The Toyota Product Development System (TPDS) is a Sociotechnical System (STS) divided upon three major areas; Process, People and Tools&Technology as discussed earlier. Hence, this division of three major areas are based upon 13 principles1;
Process
1. Establish Customer-Defined Value to Separate Value-Added from Waste.
2. Front-Load the Product Development Process to Explore Thoroughly Alternative Solutions while there is Maximum Design Space
3. Create a Leveled Product Development Process Flow
4. Utilize Rigorous Standardization to Reduce Variation, and Create Flexibility and Predictable Outcomes.
People
5. Develop a Chief Engineer System to Integrate Development from Start to Finish.
6. Organize to Balance Functional Expertise and Cross-functional Integration.
7. Develop Towering Technical Competence in all Engineers.
8. Fully Integrated Suppliers into the Product Development System.
9. Build in Learning and Continuous Improvement.
10. Build a Culture to Support Excellence and Relentless Improvement.
Tools & Technology
11. Adapt Technology to Fit your People and Process.
12. Align your Organization through Simple, Visual Communication.
13. Use Powerful tools for Standardization and Organizational Learning.
1 Liker, J.K and Morgan, J.M, The Toyota Product Development System: Integrating People, Process and Technology, Productivity Press, 2006