Design for Variety

1998 ◽  
pp. 103-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Martin ◽  
Warren Hausman ◽  
Kosuke Ishii
Keyword(s):  
Design For Variety

Design for Variety: A Methodology for Understanding the Costs of Product Proliferation

1996 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark V. Martin ◽  
Kosuke Ishii
Keyword(s):  
Indirect Costs ◽  
Product Line ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Profit Margins ◽  
Design For Variety ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Market Coverage ◽  
Product Proliferation ◽  
The Cost

Abstract This paper further develops the previously introduced concept of Design for Variety (DFV). Our study seeks a tool that enables product managers to estimate the cost of introducing variety into their product line. This will help them to maximize market coverage while maintaining required profit margins. Variety incurs many indirect costs that are not always well understood or are difficult to capture. These costs are often not considered by people making the decision about introducing variety. Our DFV model attempts to capture these indirect costs through the measurement of three indices: commonality, differentiation point, and set-up cost. These indices will allow the decision makers to estimate some of the generally unmeasurable costs of providing variety. We conclude this paper by discussing our validation plans for testing the model in industry.

Framework for Generating Modularized Product Designs With Assembly and Variety Considerations

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saraj Gupta ◽  
Gu¨l E. Okudan
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Design ◽  
Personal Experience ◽  
Graph Grammar ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Design For Assembly ◽  
Computational Tools ◽  
Design Alternatives ◽  
Grammar Rules ◽  
Design For Variety ◽  
Two Alternatives

Conceptual design is found to be the most ambiguous and creative phase of design. There exist only a few computational tools that aid designers at conceptual design stage, and mostly designers rely on personal experience or experience of coworkers to generate quality designs. The proposed framework aims at generating robust computerized conceptual designs by incorporating Modularity, Design for Assembly (DFA) and Design for Variety (DFV) principles at the conceptual stage. Conceptual design alternatives obtained from the proposed framework are ranked based on minimum assembly time, and are composed of modules in a way that future changes in customer needs are satisfied only by replacing certain modules. The framework involves searching a design repository of components by using functional-basis and pre-defined graph grammar rules, to generate all possible conceptual design alternatives. These design alternatives are ranked and filtered using a DFA index, and top two alternatives are selected. Selected designs are modularized and filtered using a DFV index to obtain the best design alternative. This paper provides a detailed discussion of the framework obtained by amalgamating Modularity, DFA, and DFV. Working of the proposed framework is demonstrated with the help of an electronic toothbrush design example.

Design for Variety in Lighting

1971 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Aldworth ◽  
D. J. Bridgers
Keyword(s):  
Design For Variety

Assembly and Variety Considerations During Conceptual Design

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saraj Gupta ◽  
Gu¨l E. Okudan
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Design ◽  
Personal Experience ◽  
Graph Grammar ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Computational Tools ◽  
Design Alternatives ◽  
Grammar Rules ◽  
Design For Variety ◽  
Electromechanical Product ◽  
Two Alternatives

Foremost step in the development of any electromechanical product is its design, and conceptual design is the most ambiguous and creative phase of design. There exist only a few computational tools that aid designers at conceptual design stage, and mostly designers rely on personal experience or experience of co-workers to generate quality designs. The proposed framework aims at generating robust computerized conceptual designs by incorporating Modularity, Design for Assembly (DFA) and Design for Variety (DFV) principles at the conceptual stage. Conceptual design alternatives obtained from the proposed framework are ranked based on minimum assembly time, and are composed of modules in a way that future changes in customer needs are satisfied only by replacing certain modules. The framework involves searching a design repository of components by using functional-basis and pre-defined graph grammar rules, to generate all possible conceptual design alternatives. These design alternatives are ranked and filtered using a DFA index, and top two alternatives are selected. Selected designs are modularized and filtered using a DFV index to obtain the best design alternative. This paper provides a detailed discussion of the proposed framework, and its working is illustrated through the design of a mounting system for holding a Variable Message Sign (VMS).

A Selection Framework for Derivative Products

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alvaro J. Rojas ◽  
Marcos Esterman ◽  
Jeanne M. Wesline ◽  
Matthew R. McLaughlin ◽  
Carol-Lynn Goldstein
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
Corporate Strategy ◽  
Concept Generation ◽  
Product Concept ◽  
Product Platforms ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
Design For Variety ◽  
Selection Framework ◽  
Product Strategies ◽  
Derivative Products

Firms today increasingly seek to leverage product platforms via derivative product versions of the base platform, but successfully doing so is a significant challenge. Numerous enablers are required, such as robust product development processes, effective and well trained organizations, R&D activities that are aligned to support product strategies, and a clearly defined corporate strategy. In derivative product development firms struggle to identify the optimum derivatives to develop and bring to market. Evaluating which feature to improve upon, which technologies to incorporate, which markets to pursue, and ultimately which derivative product to develop is an uncertain proposition that has significant implications to future profitability. There majority tools and processes that exist to provide guidance in these activities largely focus on platform development strategies and decisions. A limited number are known to apply specifically to derivative products, after the platform has been design and implemented. This work proposes a derivative product concept generation and selection framework that extends the design for variety methodology to analyze derivative product alternatives.

Computer-Aided Generation of Modular Designs Considering Component End-of-Life Options: Implications for the Supply Chain

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nirup Philip ◽  
Gül E. Okudan ◽  
Karl R. Haapala ◽  
Kyoung-yun Kim
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
New Product Development ◽  
Product Life Cycle ◽  
Computational Design ◽  
Design Tool ◽  
Decomposition Approach ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Life Options ◽  
Design For Variety

Given the growing demand for product customization, modularization is a viable way to reduce the complexity of new product development. This study presents a framework to incorporate component end-of-life options through modularization during the early design stages, to simultaneously account for supply chain factors as well as evaluating design variants. In order to accomplish this, we extend an existing software framework; this software is aimed at creating a computational design tool to aid designers in developing new modular products, by taking into account design for assembly (DfA) and design for variety (DfV). We present an extension to that work where the user has the ability to generate modular designs considering component end-of-life options, and to optimize relevant supplier selections, either to minimize costs or carbon footprint. We compare the results of this modularization with the widely used decomposition approach (DA). Overall, this computational tool enables users to understand the trade-offs between product design and supply chain performance, and the presented investigation on the two modularization methods (DA and Green DA) attests to the implications of design decisions throughout the supply chain and across the product life cycle.

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