Lean Product Development

The Toyota Product Development System was recently published by Morgan and Liker. It's a companion piece in some ways to The Machine That Changed The World which gave rise to the notion of "lean manufacturing." Toyota's product development system is characterized as thirteen principles which map exquisitely to agile software development. These principles span three mutually supportive and aligned system elements:

• Process
• Skilled people
• Tools & Technology

These principles are are listed on page 18:

The Process Subsystem


1. Establish customer-defined value to separate value-added from waste.
2. Front-load the product development process to explore thoroughly alternative solutions while there is maximum design space.
3. Create a leveled product development process flow.
4. Utilize rigorous standardization to reduce variation, and create flexibility and predictable outcomes
   
   The People Subsystem
   
   
5. Develop a Chief Engineer system to integrate development from start to finish.
6. Organize to balance functional expertise and cross-functional integration.
7. Develop towering technical competence in all engineers.
8. Fully integrate suppliers into the product development system.
9. Build in learning and continuous improvement.
10. Build a culture to support excellence and relentless improvement.
    
    The Tools and Technology Subsystem
    
    
11. Adapt technology to fit your people and process.
12. Align your organization through simple, visual communication.
    
13. Use powerful tools for standardization and organizational learning.