Managing the Design Factory

The first book to put the principles of World Class Manufacturing to work in the development process, Managing the Design Factory combines the powerful analytical tools of queuing, information, and system theories with the proven ideas of organization design and risk management. The result: a methodical approach to consistently hit the "sweet spot" of quality, cost, and time in developing any product. Reinertsen illustrates these concepts with concrete examples drawn from his work with many leading companies across different industries. Unlike other books that promote rules and rituals based on benchmarking "best practices", this book focuses on practical tools that account for varied situations. He breaks new ground with a disciplined, quantitative approach for making decisions on critical issues: When should we use a sequential or concurrent process? Centralized or decentralized control? Functional or team organizations? Full of practical techniques, concrete examples, and solid general principles, this is a real toolkit for product developers.

Donald G. Reinertsen is head of Reinertsen & Associates, a firm that specializes in new product development. He also teaches at the California Institute of Technology and has attracted a worldwide following among managers, designers, and engineers. He holds an engineering degree from Cornell and an MBA from Harvard. He and his family live in Redondo Beach, California.

Neil Hagglund Corporate Vice President and Director of Corporate Technology Planning, Motorola, Inc. A valuable and much needed view of the product development process. Engrossing and stimulating reading flill of excellent tools and firmly anchored on the basic reality of why we do product development -- to make a profit!