Consumers want products and services updated more frequently, and that’s great for consumers and business but not so great for the environment, because a third of man-made carbon emissions comes from making stuff. Chet Marchwinski, communications director at the nonprofit Lean Enterprise Institute, interviewed Katrina Appell, PhD, a presenter at the annual Designing the Future Summit, on how product developers can balance these competing forces. Working with Lean guru Jeff Liker and lean development executive Jim Morgan, her research and practical work with companies is examining the effectiveness of different approaches to using Lean thinking in complex environments.
Q: Let’s start with the problem. Consumers want products and services updated more frequently, but that can have a negative impact on the environment because now we’re creating more emissions, so how can companies deal with this conflict?
Katrina: Thank you, Chet. That’s a really good point. One of the things is when you look at the carbon emissions, a lot of times people just look at the amount of carbon emissions in the use of the product, but making the products also has a big impact that usually isn't thought about as often. What they can do for organizations is to look at the entire value stream -- not just through the manufacturing process -- but the use of the product.
In the sustainability world, that’s life cycle analysis, and looking at what’s being used in the make phase, the use phase, and the end-of-life cycle. With Lean Product and Process Development (LPPD), we want to take that systems view and think about how can we make these products more efficient as we’re making them even if we’re replacing them more often.
Q: What is it about Lean Product and Process Development principles that make them so effective about getting out this waste during the development phase?
Katrina: The first principle of understanding what the product needs to be is to spend time upfront really understanding that whole system and where the carbon emissions are going to be throughout the process, and then aligning the organization and effectively collaborating to achieve those goals.
Q: Don’t designers and product developers have enough to do when they’re designing the new products and services? Can’t we wait until the end and then go back and start the environment analysis?
Katrina: We could do that, and that’s often done. After product development, companies will look what the impact is, and then maybe they can make some tweaks, but all of that’s rework.
Q: Lean Product and Process Development is a different way of doing product development, so is there anything about a person’s mindset that ties into whether or not they can handle this change?
Katrina: So much of product development and a lot of lean management, in general, is focused around how you handle uncertainty. In traditional development, a lot of times you want to lock down these specs, and a lot of people say like well, if we just get clear specs, then we can design to that. There’s so much uncertainty when you’re developing products as you’re learning that things are going to change. So Lean Product Process and Development creates a system that handles uncertainty. If you look at the different mindsets approach with the work Carol Dweck has done, having a fixed mindset can't handle uncertainty.
Q: If viewers want to learn more about cutting emissions during the development process and Lean Product and Process Development where can they go?
Katrina: For Lean Product and Process Development, we’ve got a workshop in September in Boston, which is a 2-day immersive experience, looking at LPPD from the start, concepting through execution.
We’ve got ongoing research with Dan Cooper at the University of Michigan focused on how do we use Lean Product and Process Development to help with these issues.
Q: I should mention, too, that you’ve done an article on Cutting the Emissions, and if people want to read it, they can go to LeanPD.org, and we’ve got links to the research if people want to get involved in that.
Next Steps
*Register for the two-day, in-depth workshop with instructors Katrina Appell and John Drogosz: Designing the Future: A Lean Product Development Immersive Learning Experience, Sept. 25-26, 2019, Boston. Since LPPD is an enterprise activity, managers, leaders, designers, product developers, engineers, and continuous improvement agents are encouraged to attend. Review the curriculum and enroll at
* Read Katrina’s story “Cutting Carbon Emissions and Product Costs Through Lean Product and Process Development” on the Lean Post blog. No registration required:
* If you have utilized any of these methods to lower carbon emissions and are willing to participate in the research, please contact Katrina at appell@umich.edu.
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