Enterprise Minnesota Launches Lean Product Development

Lean Product Development drives sales and business results, and ensures effective use of engineering resources

Published: Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - 12:48

(Enterprise Minnesota: Minneapolis) --  Minnesota’s manufacturers are looking for every available advantage these days and now have another resource: Enterprise Minnesota has launched a Lean Product Development service to help companies quickly reduce time-to-market, develop better products more cost effectively, and increase work-force results.

Enterprise Minnesota helps small to mid-size manufacturers develop and implement strategies to grow business. The organization’s consulting services focus on operational efficiency, growth services, and leadership development. A dedicated team of manufacturing experts is located across the state to help manufacturing companies directly improve both the top and bottom line.

“In a very competitive market, manufacturers need to create products that are less expensive, higher quality, and always delivered on time,” says Bob Kill, Enterprise Minnesota’s president and CEO. “Enterprise Minnesota experts can help companies eliminate needless wasted costs, time, and rework while delivering a better end-product to the customer.”

To implement Lean Product Development, Enterprise Minnesota starts manufacturers with a planning session to create a long-range strategy focused on engineering and design. The next step is a gap analysis to develop an improvement plan targeted for the organization. A team will then focus on implementing solutions to enhance savings and develop products more efficiently and effectively.

With Lean Product Development, the company uses a number of tools, including:

Quick start process. An assessment and planning session that helps a company create a customized product development plan. Companies find and define the “voice of the customer,” reduce rework, and improve profit margins.

New product development toolbox. Each component of the toolbox provides a way to reduce waste and increase customer value. Companies customize an implementation plan based on needs, deploying different methods and capturing synergy between them.

Lean design tools. These lean tools are effective for improving and flowing design process. Engineering departments learn how to increase the velocity of design projects, understand customer requirements, evaluate cost levers, and provide more value to the customer at a lower cost.

“Enterprise Minnesota lives our motto: to help manufacturers grow profitably,” Kill says. “Lean Product Development is another resource for the state’s manufacturers on their journey to become world-class.”

For more information about Lean Product Development, visit www.enterpriseminnesota.org/Business-Growth/Lean-Product-Development.

About The Author

Enterprise Minnesota

Enterprise Minnesota helps Minnesota manufacturing enterprises grow profitably. Chartered by the Minnesota State Legislature in 1987, Enterprise Minnesota is a 501(c)3 nonprofit and affiliate of the Department of Commerce, Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), a program within NIST linking together all 50 states and Puerto Rico to strengthen the global competitiveness of U.S.-based manufacturing. Centers within the network provide information, decision support, and implementation assistance to smaller manufacturing firms in adopting new, more advance manufacturing technologies, techniques, and business best practices to help them compete and grow.