Towards the Integration of Lean Product Development and Knowledge Management A Creation of an Internal Process’ Value Stream

Abstract

Efficiency in organizations has become increasingly important as globalization has put pressure on faster development. To increase the efficiency, management theories such as Lean and Knowledge Management can be applied. The case company operates on a global level, making it important to have an efficient product development process to launch products rapidly. Therefore, it lies in the company’s interest to understand how the internal Define- Measure-Evaluate-Process (DME-process), is carried out and how it can become more efficient. The purpose of this master thesis has been to investigate how techniques from Lean Product Development and Knowledge Management can be integrated in the DME-process to reduce waste. To do the investigation, a literature review was conducted, qualitative data was collected through interviews with employees, and a workshop was conducted to validate or discard potential improvements. A value stream mapping of the process was conducted, where the company’s theoretical process was studied, the current-state was mapped, and a future-state was proposed. Issues that were found, were lack of standardization, insufficient communication, and uncertainty regarding roles and responsibility. To improve the DMEprocess, suggestions were to ensure completeness of information, increase initiative when working in the process, use more tools to improve communication between the parties, and provide traceability of the process. The theoretical implication of this study is to give insight of how Lean Management and Knowledge Management can be useful in internal processes with an internal stakeholder and customer relationship. Additionally, it can benefit companies which experience waste in product development processes and waste in terms of knowledge capture and reuse. The employees at the company have experienced difficulties in the DME-process. Therefore, the practical implication is to continue applying value stream mapping on several internal processes to increase efficiency and eliminate waste.