Introduction

The cost pressures facing companies have never been greater than they are today. With the intense competition that exists in today's business environment, the key discriminator for the most successful companies is the ability to provide products to the marketplace quickly and cheaply. Consequently, the lifeblood of many companies rests in the product development processes that enable a company to provide a continual stream of new products that are better, cheaper, and reach the customer faster than the competition.

Improving the product development process is a significant challenge for many companies; yet, it also represents a significant opportunity. Companies that are successful in providing low-cost, high-quality products to their customers, in the shortest time possible, will undoubtedly realize a competitive advantage that will reap rewards of greater market share and improved profitability.

Over the last decade, we've seen companies apply lean and six sigma methodologies in factories to generate a competitive advantage and, in many cases, they have achieved significant results. For example, many companies have embraced and adopted the philosophy of the much-publicized Toyota Production System. However, across industry, there's an emerging trend of companies expressing a desire to apply lean and six sigma concepts outside of manufacturing. Companies are realizing that as the bar continues to rise in terms of customer expectations and demands, they need to respond by looking beyond the factory floor in order to continue to make improvements and maintain a competitive advantage.

If you look across industry in general, the application of lean and...