Some companies approach Lean Product Development as a fashion choice. They copy the superficial behaviours of lean manufacturing and hope for the best. There is a better way. By understanding how and why lean methods work, we can adapt these methods to the very different world of product development. For example, since innovation creates variability, we must either create processes that work in the presence of variability, or forgo innovation.

Biography

Don Reinertsen is recognised internationally for his contribution to the management of product development.

In 1983 he wrote a landmark article that first quantified the value of development speed, and which has been cited in the frequently quoted McKinsey study that indicated “6 months delay can be worth 33 percent of lifecycle profits”. He coined the term “Fuzzy Front End” and began applying world class manufacturing techniques in product development in 1985. Don is particularly noted for bringing fresh perspectives and quantitative rigour to development process management.

Don is President of Reinertsen and Associates, specialising in the management of the product development process. Before forming his own company, he consulted at McKinsey and Co, and was Senior Vice President of Operations for a private diversified manufacturing company.

His book “Managing the Design Factory” is recognised as a powerful and thoughtful application of manufacturing thinking to product development. Don is also co-author of, “Developing Products in Half the Time” which is a universally acknowledged must-have text for product leaders.

Books

Don has written some of the definitive books on Lean Product Development.

	The Principles of Product Development Flow: Second Generation Lean Product Development by Don Reinertsen Most management books cover only a few ideas and often at too high a level to be useful in day-to-day work. Flow is different. It covers a lot of ground, more than 150 management principles divided into eight areas. As you can imagine, with this much ground to cover, the prose are to the point and action oriented.
	Managing the Design Factory: A Product Developers Tool Kit by Don Reinertsen This text on product development combines the analytical tools of queuing, information and system theories with the ideas of organisation design and management. Don aims to answer such questions as: when should we use a sequential or concurrent process; should there be centralized or decentralized control; and should the organisation be based along functional or team lines?
	Developing Products in Half the Time: New Rules, New Tools by Preston G. Smith and Don Reinertsen In this era of global competition and accelerating product life cycles, the need to get new products to market faster is more compelling than ever. What was once considered fast development is now commonplace.