The ability to bring new and innovative products to market rapidly is the prime critical competence for any successful consumer-driven company. This book examines and analyzes the truly effective product development methodology that has made Toyota the most forward-thinking company in the automotive industry.

The ability to bring new and innovative products to market rapidly is the prime critical competence for any successful consumer-driven company. All industries, especially automotive, are slashing product development lead times in the current hyper-competitive marketplace. This book is the first to thoroughly examine and analyze the truly effective product development methodology that has made Toyota the most forward-thinking company in the automotive industry. Winner of the 2007 Shingo Prize For Excellence In Manufacturing Research! In The Toyota Product Development System: Integrating People, Process, and Technology, James Morgan and Jeffrey Liker compare and contrast the world-class product development process of Toyota with that of a U.S. competitor. They use extensive examples from Toyota and the U.S. competitor to demonstrate value stream mapping as an extraordinarily powerful tool for continuous improvement. Through examples and case studies, this book illustrates specific techniques and proven practices for dealing with challenges associated with product development, such as synchronizing multiple disciplines, multiple function workload leveling, compound process variation, effective technology integration, and knowledge management. Readers of this book can focus on optimizing the entire product development value stream rather than focus on a specific tool or technology for local improvements.

"If you're among the many who have been waiting for a definitive book about Lean Product Development, your wait is over. The Toyota Production System has become extraordinarily famous as well as widely admired and copied in companies around the world. Yet, its product development system is unquestionably as important for Toyota's success as is its production practices, if not more so. The quality performance and broad product appeal among an ever-widening spectrum of customers are undeniable and directly attributable to the efficacy of the company's product development and engineering organization. This book provides both the big picture context and the detail you'll need to understand the fundamental differences between conventional approaches and thinking toward development and Toyota's lean approach. Place this book on an easy-to-reach shelf - you will refer to it over and over, for a long time to come." John Shook President, TWI Network, Inc.,, Author, Learning to See, February 23, 2006 "Absolutely brilliant. This is the most important breakthrough in understanding Toyota's runaway success since Lean Thinking. It has long been common knowledge that most of the cost, quality and attractiveness of a product are determined in the development process, and that Toyota engineers its designs for customer value and lean manufacturing. This insightful book finally gives away the secrets of Toyota's Product Development System, and will allow you to create your own lean development process: read it, and there's no turning back." Freddy Balle & Michael Balle, Authors, The Gold Mine, February 23, 2006 "By combining Jeff Liker's comprehensive insights into the whole Toyota system with Jim Morgan's experience in product development plus his fine-grained investigation of the Toyota development system, they have finally put the whole puzzle together. All that remains is for you to study this volume carefully - and it does demand careful study because it presents a complete system integrating people, process, tools, and technology - and then to transform your own development system." From The Foreword By James P. Womack, Co-Author, The Machine that Changed the World, February 28, 2006 "Product Development is one of the key frontiers of lean thinking in the coming years. Learn how to turn the tables on the competition by reading this book." Daniel T. Jones, Chairman, Lean Enterprise Academy, UK, Co-author, The Machine that Changed the World, February 28, 2006 "How does Toyota do it? This book explores how, presenting both the big picture and providing great details. It describes the "chief engineer system" Toyota employs and discusses product development value stream mapping. It speaks to culture change and design technology. It's also rife with examples and case studies" Review