Knowledge Based Development in Automotive Industry Guided by Lean Enablers for System Engineering

The Systems Engineering literature acknowledges that the principles of Lean Product Development foster the achievement of higher program performance5. Work has been carried out to explore and capture synergies between traditional System Engineering, Program Management and Lean, which has been described as Lean Enablers for Managing Engineering Programs. Kongsberg Automotive in Kongsberg, Norway has transformed from a traditional product development process to a new knowledge focused process called Knowledge Based Development over a period of three years. This paper addresses the transformation from both a theoretical and practical perspective and maps the supporting tools that constituted a large part of the change. Additionally, the paper addresses the Lean Enablers (LE) that have been affected due to obstacles in transformation and future potential LE which have not yet been reached.