Lean Programming

April 4, 2002

Location: Electrical Engineering/Computer Science Bldg, Room EE/Csi 3-180

The hot debate in software development these days is about balancing process with productivity.  How much process is enough?  When does process stop adding value?  Are Agile Methodologies a passing fad or a permanent fixture?

One way to put this debate into perspective is to look the manufacturing industry two decades ago, when a similar debate raged.  In the early 1980's, Just-in-Time manufacturing appeared to be a fad, but in fact, it led to fundamental changes in manufacturing practices.  At the same time, Total Quality Management principles shifted the emphasis from process to people.  Over the next decade, these two movements merged into a set of principles called Lean Manufacturing.

The principles of Lean Manufacturing guide companies in making wise tradeoff's between process and productivity.  Following these principles has reliably led to the most efficient and effective manufacturing practices.  In the last decade, Lean Principles have been applied to many other industries, from logistics to construction.

Understanding and following Lean Principles is the best way to find the correct balance between process and productivity, and determine the most effective software development practices.  This talk will present the basic principles of Lean Thinking explain how they can be used to develop efficient and effective software development practices.

About the Speaker:

Mary Poppendieck has over 25 years of experience as an engineer, IT manager, and project manager.  Poppendieck is an expert in both process control and manufacturing systems, is APICS certified and has been a pioneer in implementing Just-in-Time systems. She has led several successful new product development projects, commercializing both software and hardware products.  Her most recent experience is with legacy system conversion, off-shore programming, and iterative deployment.  She is the president of the consulting firm Poppendieck.LLC.

A writer, lecturer and facilitator, Poppendieck has been a popular speaker at Project World, and at Software Development conferences and at XP2002.  She is the author of a two-part article on "Lean Programming" in the Many and June, 2001 issues of Software Development Magazine and a soon to be published article called "Wicked Projects".