Powertrain and test development process optimisation: methodology for powertrain product development process optimization and waste reduction

The origins of this thesis stem from empirical observations made in several business environments which appeared contradictory, certainly interesting, challenging to understand and perhaps unique to the respective area of business. Typically, symptoms would reveal the underlying pattern only when encountered in stressed situations and with no obvious root cause. Symptoms could manifest as either total breakdown of output without any visible or intended change of the system, or adequate performance was reached only when the right person was brought in. It was further observed that qualified teams arrived at different solutions and output level when faced with the same technical problem. A hypothesis was constructed to explain in a qualitative way what was observed and to present a possible avenue for process performance optimisation. [Continues.]