Design with a Lean Touch

It's not the designer's job to lean out a design. Use of common parts and tooling, as well as Design for Manufacture, should always be considered during the design but it is Manufacturing's job to design the process, which is where the opportunities for efficiency in manufacture lay. PLM is a buzzword these past few years that, in my opinion, is a bunch of hooey. Is the author somehow contracted to Siemens?

Manufacturers are responsible for the design of the product as well as the process to produce it. Lean/Six Sigma is a tool to create & maintain an efficient process and to reduce process variation. Of course the product design must take the production process into consideration, but the only "leaning" could be maybe the design process for efficiency (without eliminating essential steps for qualification). Six sigma applied to product performance requirements makes general sense, but the designer must consider how much margin is the customer willing to pay for. A huge Cpk is impressive, but is the cost justified by the one paying for the product?