The Application of Waste Elimination Principles in Product and Process Design and more…
3P is a dynamic change in an organization’s approach to product and process development. The methodology combines the principles of Lean manufacturing and multi-disciplinary teamwork with an iterative approach to prototyping for quick design for manufacturability. Using techniques such as Examples in Nature, the 7 Ways, Process at a Glance, the Moonshine Shop, among others, teams sketch and model both product and process designs.
When you consider that 75% of all waste is “hardwired” into products and manufacturing/support service processes at the design stage, applying this advanced Lean method at this stage is where businesses can get the most bang for their waste-elimination dollars. The 3P method allows an organization to achieve significant leaps in competitiveness, with 80-90% improvements in return-on-investment, productivity, manufacturing time, and quality.
A methodology to improve product development, manufacturing and administrative processes.
As a design improvement methodology 3P dramatically improves the value of products and manufacturing and support service processes while at the same time radically reducing:
- long and costly development cycles.
- shortfalls on design performance.
- design collaboration challenges.
- overserving customers.
- overruns on product target costs.
- products lacking innovation & differentiation.
- expensive value stream design.
- missing the mark on automation.
- excess materials management costs.
3P aids in making improvements in…
Though originally created for the development of new products and processes, 3P is also being successfully applied to the evolution of existing product or process designs, and a host of additional applications such as:
- moving production to a new location
- overhaul of your production lines(s)
- in response to chronic problems, i.e., ergonomic issues
- facility design/redesign
- equipment design/redesign
- when you’ve reached an improvement plateau and find kaizen events are no longer providing strong enough returns.
By applying the 3P methodology your products and processes (manufacturing and support services) will consistently be designed on time, on budget, and be more customer focused, all while demonstrating a high velocity flow with quality designed in.
For more on 3P, download our 3P Word of the Month
Read our 3P White Papers: 1) Kaikaku: Moving Beyond Kaizen and 2) Process Innovation in Action