Launching Lean Product Development at an Rail Vehicle Manufacturer

摘要

In manufacturing, lean strategies are already widely distributed and have been research topic for years. However, the transfer of lean strategies to administrative areas is current research area. Especially product development departments with a broad area of different and non-repetitive tasks are a big challenge for lean ambassadors. The paper shows a successful implementation in an engineering department of a railway vehicle manufacturer. The lean product development strategy was implemented in three main waves and the success is confirmed by financial figures already in the first year of its application.