At a recent conference, I had the chance to speak with Drew Locher about
the Production Preparation Process (3P), and how it is used. Drew recently co-authored a book titled Unleashing the Power of 3P: The Key to Breakthrough Improvement with Dan McDonnell. I asked Drew: "How does 3P provide a real breakthrough? And, how does it function within a Lean initiative?" Here is Drew's full response:
3P can provide breakthrough results since it is foremost a methodology for
innovation. First, one needs a clear problem statement of a problem
that should be resolved. This can be the function that a new or existing
product is expected to perform. Then, two key principles are used to expand
people's creative thought process. "Biomimicry" is where
examples of that function are identified in nature. Why nature?
Nature has already solved countless problems over millions of years. This
principle also helps people "get out of their box" and expand their thought
process. The next principle is "Seven Ways" -- Do not simply identify one
possible solution, identify seven. This stretches the creative
process. The creative process ceases when people converge too quickly on a possible solution, and perhaps overlook a better one. At
some point, those examples from nature are translated to possible human-made
solutions, and the best elements of the seven ways are combined to form a better
solution. A third principle is rapid simulation -- to make the "fuzzy" as
tangible as possible, as early as possible. This provides the means for
rapid learning cycles, which improves the solution that results.
As for "fitting in" with Lean, think of 3P as kaizen on steroids. Instead of making incremental improvements on existing products or processes, 3P is intended for
major redesigns of either or both simultaneously. Therefore it must be
fully supported by leaders in terms of the commitment of appropriate resources
to insure success. It is not for the weak of heart! The
underlying principles, however, can still be applied in many business
contexts. Consider an example of a cellular/flow kaizen event
on an existing process and where major change is not possible. A team should
be encouraged to consider multiple alternative cell or flow line designs for
the purpose of identify a better one. And the team should rapidly
simulate proposed designs using simple materials. In this way, the
"spirit" of 3P is maintained though the exact methodology is not necessarily
followed.
What do you think of Drew's explanations? Have any of you used 3P at the front end of the design process? Do you believe 3P is key to designing market-changing products?
Here is a video of Drew speaking directly about his new book: