The number of companies that adhere to the philosophy of\u00a0lean thinking<\/b>\u00a0and apply its five basic principles is growing by the day.<\/p>\n
As a consequence more and more companies put their customers at the centre and try to understand what really has\u00a0value for their customers<\/b>\u00a0(First lean principle).<\/p>\n
One of the basic objectives of a lean company and in particular of a\u00a0Lean Product Development<\/b>\u00a0department is to increase this value through products that can satisfy customers\u2019 needs.<\/p>\n
In order to increase customer value one can work on a number of factors: product performances, quality, service,\u00a0cost<\/b>\u00a0etc.<\/p>\n
But if a company decides to focus on cost reduction in order to optimize the ratio\u00a0Customer Value \/ Cost<\/b>, a specific methodology called\u00a0Design To Cost (DTC)<\/b>\u00a0can be very useful.<\/p>\n
Such methodology is applicable both in the development of a new product and in the re-engineering of an existing one.<\/p>\n
For this reason it is well appreciated by Managers and Technical Designers.<\/p>\n
What is DTC specific objective?<\/b><\/p>\n
It is that of increasing customer value acting on the ratio:\u00a0Product performances \/ Total Cost<\/b>. If performances remain the same, a reduction in total costs means an increase in Customer value.<\/p>\n
In many cases Design To Cost can provide not only a cost reduction, but also an improvement of product performances.<\/p>\n
How is it possible to reduce product total costs?<\/b><\/p>\n
In order to reduce product costs it is necessary to know both the product and the process to produce it.<\/p>\n
This knowledge makes it possible to identify\u00a0improvement actions<\/b>:<\/p>\n
1. Design Review:<\/p>\n
2. Re \u2013 Engineering: e. g. change in production, component variety reduction, component simplification (in accordance with suppliers) etc.<\/p>\n
3. Process improvement: e. g. new technologies or improvement of existing technology, production process optimization etc.<\/p>\n
In order to be effective these actions must have clear objectives (in terms of target cost and cost reduction) and a clear realistic plan (in terms of resources, activities to be performed and timing).<\/p>\n
How is it possible to guarantee the achievement of the cost reduction targets?<\/b><\/p>\n
Two are the critical aspects of the methods:<\/p>\n
1. To reduce or eliminate\u00a0Cost Constraints<\/b><\/p>\n
2. To involve an\u00a0interfunctional team<\/b><\/p>\n
Cost constraints can be internal (materials, technical specifications, tolerance limits, technology etc.) but they can also be external (e. g. due to suppliers).<\/p>\n
In order to reduce or get rid of these constraints it is mandatory to activate inter functional teams including people from all the main functions (technical design, purchasing, manufacturing, accounting) as well as critical suppliers.<\/p>\n
Design To Cost is a methodology perfectly in line with lean principles and methods and in particular with the Lean Product Development methodology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The number of companies that adhere to the philosophy of\u00a0lean thinking\u00a0and apply its five basic principles is growing by the day. As a consequence more and more companies put their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1060,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en"],"yoast_head":"\n