This research deals with the application of Lean Thinking in the domain of engineering as an example of non-production processes. This research was primarily conducted during the author's work in Engineering at a world leader in railway technology. Therefore, this research represents a case study regarding the assessment of the potential prerequisites of applying the Lean Principles in Product Development. Lean originates from visible and tangible manufacturing processes (Womack & Jones, 1996; Bicheno, 2004) and during the International Motor Vehicle Program (IMVP) between 1985 and 1990, the success of the Lean philosophy was documented (Womack, Jones & Roos, 1990; Lewis, 2000; Holweg, 2007; Parry & Graves, 2008). In its basic theory, Lean Thinking strives for the elimination of non-value adding activities and thus helps to free up time for the real value creating activities in order to deliver a high quality product to the customer right at the first time (Bicheno, 2004) so that Lean contributes to the generation of competitive advantage (Carreira, 2005). The second research focus of this dissertation was time based competition (Stalk & Hout, 1990) as product life cycles shrink continuously (Wheelwright & Clark, 1994). Fierce competition (D'Aveni, 1994; Patt, 1995) forces companies to speed up product creation processes to meet fast changing market needs (Abele et al., 2008). In contrast to the above mentioned production processes, value creation is much more difficult to assess in (invisible) non-production processes (Schuh et al., 2009). The author considered the process of product development as a reference for non- production process. In connection with the second research focus on "time", the author reviewed profound strategies how to increase performance in product development and thus increase quality and reduce times in engineering work (C I ark, Chew & Fujimoto, 1987; Clark & Fujimoto, 1989/ 1991; Cusumano & Nobeoka, 1990; Fujimoto, Iansiti & Clark, 1991; Reinertsen & Smith, 1998).