Do Lean Manufacturing Principles Apply to New Product Launches?

Yes, yes and yes, lean manufacturing principles do apply to new product launches. In our journey to launch new products, how many times have we faced one or more of the seven wastes identified in Lean Manufacturing such as:

• Transportation
• Inventory
• Motion
• Waiting
• Overproduction
• Over Processing
• Defects

An obvious waste to discuss in a new product launch situation is overproduction. A typical definition of overproduction is to produce products in excess of customer demand.

Often in a new product launch, orders for the new product are created from an anticipatory perspective with the use of forecasts instead of live customer orders. Using anticipated demand systems and structures increases the opportunity for over production because forecasting demand is frequently ambiguous. We can engage in rigorous research efforts and still have errors in our calculations, add into the equation volitile demand, inflexible manufacturing systems and supply chains, and it becomes clear why overproduction regularly occurs in new product launches.

Interestingly, both the goals of a new product launch and the goals of a lean factory are striking similar. For example, in a new product launch, the desired outcome is to get our products to market as quickly, efficiently and cost effectively as possible. Like wise, the goal of Lean is to reduce cycle times, eliminate waste and reduce total costs.

Incorporating lean strategies in new product launches has many benefits including:

• Reduced total costs by eliminating over production
• Accelerated time-to-market by reducing lead times
• Meeting emerging customer needs by reducing process cycle times

The launch is a crucial stage in the product development process. Applying Lean principles to this stage can create tremendous opportunities to maximize returns on our new product development efforts.

What have your experiences been with lean launch strategies and methods?