The following objectives will be met in order to realize the project Vision:

• Identify the added value activities in product development through surveying and analyzing the state of the art in Lean Product & Process development and synthesizing industrial best practices.
• Develop generic tools for product development value mapping and lean assessment.
• Develop an approach for knowledge acquisition, re-use and creation to enable a knowledge-based environment for product development.
• Develop a set-based process and tools to ensure the design of lean products, which could be manufactured in a lean manufacturing environment.
• Develop a System Architecture Reference Model that will guide manufacturing companies in implementing Knowledge Based Engineering (KBE) system to enable a lean development process and lean product designs.
• Develop a new product & process development model that is lean and validate it through industrial case studies.
• Propose a route map for the incorporation of the model into organizations at different levels of development.