Volvo Construction Equipment's Lean PD Implementation

Volvo CE has grown through acquisition since the mid 90’s adding and divesting a number of very different companies along the way. Starting as a Hauler/Loader company in Sweden we have since added Large Excavators, Compact Excavators, Motor Graders, Pavers, Milling, Compaction, Skid Steers, Compact Loaders and Backhoe loaders.

As such the organizations, processes, systems and cultures varied tremendously and created barriers in collaboration. Each “Business Line” was led by a president and supporting functions with clear goals for their owned and specialized product.

In Jan 2009 a very bold step was taken to bind this very diverse group of products together. All companies were bound into one leadership where we could drive harmonization and synergies across the groups.

From this transformation the management realized that this was the time to really attack product development efficiencies and as such a LeadPD program was born. Although we are at the beginning of our journey to becoming learning organization, we thought we could share some of our experiences to date.