Calls for papers

 

International Journal of Product Development

 

Special issue on: "What Makes a Product Development Process Lean?"

Guest Editors:
Greg Huet, École de Technologie Supérieure, Canada
Sergio Terzi, University of Bergamo, Italy

Over the past twenty years, businesses of all sizes delivering products and services in a wide variety of markets have made attempts to integrate lean strategies and methods into their design processes. As many practitioners have noticed, the changes implied by lean are seldom straightforward and a number of organisational and even cultural barriers complicate these transformations.

This special issue aims to provide readers from the engineering and management community with a collection of accounts and reflections that help portray the current implications of lean thinking during design and development activities. The objective is not to rewrite the fundamental principles of lean that have been established through the study of the Japanese automotive industry, but rather to depict the struggles and new opportunities that have been encountered whilst implementing them in a variety of settings.

The Guest Editors invite both academics and industry professionals to submit original manuscripts that can shed some light on the question, “What makes a product development process lean?”

Subject Coverage
Suitable topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Lean product development practices, methods and tools
• Lean transformation observations and experiences
• Product development process analysis and assessment
• Formalisation of lean thinking in design and engineering
• Set-based concurrent engineering methodologies
• Information management for set-based engineering activities
• Lean and knowledge management in the enterprise
• Lean and sustainability in product design and development
• Cultural barriers to lean transformation
• Lean awareness and training methods

Notes for Prospective Authors

Submitted papers should not have been previously published nor be currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. (N.B. Conference papers may only be submitted if the paper was not originally copyrighted and if it has been completely re-written).

All papers are refereed through a peer review process. A guide for authors, sample copies and other relevant information for submitting papers are available on the Author Guidelines page.

Important Dates

Manuscripts due by: 1 July, 2013

Notification to authors: 1 October, 2013

Final versions due by: 1 February, 2014