feature of the system, in addition to manufacturing cost estimation, is set-based concurrent engineering support; because the system provides a number of design values for alternative design concepts to identify the feasible design region. The major contribution of the developed system is the identification and incorporation of three major lean product and process development enablers, namely set-based concurrent engineering, knowledge-based engineering and poka-yoke (mistake-proofing) in the cost modelling system. A quantification method has been proposed to eliminate the weaker solution among several alternatives; therefore only the feasible or strong solution is selected. In addition, a new cost estimation process to support lean product and process development has been developed which assists above explained three lean product and process development enablers.

Uppsatsnivå: D

In today’s market, competition is driving companies to force themselves to constantly improve. New challenges due to higher competition force engineering companies to reduce costs, increase their efficiency and decrease time to market. Lean Product Development, involving powerful methodologies and tools to maximize customer value and eliminate waste, is being popularised. This Master’s thesis aims to analyse the possibilities of Lean Product Development in project orientated engineering companies. Semcon is a global technology company offering engineering services and product information. It strives to undertake more in-house projects and become a project delivery. A study was conducted investigating how Semcon and its division TDO can improve its in-house projects from a resource and time perspective based on Lean Product Development. Furthermore, it investigates how Lean Product Development can be introduced at Semcon and during what restrictions. To achieve a deeper understanding of the methodologies and its possibilities at Semcon, benchmarking was conducted at Autoliv, Saab EDS and Scania, companies that successfully have initiated Lean transformation in their PD processes. The study reaches the conclusion that by working with continuous improvement, great potential exists for Semcon to improve its organisation. No systematic approach for utilising new ideas exists today and improvements need to be better spread and standardised in the company. Benchmarking companies have shown remarkable results working with this methodology and by introducing it at Semcon, it should provide great possibilities. Furthermore, the study shows that TDO’s ambition is to add much value in the earlier phases of product development. According to TDO’s management as well as research within the field, these phases are where most costumer value is created. By working with even more front-loaded product development, utilising a broader design space, TDO will gain advantages such as closer customer interaction and more successful results. Set-based design is a methodology recommended for TDO to avoid long iterative loops. When investigating what limitations exist when trying to combine XLPM, Semcon’s project model, and Lean Product Development, no great obstacles are observed. In XLPM, the first tollgates are to be postponed in comparison to traditional product development, to better suit front-loaded product development. The benchmarking companies are working with similar stage-gate project models, and have with satisfying results managed to combine it with Lean Product Development. The study reaches the conclusion that by creating a visual organisation, using a so-called Obeya room, the best possibilities for introducing Lean Product Development at Semcon will occur. A larger transparency between projects and more spreading of knowledge is requested by Semcon consultants, which a visual organisation provides. An action plan for an Obeya room is presented involving tools that support essential Lean methodologies that are important for TDO, such as continuous improvement, standardisations and knowledge flow. Visual tools supporting the possibilities to conduct parallel projects and handle resources more efficient are presented. TDO is recommended to initiate its Lean journey with an Obeya room.

This research thesis presents the development of a novel Lean Knowledge Life Cycle (LeanKLC) framework to support the transformation into a Lean Product Development (LeanPD) knowledge environment. The LeanKLC framework introduces a baseline model to understand the three dimensions of knowledge management in product development as well as its contextualisation with acclaimed LeanPD process models. The LeanKLC framework comprises 23 tasks, each accomplished in one of the seven key stages, these being: knowledge identification, previous knowledge capture, knowledge representation, knowledge sharing, knowledge integration, knowledge use and provision and dynamic knowledge capture. The rigorous research methodology employed to develop the LeanKLC framework entailed extensive data collection starting with a literature review to highlight the gap in the current body of knowledge. Additionally, industrial field research provides empirical evidence on the current industrial perspectives and challenges in managing product development knowledge. This research was part of a European FP7 project entitled Lean Product and Process Development (LeanPPD), which provided the opportunity to involve industrial collaborators in action research to support practical aspects during the LeanKLC framework development. The synthesis with the current LeanPD paradigm is accomplished by demonstrating the LeanKLC stages in two distinct streams related to the development of A3 thinking for problem solving and the development of trade-off curves to facilitate set based design at the conceptual stage. The novel LeanKLC is validated in two case studies providing the industry with detailed insights on real product development applications. In particular this research highlights that the LeanPD knowledge environment is a wide subject area that has not yet been thoroughly understood and that industry engagement in empirical research is vital in order to realise any form of LeanPD transformation.

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.