Now total your score (the possible range is from 150 - 0). Use the following guideline to assess your potential to benefit from the Lean Design toolbox. Please note that this is a very qualitative self-assessment. A much more comprehensive self-assessment tool for both teams and entire organizations is available as part of our Do-it-Yourself training packages.

Take a Lean Design
Self-Assessment Quiz

How Much Would Your Team or Organization Benefit from the
Lean Design Toolbox?

Copyright 2004 -

Common Sources of Product Design Waste

1. Are new product development projects launched without a well-defined target cost?

2. Are requirements for a new product based on sketchy or anecdotal market data?

3. Are features and performance specs. defined without the direct involvement of customers?

4. Do new product designs cause significant changes to factory layout?

5. Do handoffs from the design team and the factory require correction or iteration?

6. Do new product designs incorporate several "once-used" or unique part numbers?

7. Is there little commonality between old and new products?

8. Is the impact of a new product design on operational overhead ignored during development?

9. Is the cost of non-recurring development not tracked and allocated to a specific new product?

10. Do designers tend to dig into the details before seeking lower cost design alternatives?

11. Are manufacturability issues considered too late in development to make needed changes?

12. Are several engineering changes typically made after a new product enters the factory?

13. Are projected profit margins for new products higher than the margins actually achieved?

14. Do quality defects cause a significant amount of wasted time and materials?

15. Is there resistance to making manufacturability or other cost-reduction changes?