Press Releases

May 2005

For Immediate Release

FOR RADICAL BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT, SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT MUST GO LEAN

New York… For the most part, the software development industry has failed to recognize that it is fundamentally a production industry that is very similar to traditional manufacturing. That is, the same overarching principles that guide other industries apply equally to software. By not recognizing this fraternity, software has largely ignored what traditional manufacturing has learned: that radical business gains come only from moving to a waste-free production system -- lean production. In Productivity Press' new book, Lean Software Strategies -- Proven Techniques for Managers and Developers, authors Peter Middleton and James Sutton show that when lean is applied as thoughtfully and enthusiastically as it's been in manufacturing, it can improve the cost, quality and user-satisfaction of software programs just as dramatically as it does for products such as cars, ranges and TVs.

Lean Software Strategies takes the five lean industrial principles examined in the seminal book, Lean Thinking -- value, value stream, flow, pull and perfection -- and applies them systematically to all areas of software development. By following this framework, work hours can be cut in half, defects reduced by two-thirds and the skills of individual employees, tripled.

Case in point: One of the authors, Sutton, helped implement lean production in a major embedded-software project at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics (LM Aero). The end result was that productivity more than doubled while errors and anomalies decreased to one-tenth of typical levels. The details of this project are even more dramatic than these figures indicate and are fully explored in the text, as is research on various software companies applying lean to their development processes.

Lean Software Strategies is written for software developers, software organization leaders and software academics in both the technical and IT software markets. It is geared primarily toward individual readers.

List price is $49.95. Complimentary review copies are available to media contacts by calling (212) 216-7865 or by e-mailing: leon.carter@taylorandfrancis.com.

About Productivity Press

Founded to provide world-class guidance for every level of an organization, Productivity Press is unrivaled in publishing high-quality material on lean manufacturing and business improvement.  Our books, learning tools and newsletter, Lean Manufacturing Advisor, are designed to help educate and support organizations in their efforts to implement the advanced management and manufacturing methodologies required to compete in today’s global business environment.