Press Releases

MAY 2006

For Immediate Release

THE COMPANY THAT INVENTED LEAN PRODUCTION ALSO INVENTED A ROBUST PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM

With new book, Toyota's Lean Product Development System can be adapted and implemented in any company

New York… Most companies have focused their Lean transformation efforts exclusively on the shop floor. But, a complete transformation requires a second step: moving upstream to the development of products and processes. Indeed, as the ability to bring innovative products to market rapidly is becoming the prime critical competence for any successful consumer-driven company, product and process development can have an even bigger impact on lean enterprise than lean manufacturing.

Fortunately, Toyota provides as exponential a model for product process development as it does for product manufacturing. Toyota's product development system, though not as well known as the Toyota Production System, is every bit as refined and powerful. Productivity Press' new, The Toyota Product Development System - - Integrating People, Process, and Technology, by James M. Morgan and Jeffrey K. Liker, is the first book to thoroughly examine and analyze the truly effective product development methodology that has made Toyota the most forward-thinking automotive company in the world.

In, The Toyota Product Development System, Morgan and Liker compare and contrast the world-class product development process of Toyota with that of a U.S. competitor. Presenting a Lean Product Development System model that is the culmination of research, experience and insights the authors have gained over the course of many years, this book incorporates and integrates knowledge acquired from more than 15 years of research at the University of Michigan, more than 20 years of product development experience, privileged access to Toyota and the patient guidance of the authors' Toyota Sensei.

Readers will gain immeasurably from the extensive examples from Toyota demonstrating value stream mapping as an extraordinarily powerful tool for continuous improvement. Through these examples and case studies, The Toyota Product Development System illustrates specific techniques and proven practices for dealing with challenges associated with product development, such as synchronizing multiple disciplines, multiple function workload leveling, compound process variation, effective technology integration and knowledge management.

The Toyota Product Development System:

• Highlights the application of value stream mapping methodology to product development.
• Identifies and defines the categories of waste that are specific to the product development process.
• Presents countermeasures and proven practices, based on Lean principles, developed for the product development process used at Toyota.
• Illustrates and clarifies the methodology by presenting actual case examples at Toyota and a U.S. competitor.

Readers of this book - - product development teams, product engineers, manufacturing engineers and product development consultants - - can focus on optimizing the entire product development value stream rather than focus on a specific tool or technology for local improvements.

About the Authors

Currently an Engineering Director at Ford Motor Company, Dr. James M. Morgan has more than 24 years experience in automotive development and operations management including almost 20 years at TDM, a tier one automotive supplier of engineering services, tools and vehicle subsystems where he was V.P. Morgan holds MS and Ph.D. degrees, Engineering, from the University of Michigan, where he completed a three year, Shingo Award-winning comparative study of Toyota and a North American competitor's product development systems.

Dr. Jeffrey K. Liker, Professor, Industrial and Operations Engineering, University of Michigan, has authored or co-authored over 70 published articles and book chapters and seven books. Among other titles, he is author of the international best-seller, The Toyota Way - - 14 Management Principles from the World's Greatest Manufacturer (McGraw-Hill, 2004) and The Toyota Way Fieldbook (McGraw-Hill, 2005). His previous book from Productivity Press, Becoming Lean - - Inside Stories of U.S. Manufacturers (1997) won the 1998 Shingo Prize. Dr. Liker is also an active keynote speaker, speaker at executive retreats and lean consultant.

List price is $40.00. Complimentary review copies are available to media contacts by calling (212) 216-7865 or by e-mailing: leon.carter@taylorandfrancis.com. For more information on The Toyota Product Development System, or any of Productivity Press' other titles, call 1 (800) 319-5852, or access our online catalog at www.productivitypress.com.

"Product Development is one of the key frontiers of lean thinking in the coming years. Learn how to turn the tables on the competition by reading this book."

—Daniel T. Jones
Chairman, Lean Enterprise Academy, UK Co-author, The Machine that Changed the World, Lean Thinking and Lean Solutions

"If you're among the many who have been waiting for a definitive book about Lean Product Development, your wait is over. The Toyota Production System has become extraordinarily famous as well as widely admired and copied in companies around the world. Yet, its product development system is unquestionably as important for Toyota's success as is its production practices, if not more so. The quality performance and broad product appeal among an ever-widening spectrum of customers are undeniable and directly attributable to the efficacy of the company's product development and engineering organization. This book provides both the big picture context and the detail you'll need to understand the fundamental differences between conventional approaches and thinking toward development and Toyota's lean approach. Place this book on an easy-to-reach shelf - you'll reference it over and over, for a long time to come."

—John Shook
President, TWI Network, Inc. Author, Learning to See

"Absolutely brilliant. This is the most important breakthrough in understanding Toyota's runaway success since Lean Thinking. It has long been common knowledge that most of the cost, quality and attractiveness of a product are determined in the development process, and that Toyota engineers its designs for customer value and lean manufacturing. The Toyota Product Development System finally gives away the secrets of Toyota's Product Development System, and will allow you to create your own lean development process: read it, and there's no turning back."

—Freddy Ballé & Michael Ballé
Authors, The Gold Mine