Application of lean approach in the product development process: a survey on Brazilian industrial companies

Abstract

According to the literature, lean principles should be applied not only in manufacturing, but should also be extended to other processes, especially to those more upstream along the production chain, such as the product development process (PDP), which presents great opportunities for the application of these principles. It is important that the product be developed based on lean principles, so that potential wastes from the product development process are avoided in manufacture. Lean development consists in trying to apply both the lean principles learned in Lean Manufacturing (LM) and the specific lean practices for product development. This paper aims to investigate whether Brazilian companies with well-established Lean Manufacturing transfer the lean principles and practices to the product development process. Data were obtained through a survey conducted in 47 industrial Brazilian companies. In addition to descriptive analysis, an analysis of Cluster was performed considering the degree of implementation of the lean practices and principles in the PDP. The results of these analyses show that most companies transfer lean principles learned from the LM to the PDP, but they still cannot apply lean practices in the PDP to the same degree. In contrast, although 15% of the sampled companies have consolidated the LM and present a development process considered critical to the business, they extended neither the lean principles nor the lean practices to the PDP.

Keywords:
Product development process; Lean principles; Lean practices; Lean Development