Companies that use the Collective System Design™ (CSD) methodology know that it is possible to effectively implement and sustain Lean and Six Sigma — without unintended consequences.
System Design, LLC works with companies overwhelmed by the plethora of tools that seemingly help them improve workflow and reduce piece-part costs but that are only partially effective and not sustained over the long term. Their focus on implementing these toolsets limits the company's ability to develop systems within their organization that stimulate growth and innovation.
Founded in 2002 by Dr. David S. Cochran, former Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT and two-time winner of the prestigious Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing for his work in the design of "lean" systems, System Design, LLC provides consulting, education, and leadership expertise in sustainable and regenerative enterprise system design to companies around the globe.
To create effective, sustainable, and regenerative systems in organizations looking to reduce cost, improve workflow, and innovate within their industry.
We achieve this mission by providing:
CSD can help you design, map, and implement a lean and sustainable system in every aspect of your enterprise — including:
End-to-end product delivery system design aligned to customer takt.
Engineering processes built on Functional Requirements, not predetermined solutions.
Measures tied to system design intentions, not the mechanics of implementation.
Investment decisions that reinforce decoupled, predictable system architectures.
Standard work and pull-flow process design that supports continuous improvement.
Supply-base architecture aligned to the enterprise's functional requirements.
System Design, LLC provides certification and consulting services, system design evaluations, and custom educational courses and workshops to spark the behaviors necessary to reach and sustain your enterprise goals. Our approach provides long-term client support through company and individual CSD certification — allowing us to assist you in continuing innovation with CSD and to further your company's human capacity to practice CSD without external intervention.
Collective System Design™ (CSD) is a process for applying and implementing the Product Delivery System (PDS) and Manufacturing System Design Decomposition™ (MSDD) maps. The PDS/MSDD are tools for significant enhancement of a company's manufacturing and product delivery capability — providing a logical, customizable framework for how to develop a stable and consistent way to deliver product capability. The CSD process creates the cultural, human, and technical environment necessary to implement the PDS/MSDD.
Since the PDS defines the logic of a system design, it serves as both a communication and an evaluation tool for design intentions and implementation strategy. Measures are not tied to the mechanics of implementation (the Physical Solutions, or PSs); they are tied to the successful achievement of system design intentions (the Functional Requirements, or FRs). The PDS is an open framework: if a PS does not achieve the FR, the PS is changed. Physical Solutions are chosen to prevent undesirable effects on a set of Functional Requirements, the result being a predictable — uncoupled — design.
The CSD process starts with a management overview of how to achieve the design intentions of an enterprise through CSD. Management then tailors the CSD process to meet its needs. Discovery of true system design intentions and the cultural environment to evoke change are necessary parts of the ensuing process. User technical training is required to create the system design map and the corresponding evaluation measures.
A system design is incomplete until all the FRs defined by the PDS are fully achieved. Until then, the system is unstable in modern manufacturing terminology — the FRs of the PDS define the conditions of system stability. When an FR is not met, cost is excessive. Over time, the cost of not meeting the FRs leads to more serious consequences and ultimately a product delivery system that is no longer competitive.
CSD and the PDS/MSDD provide a new methodology of manufacturing and enterprise design. The use of this logical, user-developed product delivery approach ensures a company achieves improved process capability, product reliability, and cost reduction.
The Manufacturing System Design Decomposition™ (MSDD) is the core element of System Design, LLC's methodology. The MSDD enables a firm to simultaneously achieve cost, quality, delivery responsiveness, and flexibility objectives — rather than trading one off against another.
Developed in partnership with the Purdue University Fort Wayne Center of Excellence in Systems Engineering, the 12-Step Design Process Primer is an interactive HTML-based slide deck that walks students, engineers, and teams through a complete CSD-grounded engineering design process — from problem statement through verification, validation, and standard work.
Authored by Prof. David S. Cochran, Ph.D. and Joseph J. Smith.
Foundational papers establishing the MSDD and the Collective System Design™ methodology.
Develops an approach to help manufacturing system designers (1) clearly separate objectives from the means of achievement, (2) relate low-level activities and decisions to high-level goals and requirements, (3) understand the interrelationships among the different elements of a system design, and (4) effectively communicate this information across a manufacturing organization. Introduces the Manufacturing System Design Decomposition (MSDD), which enables a firm to simultaneously achieve cost, quality, delivery responsiveness, and flexibility objectives.
Explains the cause-and-effect relationships between performance measurement and manufacturing system design from a system-design perspective. Illustrates why current performance-measurement methods cause plants to evolve into mass-production systems, and discusses the usefulness of an axiomatic-design approach for developing performance measures aligned to enterprise objectives.
Combines a traditional design procedure with functional decomposition of manufacturing-system requirements to give designers a tool for efficiently designing manufacturing systems while keeping requirements in view throughout. A case study illustrates how the integrated design framework can be applied.
Presents a revolutionary approach to determine the objectives and the implementation of a "lean" production system design for a manufacturing business, as guided by the design axiom of independence.
Presents an evaluation tool that determines how well the physical characteristics of a particular piece of equipment satisfy the functional requirements of the manufacturing system design. The evaluation tool is grounded in the Manufacturing System Design Decomposition (MSDD).
Investigates why machines are typically designed to reduce unit labor cost by increasing machine speed or eliminating direct labor with automation. Illustrates how operationally-focused machine design and the unit cost equation combine to produce costly factory-system implementations that miss enterprise objectives.
Additional publications available on request.
To find out how we can help you implement Lean and Six Sigma for sustainability, reduce costs without doing long-term damage to your business, and achieve your enterprise potential — reach out below.