7 Ways
General Information
| Name | 7 Ways |
| Abbreviation | WAY |
| Learning Cost | 60 |
| Playing Cost | 200 |
| Suggested Phases | 2,3 |
Engineers
| Mechanical Engineer | Industrial Design | System Engineer | Electrical Engineer | Production Engineer | Software Engineer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Technique and Issue Views
| BusinessNeeds | Stakeholder | Stakeholder Needs | System Requirements | System Structure Architecture |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✔ |
| System Functional Architecture | Detail Hardware Design | Detail Service Design | Detail Software Design | Manufacturing Operations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ✗ | ✔ | ✔ | ✗ | ✗ |
Technique Traits
| Identify Stakeholders | Elicit Needs | Remove Ambiguity | Layman's Terms | Technical Terms | Teamworkings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Traceability | Prioritizing | Exploring Breadth | Inside the Box | Outside the box | V&V |
| 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
Verification and Validation
| Analysis | Calculus | Inspection | Demonstration | Test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
Description
The 7 ways technique is a brainstorming tool that is used to encourage a team to stretch their creativity by them come up with 7 different ideas to accomplish a given function [1]. Often, 7 is number that is hard to reach which forces the team to think of creative and innovative solutions, and forces the team to think out of the box. 7 ways originates as part of 3P (Production Preparation Process )[4], which is an integral element of the Lean design process. 3P was developed to spike innovation, by embracing multi-disciplinary communication.[3] The technique is applicable to close to all disciplines.
