Interest in applying a “lean” philosophy to design has been slowly growing in recent years, but there are still few broadly applicable methodologies and illustrative cases published in the literature to guide lean design processes. Lean approaches promise cost reduction and increased product value, which could be particularly beneficial in product development for low- and middle-income country markets, where value demands are high. We use the clinical need of efficient diabetic foot risk assessment in lowresource healthcare settings to present an example of lean early-stage design of a medical device. The background of existing medical literature and commercial products is intentionally leveraged throughout the design process to streamline development and minimize the need for independent validation of product strategies and design features. Our approach resulted in an efficient design process that generated a novel, purely mechanical plantar pressure evaluation device that can indicate high risk of diabetic foot ulcer in resource-constrained settings. This case provides a practical example of how design processes can be adapted to be leaner where there are large gains from minimizing design cycle time and cost.

This research elaborates the engineering design of high value low volume (HVLV) artefacts (aka Capital goods, investment goods). Our goal is to describe what information needs the practitioners have when doing sales engineering and engineering in HVLV projects. The research approach uses Design Research Methodology with four company cases.

Our findings are that engineering design of HVLV artefacts reuses several module systems, module libraries, technology catalogues, engineering-to-order and variety of design support systems, configurators, design guidelines, parametric models and lean-based design reasoning patterns etc. This poses major challenges for the engineers; how to use all relevant information and how to find it from different IT-systems.

This study indicates that in HVLV context such engineering strategy is required, which guides and drives tactical and operational engineering decisions not only within a project delivery but across project deliveries. Operative and tactical engineering is done during the delivery project and value capture is not achieved in full potential if the engineering strategy is neglected or overruled. This is challenge for current modularisation and ETO-methods and tools.

Design, delivery and improvement processes in healthcare is of great challenge due to increasing pressures on healthcare systems alongside inherent complexities, resulting in limited benefits or unforeseen consequences. A recent Systems Approach framework has aimed at responding to the calls about implementing a more holistic approach. Though being an approach in its own right that can iteratively and systematically structure, guide, and/or facilitate design and improvement projects in healthcare, it can also augment existing approaches that have already place in healthcare designers' and improvement practitioners' agendas. Thus, the objective of this paper is to compare and contrast the questions, activities, and tools of the Systems Approach with processes of other major improvement approaches in healthcare to demonstrate their coverages, overlaps, and extended and new opportunities to pursue in the light of the Systems Approach.

The introduction of new digital technologies in industrial work systems and increasing implementation of Cyber Physical Systems are evoking new and unknown challenges and opportunities related to aspects of human work and organisation. To ensure human wellbeing and overall system productivity, there is a need for interdisciplinary methods and approaches for dealing with the challenges and taking advantage of the opportunities. In this paper, we present a conceptual framework for designing Industry 4.0 enabled work systems, which serves to accommodate this need. The framework combines elements and principles of Design- and Lean thinking methodologies and Human Factors and Ergonomics, thus making it a practical, systematic, and iterative, human centred approach. We use examples from a retrospective industrial case study to illustrate elements of the framework and provide several implications for practitioners.

Risk management (RM) in new product development (NPD) is often implemented as a standardized framework and ends up being carried out as a tick the box, non-value adding activity. To avoid this problem, RM needs to be tailored to the organization and NPD project. This paper identifies a gap in both understanding and facilitating tailoring, i.e. design of RM systems in NPD. To understand how to design RM systems, we must better understand how RM adds value to NPD activities. We applied Product Development Value Stream Mapping (PDVSM) to RM and conceptualized a Risk Value Stream Mapping (RVSM) framework to support design. Through a state-of-the-art literature review, we identified typical categories of value and waste in RM as well as approaches to model the RM in NPD. We developed and tested components of the RVSM framework based on PDVSM in three case companies. In this paper, results are presented regarding waste, value and potential ways to model the value stream in RM. The framework enables a diagnosis of the current state of RM in companies and supports future design activities pertaining to RM systems. This paper is positioned at the intersection of design, lean thinking and RM

New advances in both neurosciences and computational approaches have changed the landscapes for smart devices design serving mobility-related disabilities. In this paper we present the integration of affordable robotics and wearable sensors through our mechatronic product platform, Sparthan, to enable accessibility of the technology in both the power prosthesis and neurorehabilitation space. Sparthan leverages 3rd party EMG sensors, Myo armband, to process muscles sensor data and translate user intention into hand movements. Key innovation includes the modularity, scalability and high degree of customization the solution affords to the target users. User-centered design approaches and mechatronic system design are detailed to demonstrate the versatility of integrative systems and design. What started off as an engineering research endeavor is also positioned to be deployed to deliver real-world impact, especially for prosthesis users in developing countries.

The electricity sector is in the midst of a structural change driven by new technologies. In Brazil, the electricity sector regulation has mechanisms to foster innovation, including investments in R&D. Recently, the regulatory agency and the industry have been calling for approaches to increase the rate at which R&D departments generate solutions that end up being adopted. As a result, novel approaches to R&D project management have entered the agenda. In this context, the objective of this paper is to characterise Agile Product Development and its application in a highly regulated sector. The paper presents a systematic literature review with the debates about Agile and new product development. Then, a case study exploring an early adoption of the Agile approach in R&D project management in the Brazilian electricity sector is presented. Results include the identification of the Agile features most frequently mentioned in the literature. Moreover, the case study explores the Agile features that were more easily absorbed in early adoption, such as iterative patterns, and discusses implementation challenges in team structure, feedback loops, and communication.