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Top products are the creation of top designers and developers. Lean Product Development helps in developing expert designers and developers, who are excellent problem solvers and are adept at creating innovative solutions. Developing Key Talent for Product Management accelerates Innovation and time to market while lowering costs.
Managers responsible for developing creative products and solutions need to take 5 key steps, in order to facilitate Learning and Development of Key Talent in the manufacturing sector:
- Incorporate Technical Excellence into the Organization DNA
- Create and Implement Design Standards
- Hold Regular Technical Design Reviews
- Evaluate Organization’s Product Development Process
- Revisit Organizational Leadership Culture to Focus on Learning
Let’s dive deeper into the steps to effective Talent Management.
STEP-1 Incorporate Technical Excellence into the Organizational DNA
Technical mastery needs to be at the heart of everyday work practices and the guiding principle for manufacturing concerns. Incentives, recognition, and rewards should be created based on technical competence, and it should be incorporated into routine business practices. Likewise, training programs need to be geared towards enhancing the engineers’ technical capabilities.
For instance, technical competence is an integral element of training new engineers at Toyota. One of the main requirements for qualifying for an engineering leadership position at the company is mentoring of young engineers. Similarly, Ford Motor Co. has a technical maturity model in place for each department in the engineering function. The giant automaker reinforces this when creating roles and responsibilities, conducting design reviews, and remunerating its engineers. These measures help curb attrition and motivate people to stay longer.
STEP-2 Create and Implement Design Standards
The next step is to develop design standards and execute them. Design standards should be set in place and implemented by using the existing organizational knowledge. Design leaders should hold regular sessions with developers on a smart board and solicit their views on the layout of a certain system and training an apprentice in design principles. These design guiding principles should be compiled into user-friendly handbooks for future design and development programs. Lessons learnt from each project should be incorporated into the design standards with regular updates to the handbooks.
Toyota reserves 10-15 days out of the development project time period for the development team to ponder over the lessons learned from an ongoing project. The development team incorporates these lessons into the design standards and updates the design manuals with these newer experiences.
STEP-3 Hold Regular Technical Design Reviews
The 3rd step involves holding frequent technical design reviews to nurture people via action learning and collaboration. The product design and development units should organize weekly technical design assessments. The assessments need to be conducted at the design and development facilities—factory premises, test lab, or prototype shop—instead of a conference room. This helps in gaining practical knowledge and skills. Regular assessments assist in developing design and engineering teams through on-the-job experiences and cross-unit cooperation.
Interested in learning more about the other steps to facilitate Learning and Development of Key Talent in the manufacturing sector? You can download an editable PowerPoint on Lean Product Development: Talent Development here on the Flevy documents marketplace.
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– Roderick Cameron, Founding Partner at SGFE Ltd
Improving Product Development competencies in designers and developers is a concern for senior leaders in the manufacturing sector.
The approach most organizations take in developing Human Resources does not go beyond staffing the cream of the crop from leading global educational institutes. Talent Development to them is, typically, sending their people to attend workshops and keeping up with employee annual training hours’ goals, and that’s it. Companies usually spend more on acquiring latest manufacturing equipment or modern collaboration tools than they do to develop their greatest asset—their people.
Research on manufacturing practices unequivocally suggests that it’s primarily the inspiration to adopt a culture of Continuous Improvement in people that results in operational excellence. This Continuous Improvement Culture has more significance than implementing Lean practices across all processes.
The “Lean Product Development” concept isn’t a new notion. The practice has been around since the 1980s. An MIT study in the 1980s revealed that manufacturing practices in Japanese automakers were totally opposed to those of auto manufacturers in the rest of the world. These approaches were referred to as “Lean” practices. Research into manufacturing practices of Toyota has spread the knowledge about Lean Product Development globally.
Lean concept is strikingly opposing to the philosophy that emphasizes on delegating the responsibility of developing the designers’ / developers’ capabilities to the Human Resources Department. In order to develop and deliver superior products, Lean Product Development focuses on enabling the developers build “personal dexterity” as the key element of success. The concept necessitates technical training and collaboration between developers.
Before embarking on the Lean Product Development and Innovation journey, organizational leadership should work on finding answers to these 3 fundamental questions:
- In order to design better products, which critical insights do we need to develop regarding customers, products, and processes?
- Which mediums, organizational knowledge, and tools are required to develop these insights?
- Which organizational structures and ways of doing businesses are ideally suited to develop these valuable insights and improving the expertise of developers?
Pondering over these critical questions and answering them facilitates in creating a pool of skilled Product Designers and developers.
Let’s dive deeper into these questions.
Question 1
Lean Product Development emphasizes on developing a steady stream of products at an even pace—referred to as “Takt.” iPhone 1 and iPhone 2 are examples of a steady stream of products released at regular intervals in Apple’s iPhone value stream.
Takt has evolved the way products are designed. An initial product is developed as a means to validate an idea. Products are progressed from the initial product based on stakeholders’ feedback. The purpose of a value stream of products is to improve the current product offerings, inspire the existing customers to upgrade, and tempt potential customers to try the product. In these evolving value streams, every product release serves as an opportunity to gain insights into the market.
The value enhancement through Takt has 2 broad objectives:
- Fixing problems in existing products and creating offerings meeting the customer needs.
- Lowering manufacturing costs and improving quality.
Question 2
Lean Product Development underscores the significance of the medium through which developers should learn in order to create superior products. Developers’ capabilities in technical Problem Solving and learning what the others are doing helps enhance the quality of each new release. Development teams should have quick access to accumulating a thorough knowledge of the entire supply chain and the effect of their decisions on manufacturing. This assists in improving the efficiency of the developers.
Instead of learning and gaining knowledge through traditional ways, Lean Product Development encourages the developers to learn through Action Learning—the process where teams are continuously mentored and encouraged to learn collectively on the job, solve problems creatively, and test models to cope with real-life issues.
Interested in learning more about the key elements to consider before enabling Lean Product Development & Innovation, and the phases of the Lean process? You can download an editable PowerPoint on Lean Product Development & Innovation here on the Flevy documents marketplace.
Did You Find Value in This Framework?
You can download in-depth presentations on this and hundreds of similar business frameworks from the FlevyPro Library. FlevyPro is trusted and utilized by 1000s of management consultants and corporate executives. Here’s what some have to say:
“My FlevyPro subscription provides me with the most popular frameworks and decks in demand in today’s market. They not only augment my existing consulting and coaching offerings and delivery, but also keep me abreast of the latest trends, inspire new products and service offerings for my practice, and educate me in a fraction of the time and money of other solutions. I strongly recommend FlevyPro to any consultant serious about success.”
– Bill Branson, Founder at Strategic Business Architects
“As a niche strategic consulting firm, Flevy and FlevyPro frameworks and documents are an on-going reference to help us structure our findings and recommendations to our clients as well as improve their clarity, strength, and visual power. For us, it is an invaluable resource to increase our impact and value.”
– David Coloma, Consulting Area Manager at Cynertia Consulting
“FlevyPro has been a brilliant resource for me, as an independent growth consultant, to access a vast knowledge bank of presentations to support my work with clients. In terms of RoI, the value I received from the very first presentation I downloaded paid for my subscription many times over! The quality of the decks available allows me to punch way above my weight – it’s like having the resources of a Big 4 consultancy at your fingertips at a microscopic fraction of the overhead.”
– Roderick Cameron, Founding Partner at SGFE Ltd
Cut-throat competition in industries has driven companies to find ways to reduce costs while increasing efficiency. To accomplish this, most companies have skillfully endeavored to streamline Sales, Operations Planning, Forecasting, Inventory Management, and Logistics.
One area that has still not grabbed industry’s attention is out-bound Supply Chain Management–from packaging to final delivery. Companies generally neglect Supply Chain simply because they do not consider it their core competency.
Significant Cost Reduction in the Supply Chain can be achieved by focusing on 2 main cost categories:
- Warehousing Costs
- Transportation Costs
Warehousing and Transportation represent a significant portion of the total Logistics costs. Implementing improvement programs, without any significant capital investments, can enable 20-50% cost saving in Warehousing, 40% in Transportation costs, flexibility, and better service.
Supply Chain Cost Reduction in Transportation and Warehousing has vast potential, not only in terms of costs, but also Process Improvement using Lean Six Sigma (LSS) techniques.
The approach to Supply Chain Cost Reduction in Warehousing encompasses 3 phases:
- Set the Baseline
- Determine the Gap
- Implement Lean Six Sigma (LSS)
Meticulous and persistent application of Lean Management and Six Sigma techniques is at the core of reshaping Warehousing Operations and eradicating sources of waste, variability, and inflexibility. This article is an overview of the 6 building blocks used in Implementing Lean Six Sigma (LSS)—the 3rd phase of the approach to Supply Chain Cost Reduction in Warehousing:
- Business Processes
- People
- Performance Management
- Third Party Interactions
- Layout
- Ownership
Let us dive a little deeper into some of the building blocks.
Business Processes
Business Processes present a huge opportunity for improvement by eliminating redundancies and sources of waste in Warehouse operations (e.g., unnecessary motion or double-handling in Manufacturing). Each source of waste represents extra costs and inflexibility that can be reduced or eliminated.
Business Process Improvement can help reduce:
- Handling steps
- Motion
- Transportation
- Space requirements
- Effort
- Time spent
People
This building block of Implementing Lean Six Sigma aims at avoiding overstaffing of full-time employees and at the same time maintaining a well-trained, efficient workforce.
Streamlining this building block leverages the following benefits to organizations:
- Refined Recruitment process reduces Employee Turnover.
- Facilities can more closely match on-site staffing to demand by reducing notice periods.
- Efficiency can be raised by about 15% through regular training.
- Overstaffing of full-time employees can be avoided.
- Productivity can be improved by 5-10% by focusing on appropriate facets of Performance during training.
Performance Management
This building block aims at using existing Performance Management levers to improve Employee Performance through morale boosting and awareness exercises. A laser-focus on the performance element helps the leadership achieve the following benefits:
- Constant reminders and display of current performance give employees a sense of competition and drive.
- Quick daily discussions highlight the significance of good performance and helps employees focus on essential aspects of their work.
- Productivity is improved up to 20% by linking pay to performance.
- Real-time feedback supports pay-related performance.
- Measuring and rewarding the “softer” elements has long-term benefits.
- Recognizing employee of the month can increase staff satisfaction.
Given the existing industry cost and performance demands, wasteful or unpredictable Warehouse operations lose more than money. This can do rapid and permanent harm to a company’s reputation with customers since distribution is the logistical interface with the customer.
Improving Warehouse Operations is a significant area not only for Cost Reduction, but also a source of refining Customer Value Proposition.
Interested in learning more about Supply Chain Cost Reduction in Warehousing and Lean Six Sigma? You can download an editable PowerPoint on Supply Chain Cost Reduction: Warehousing here on the Flevy documents marketplace.
Want to Achieve Excellence in Supply Chain Management (SCM)?
Gain the knowledge and develop the expertise to become an expert in Supply Chain Management (SCM). Our frameworks are based on the thought leadership of leading consulting firms, academics, and recognized subject matter experts. Click here for full details.
Supply Chain Management (SCM) is the design, planning, execution, control, and monitoring of Supply Chain activities. It also captures the management of the flow of goods and services.
In February of 2020, COVID-19 disrupted—and in many cases halted—global Supply Chains, revealing just how fragile they have become. By April, many countries experienced declines of over 40% in domestic and international trade.
COVID-19 has likewise changed how Supply Chain Executives approach and think about SCM. In the pre-COVID-19 era of globalization, the objective was to be Lean and Cost-effective. In the post-COVID-19 world, companies must now focus on making their Supply Chains Resilient, Agile, and Smart. Additional trends include Digitization, Sustainability, and Manufacturing Reshoring.
Learn about our Supply Chain Management (SCM) Best Practice Frameworks here.
Do You Find Value in This Framework?
You can download in-depth presentations on this and hundreds of similar business frameworks from the FlevyPro Library. FlevyPro is trusted and utilized by 1000s of management consultants and corporate executives. Here’s what some have to say:
“My FlevyPro subscription provides me with the most popular frameworks and decks in demand in today’s market. They not only augment my existing consulting and coaching offerings and delivery, but also keep me abreast of the latest trends, inspire new products and service offerings for my practice, and educate me in a fraction of the time and money of other solutions. I strongly recommend FlevyPro to any consultant serious about success.”
– Bill Branson, Founder at Strategic Business Architects
“As a niche strategic consulting firm, Flevy and FlevyPro frameworks and documents are an on-going reference to help us structure our findings and recommendations to our clients as well as improve their clarity, strength, and visual power. For us, it is an invaluable resource to increase our impact and value.”
– David Coloma, Consulting Area Manager at Cynertia Consulting
“FlevyPro has been a brilliant resource for me, as an independent growth consultant, to access a vast knowledge bank of presentations to support my work with clients. In terms of RoI, the value I received from the very first presentation I downloaded paid for my subscription many times over! The quality of the decks available allows me to punch way above my weight – it’s like having the resources of a Big 4 consultancy at your fingertips at a microscopic fraction of the overhead.”
– Roderick Cameron, Founding Partner at SGFE Ltd
This week, LearnPPT added a new section to their site: Operational Excellence.
What exactly is Operational Excellence?
Operational Excellence is a set of business principles, tools, and frameworks aimed to achieving sustainable improvement of key performance metrics. Much of this management philosophy is based on continuous improvement methodologies, such as Lean Management (or Lean Enterprise), Six Sigma, Kaizen, Hoshin Kanri, 5S Workplace Productivity, and PDCA. The focus of Operational Excellence goes beyond the traditional event-based model of improvement toward a long-term change in organizational culture.
The page is currently divided into 4 main sections:
- Lean Management (or Lean Enterprise)
- Strategic Planning & Deployment
- Quality Management & Assurance
- Six Sigma
Questions, thoughts, concerns? Go to my site (learnppt.com) and shoot me an email.
For other business frameworks, visit our library of consulting-quality business frameworks and methodologies here: http://learnppt.com/powerpoint/frameworks/. These diagrams were professionally designed by management consultants. Give your presentations the look and feel of a final product made by McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Booz Allen, Deloitte, or any of the top consulting firms.
