The 13 Management Principles of Toyota's Product Development System

Excerpts from "The Toyota Product Development System: Integrating People, Process and Technology," (2006, Productivity Press)

1. Establish customer-defined value to separate value-added activity from waste.
2. Front-load the product development process while there is maximum design space to explore alternate solutions thoroughly.
3. Create a leveled product development process flow.
4. Utilize rigorous standardization to reduce variation, and create flexibility and predictable outcomes.
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.
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.

See Also...

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