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Lean Design is a process for applying lean concepts to the design phase of a product or process. The goal is to reduce waste and maximize value. The method has been used to design products, improve processes, develop IT systems, and even to create lean business models. It relies on the definition and optimization of values coupled with the prevention of wastes before they enter the system.

History
Lean design builds on the set of principles that emerged from design for the customer value and design for manufacturability. Since some lean tools are used in the practice of lean design, lean design borrows the first word in its name from lean manufacturing as exemplified by the Toyota Product System. While lean manufacturing focuses on optimization of the production stream once the value stream has been created, lean design concerns itself with methods and techniques to create a lean solution from the start, resulting in more value and fewer wastes across the value stream. Lean design seeks to optimize the development process through rapid learning cycles to build and test multiple concepts early. Managing the knowledge value stream, systematic problem solving with trade-offs of options, and solutions generated from ideas filtered by systematic innovation methods are viewed as methods within the lean design process.

Lean Design Overview
Lean design is based on the premise that product and process design is an ongoing activity and not a one-time activity; therefore lean design should be viewed as a long term strategy for an organization. An organizational focus is required for the implementation of lean design principles, which includes efficient and sustainable lean design teams. Lean design must be sustainable and holistic unlike other lean manufacturing or six sigma approaches that either tackle only a part of the problem or tackle the problem for a short period of time. Lean design drives prevention of waste by adopting a systematic process to improve the design phase during development.

Lean Design Principles

 * A lean product design is one that simultaneously reduces waste and delivers value.
 * A product is more than the sum of its parts. It’s also the sum of the lifecycle processes needed to design, manufacture and use it.
 * The lifecycle of any product is from creation to disposal, from “cradle-to-cradle”.
 * Lean design is recognized as being everybody’s job. A big challenge is making sure everyone understands their lean design job descriptions and how each subsystem contributes to the higher level system.
 * Most lean manufacturing tools can be directly used by a lean design team. For example: Value Stream Mapping, Design for Six Sigma, QFD, DFMA, and Taguchi methods.
 * Lean design savings are hard to predict. Most of the savings will appear only in the sometimes-distant future. Predicting “hidden cost” savings is extremely difficult and questionable given the time it would require.
 * Toyota’s lean product development process is elusive but not impossible to understand. It cannot be imported in parts as is the case with the Toyota Production System.
 * The lean design equation is lean design success = strategic values minus the drivers of design and process wastes.
 * There are seven drivers of waste that describe process and lifecycle wastes.
 * Maximizing strategic attributes of values will delight the customers as well as differentiate the products from the competition.
 * Lean design enables a design team to systematically find the optimum lean design strategy.
 * Applying lean design does not make obsolete any existing product design tool, technique or method. Lean design helps a team “knit together” existing tools.

The Eight Dimensions of Lean Design
To be successful, a corporate wide lean design implementation must include the following 8 dimensions:
 * 1) Optimization of product value
 * 2) Prevention of waste
 * 3) Real-time measurements
 * 4) Product and process accountability
 * 5) Systematic innovation
 * 6) Stakeholder collaboration
 * 7) Team leadership
 * 8) Senior management support

When the 8 dimensions are fully deployed in an organization, it is at a world class performance level with respect to design and innovation. The Shingo Prize is recognized as the premier award for operational excellence in North America. Using Lean design practices helps organizations move toward Shingo excellence.