The Way from Lean Product Development (LPD) to Smart Product Development (SPD)

Lean Product Development (LPD) is the application of lean principles to product development, aiming to develop new or improved products that are successful in the market. LPD deals with the complete process from gathering and generating ideas, through assessing potential success, to developing concepts, evaluating them to create a best concept, detailing the product, testing/developing it and handing over to manufacture. With the beginning of the fourth Industrial Revolution (Industrial 4.0) and the rising efforts to realize a smart factory environment, also product development has to perform a substantial transformation. This paper firstly describes the concept of Lean Product Development as well as new requirements for an intelligent and Smart Product Development (SPD) through the introduction of modern Industry 4.0 related technologies. Based on Axiomatic Design methodology, a set of guidelines for the design of Lean Product Development Processes is presented. These guidelines are linked with concepts from Industry 4.0 in Engineering, showing how a lean and smart product development process can be achieved by the use of advanced and modern technologies and instruments.