PRODUCT & PROCESS

DEVELOPMENT KAIZEN

LPPDE, DENVER, COLORADO

APRIL 21-23, 2008

Improving the Probability of Success starts with credible programmatic and technical processes

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2

Product and Process Development Kaizen Is A Full Contact Team Sport

3 Steps to Improvement Using Kaizen

Increasing

value to the

organization

Three Steps to Product and Process Improvement

4 Defining the Controls … That Assures Process Usage … Results in Reduced Waste

The existing process, development,

and operational controls assessed

for effectiveness, efficiency and

applicability.

These incremental improvements

are made using the principles of

Kaizen guided by eliminating the 7

Wastes.

Control applications applied to

standard work. Standard work

does not mean constrained, over

controlled, draconian.

It means “what we do for our

customers as a firm is known,

defined, and adds value in ways

acknowledged by all participants.

Using Kaizen as well as other

process and product improvement

process, search for, remove, and

replace Waste Reducing process,

products and service.

PDK does not require Japanese 5

改 (kai)

Change or the action to

correct

善 (zen)

Good

Process Development Kaizen 6

Kaizen is a Japanese word

which roughly translates into

“continual improvement”.

Kaizen is about fine–tuning

processes that already exist

Three Core Principles of Kaizen 7

Consider a process and the results, the products (not just the results) so that actions to achieve the desired outcomes are surfaced.

Systematically think of the whole process and not just what is immediately in view.

Learn through a non-judgmental, non-blaming approach and intent allows for the re-examination of the assumptions that resulted in the current process.

Blame, judgment, rehashing the past and all

that “we used to do it this way” are wastes (無駄 Muda)

Making the outcome

clear and concise 8

Define the deliverables in visible and measures terms – what does “Done” look like for this round of effort?

Connect effort, duration, and risk with these deliverables

Arrange them in a sequence that assures increasing maturity along the way to completion

But in fact we are never complete in the conventional sense – we are always continually improving

Turning the

process from a

linear, waterfall;

To an iterative,

incremental,

continuously

improvement set

of activities;

That delivers

continuous value

to the

stakeholders.

This is the

theoretical basis

of all Agile

development

methods 9

Conducting a PDK Event 10

Flush out opportunities at multiple levels

Point out waste visually through process flow

diagrams

Determine impact on overall business and / or

business units

Create buy-in “on the spot”

Incorporate change management as part of

overall improvement strategy

The Kaizen Event from the Program

Management Office Point of View 11

Kaizen Activity Questions that need answers in order to improve

A structured product and process maturity assessment

Where have we come from? What worked in the past? What didn’t work? What can be improved? What can be used from AS IS for the TO BE?

Evaluate risk and probability for success

If we attempt to make improvements, what are the inhibitors to success? What mitigations can be taken?

Visibly track the increasing maturity of products and services

How can we recognize we’re actually making improvements? What are the units of measure?

Provide visibility to sponsors and stakeholders

Can we have the sponsors concur we’re making improvements?

Have the discipline to follow through to rollout and operations phase

What accountabilities need to be in place for us to be successful? Can we make this accountabilities appear at this time? If not now, when?

Conducting the PDK, means …

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…Turning on the light

Starting point for making improvements 13

Seek small opportunities for improvement in the

development process and the product definition

Find and root out mistakes of the past in all

activities around product and service development

and deployment

Improve the system not the people

Devote time to measuring

Doing a PDK is an interactive process

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The raw materials of process modeling 15

Nouns

Documents

Data

Information

Evidentiary materials

Verbs

Transformation of nouns into new nouns

«Noun» «Verb» «Noun»

Sample process flow 16

The Seven Process Wastes (Remember TIM WOOD)

Use these as test questions for Process Improvement or Development

Transportation

Unnecessary Inventory

Unnecessary or Excessive Motion

Waiting

Overproduction

Over or Inappropriate Processing

Defects

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Transportation

18

Any movement

or motion from

one place to

another that

adds no value

Make the

distance over

which

something is

moved as

short as

possible

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Reduce the

amount of work-in-

process within the

system

Ensure that work

arrives at the

downstream

process when it is

required and does

not sit (no in basket

overflow)

Unnecessary

Inventory

20

Unnecessary or Excessive Motion

Processing steps

that add no value

to the product or

service

Avoid looking,

searching, or

wasting effort that

burdens the value of

the product or

service

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Waiting

Someone or

something waiting

with nothing to do …

Keep people

productively

active

Avoid paper or

decisions around

the paper from

sitting around

before being

processed

Provide adequate

staffing at the

bottlenecked

operations

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Overproduction Production of products,

services, documentation,

or facilities ahead of

demand

Establish a flow

sequence to satisfy the

downstream customer

Create workplace

guidelines and

standards for each

process and follow

them at all times

23

Over or Inappropriate Processing

Activities still performed

but no longer needed or

poor planning and

organizational flow

Remove unnecessary

steps

Stop copying

everyone on emails

Stop sending reports

and see who

complains

Stop unnecessary

signoffs and reviews

Defects

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Activities that result

in error, rework, work

arounds, or quality

defects prevent the

customer from

accepting the

product or service

Error proof the

process steps

Use standardized

work instructions

Continuous customer

feedback

Most failures to realize potential return on process and product

improvements start by committing one of these Seven Sins

The Seven Sins of Process

Improvement

Process not traceable to

strategy

Improvements don’t involve

the right people

Teams not given a clear charter and

held accountable

Top management focused on change not

improvement

Change to the people not considered

Focused on redesign

rather than implementation

Failure to leave

measurement system in place

Improving Performance, How to

Manage the White Space on

the Organization Chart, 2nd

Edition, Geary A. Rummler and

Alan P. Brache, Jossey Bass,

1995

26/5 Glen B. Alleman, Copyright © 2012