The relevant aspects of Lean to ensure reliability in electronic hardware development : Case organization-Bosch Rexroth, Mellansel

Abstract: Product development is considered an important key factor in the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) as products are becoming more competitive and complex due to market competition. Currently, customer satisfaction mostly depends on product reliability especially when it comes to electronics hardware. From the early stages of electronic hardware development, product development team have to maintain high reliability by reducing mistakes as it is deeply related with the cost of the final product. In this above scenario, LPD can play an important role which deal covers all aspects of a product's development including reliability, from gathering and generating ideas, to assessing success potential, to building concepts, evaluating them, detailing the product, testing, developing, and handing it over for manufacture. From the literature, it shows that the framework for achieving reliability in line with LPD in electronic hardware is very limited. Hence, the author in this research considers that the different aspects of reliability with LPD needs to be identified and framed to have a reliable product, especially for electronics hardware development. To fulfill the research objectives, the authors conducted a literature review to identify the relevant aspects of lean to achieve reliability in electronic hardware development. Then all the relevant aspects were framed in a framework. Further, a single case study was conducted in Bosch Rexroth, and interviews were taken from the selected case organization to explore and justify the relevant aspects of lean. Different views of the interviewee were presented in data analysis section and at the end, the conclusion is presented to show the relevancy of the selected aspects based on the interviews, theoretical implications, practical implications, and future research.