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In my last article, we reviewed a proposed Product Life Cycle process, which starts with a “Define” phase.  In the “Define” phase, we are defining the project as well as the product. We previously discussed the ‘technical leg’ of this process…

Previous articles have covered product development tools and methodologies such as lean product development, agile, design for six sigma, product life cycle (PLC) and project management processes. In this article, lets consider “the product” being developed any hardware product, software,…

When considering a business process improvement (or some other) initiative, we also want to communicate to motivate the right behaviors.  However, initiatives often seem to use buzzwords or use titles familiar to employees that have seen such initiatives come and…

Previous articles have covered a proposed waterfall product development phase/gate process.  This article will compare and contrast waterfall with Agile product development, especially with respect to the front-end of the process. Let’s start with a proposed waterfall product development phase/gate process. …

Our previous article covered the benefits of comparing waterfall with agile, emphasizing the benefit of planning the agile process and product backlog content.  In this article we’ll compare the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control (DMAIC) thought process, with a project…

Our previous article covered the benefits of comparing the DMAIC problem solving thought process with project management.  The key takeaway was DMAIC can be more effectively executed using “measure & plan” phase. Now let’s compare and contrast agile/scrum with lean/kaizen.  While agile…

Our previous article compared agile/scrum with lean/kaizen and revealed several similar fundamentals that helped make each methodology easier to understand. Since the objective of lean and agile is waste reduction, we also want to identify and eliminate various forms of…

Our previous article identified several forms of waste, specific to completing tasks, as detailed by the following table: Keep in mind, by focusing on tasks, this table assumes several things: a project selection process that ensures the project is valuable…

In reviewing several previous articles in thisarticle series, it’s apparent there is much in common with product development, project management and process improvement. Let’s look at a brief list that considers a structured approach vs. unstructured While this list is…