Development of a Framework for Web-Based Product Platform Customization

2003 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy W. Simpson ◽  
Karthikeyan Umapathy ◽  
Jyotirmaya Nanda ◽  
Sachin Halbe ◽  
Barry Hodge
Keyword(s):  
Product Family ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Product Variety ◽  
Important Distinction ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Product Platforms ◽  
Customer Involvement ◽  
Development Costs ◽  
Realization Process ◽  
Product Realization

Product customization is a value-added activity that can significantly increase sales by increasing customer satisfaction. Many companies are using product platforms to increase product variety and customization while reducing development costs and time-to-market. While flooding the market with a variety of products may satisfy some customers by providing a substitute for customization, variety is not customization. This subtle, yet important, distinction between variety and customization motivates the need for investigating technologies to facilitate customer involvement during the product realization process, and our focus in this paper is on web-based platform customization strategies enabled by recent advances in information technology. Towards that end, we describe the development of an interactive web-based platform customization framework as an extension of product family design and present a prototype that has been created as part of on-going research with a company that produces customized refiner plates for pulp and paper processing. While the utility of the proposed web-based framework is demonstrated in the context of customizing a refiner plate design, the proposed framework is applicable to a variety of engineered products and enhances customer interaction during the product realization process while reducing design and manufacturing lead-time for custom orders.

Advancements in a Web-Based Framework in Product Family Optimization and Visualization

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica L. Mulberger ◽  
Timothy W. Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Product Family ◽  
Aircraft Design ◽  
Product Variety ◽  
General Aviation ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Product Platforms ◽  
Number Of Customers

Today’s market is becoming increasingly more competitive as companies strive to achieve success by reaching a large number of customers in a mass market while simultaneously treating them as individuals in a customized market. Many companies have begun to appreciate the benefits of using product platforms as they increase the customizability of their offered products, while reducing development costs and time to market. However, product variety is not customization; it is simply an attempt on the part of a company to meet the individual needs of their customers by flooding the market with many variations of the same product. With recent innovations in the field of information technology, web-based product development methodologies provide the capability for advanced customer involvement during the design process, which is a crucial aspect of differentiating customization from variety. Current approaches have provided web-based frameworks where users are offered a limited amount of control in the design process by assembling different configurations of given modules or by choosing a product already available in the company database. The focus in this paper is on advancements to a web-based framework where design parameters are collected from the user by means of a web-based browser interface, optimization is completed using the specified parameters, and a 3D visual representation is dynamically provided based on the results from the optimization. This proposed framework is illustrated using an example from ongoing research involving General Aviation Aircraft design.

Two Methodologies for Identifying Product Platform Elements Within an Existing Set of Products

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth D. Steva ◽  
Elizabeth N. Rice ◽  
Tucker J. Marion ◽  
Timothy W. Simpson ◽  
Robert B. Stone
Keyword(s):  
Product Family ◽  
Product Variety ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Product Families ◽  
Product Platforms ◽  
Design Structure ◽  
Development Costs ◽  
Family Analysis ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Single Use

As companies are pressured to decrease product development costs concurrently with increasing product variety, the need to develop products based upon common components and platforms is growing. Determining why a platform worked, or alternatively why it did not, is an important step in the successful implementation of product families and product platforms in any industry. Unfortunately, published literature on platform identification and product family analysis using product dissection and reverse engineering methods is surprisingly sparse. This paper introduces two platform identification methodologies that use different combinations of tools that can be readily applied based on information obtained directly from product dissection. The first methodology uses only the Bills-of-Materials and Design Structure Matrices while the second utilizes function diagrams, Function-Component Matrices, Product-Vector Matrices, and Design Structure Matrices to perform a more in-depth analysis of the set of products. Both methodologies are used to identify the platform elements in a set of five single-use cameras available in the market. The proposed methodologies identify the film advance and shutter actuation platform elements of the cameras, which include seven distinct components. The results are discussed in detail along with limitations of these two methodologies.

A Product Variety Tradeoff Evaluation Method for a Family of Cordless Drill Transmissions

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn G. Conner ◽  
Joseph P. De Kroon ◽  
Farrokh Mistree
Keyword(s):  
Evaluation Method ◽  
Product Family ◽  
Product Variety ◽  
Product Performance ◽  
Product Platform ◽  
Product Platforms ◽  
Individual Product ◽  
Alternative Product ◽  
Per Se

Abstract In this paper we present the Product Variety Tradeoff Evaluation Method for assessment of alternative product platforms in product family design. The Product Variety Tradeoff Evaluation Method is an attention-directing tool for evaluating tradeoffs between commonality and individual product performance for product platform alternatives with differing levels of commonality. We apply the Product Variety Tradeoff Evaluation Method to a case study in transmission redesign for a family of cordless drills. The emphasis in this paper is placed on the method rather than on the results, per se.

A Unified Information Model for Product Family Design Management

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jyotirmaya Nanda ◽  
Timothy W. Simpson ◽  
Steven B. Shooter ◽  
Robert B. Stone
Keyword(s):  
Description Logic ◽  
Product Family ◽  
Information Model ◽  
Design Management ◽  
Product Families ◽  
Design Information ◽  
Ontology Language ◽  
Information Exploration ◽  
Realization Process ◽  
Product Realization

A flexible information model for systematic development and deployment of product families during all phases of the product realization process is crucial for product-oriented organizations. In this paper we propose a unified information model to capture, share, and organize product design contents, concepts, and contexts across different phases of the product realization process using a web ontology language (OWL) representation. Representing product families by preconceived common ontologies shows promise in promoting component sharing while facilitating search and exploration of design information over various phases and spanning multiple products in a family. Three distinct types of design information, namely, (1) customer needs, (2) product functions, and (3) product components captured during different phases of the product realization process, are considered in this paper to demonstrate the proposed information model. Product vector and function component mapping matrices along with the common ontologies are utilized for designer-initiated information exploration and aggregation. As a demonstration, six products from a family of power tools are represented in OWL DL (Description Logic) format, capturing distinct information needed during the various phases of product realization.

A Prototype Web-Based Custom Product Specification System

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald S. Farrell ◽  
Gary Stump ◽  
Jaeil Park ◽  
Timothy W. Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Product Variety ◽  
Product Line ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Product Platforms ◽  
Design Interfaces ◽  
Infinite Variety ◽  
Product Specification

For companies who must provide customized products on demand, it is important that the voice of the customer be addressed and incorporated early into the design process. Web-based design interfaces have emerged as useful tools to make customer voices interactive and provide a customer-friendly and cost-effective interface. The effectiveness of the interface can be greatly enhanced through implementation of a strategic customization process that can proactively react to customer requests. The design process represents a virtual product line that approaches the goal of providing infinite variety at minimal costs. The process provides a base for a true customization approach, which is different from the typical mass customization approach to provide ample but limited product variety a priori for a targeted market. In this paper, we describe the development of a prototypical custom product specification system and the underlying strategic design process that is based on a collection of product platforms. The development is illustrated using an example from on-going research with a company that produces customized valves for the power industry.

Introduction of a Product Family Penalty Function Using Physical Programming

2002 ◽  
Vol 124 (2) ◽  
pp. 164-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Achille Messac ◽  
Michael P. Martinez ◽  
Timothy W. Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Penalty Function ◽  
Product Family ◽  
Product Variety ◽  
Product Platform ◽  
Product Families ◽  
Physical Programming ◽  
Product Platforms ◽  
Scaling Parameters ◽  
The Common ◽  
Selection Of

In an effort to increase customization for today’s highly competitive global markets, many companies are looking to product families to increase product variety and shorten product lead-times while reducing costs. The key to a successful product family is the common product platform around which the product family is derived. Building on our previous work in product family design, we introduce a product family penalty function (PFPF) in this paper to aid in the selection of common and scaling parameters for families of products derived from scalable product platforms. The implementation of the PFPF utilizes the powerful physical programming paradigm to formulate the problem in terms of physically meaningful parameters. To demonstrate the proposed approach, a family of electric motors is developed and compared against previous results. We find that the PFPF enables us to properly balance commonality and performance within the product family through the judicious selection of the common parameters that constitute the product platform and the scaling parameters used to instantiate the product family.

Design for Mass Customization by Developing Product Family Architecture

1998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitchell M. Tseng ◽  
Jianxin Jiao
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
Mass Customization ◽  
Product Family ◽  
Customer Requirements ◽  
Market Positioning ◽  
Product Families ◽  
Integration Platform ◽  
Product Family Architecture ◽  
Realization Process ◽  
Product Realization

Abstract Mass customization is becoming an important agenda in industry and academia alike. This paper deals with mass customization from a product development perspective. A framework of design for mass customization (DFMC) by developing product family architecture (PFA) is presented. To deal with tradeoffs between diversity of customer requirements and reusability of design and process capabilities, DFMC advocates shifting product development from designing individual products to designing product families. As the core of DFMC, the concept of PFA is developed to assist different functional departments within a manufacturing enterprise to work together cohesively. A PFA describes variety and product families and performs as a generic product platform for product differentiation in which individual customer requirements can be satisfied through systematic decisions of developing product variants. Based on such a PFA, the DFMC framework provides a unifying integration platform for synchronizing market positioning, soliciting customer requirements, increasing reusability, and enhancing manufacturing scale of economy across the entire product realization process.

Toward an Information Management Infrastructure for Product Family Planning and Mass Customization

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven B. Shooter ◽  
Timothy W. Simpson ◽  
Soundar R. T. Kumara ◽  
Robert B. Stone ◽  
Janis P. Terpenny
Keyword(s):  
Family Planning ◽  
Product Development ◽  
Information Management ◽  
New Product Development ◽  
Product Family ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Distributed Resources ◽  
Future Research Directions ◽  
Realization Process ◽  
Product Realization

Complex new product development requires numerous decisions by many individuals and groups, which are often geographically and temporally distributed. There is a need to share and coordinate distributed resources and synchronize decisions, and recent advances in information technology (IT) pose an untapped potential for assisting in the capture, storage, retrieval and facilitated use of product development information. We exploit IT to address this problem through the proposed approach to Product Family Planning. By sharing assets such as components, processes and knowledge across a family of products, companies can efficiently develop differentiated products and increase the flexibility and responsiveness of their product realization process. In this paper we describe our recent efforts in realizing an information management infrastructure for product family planning and platform customization. In particular, we focus on three current research thrusts to identify product platform leveraging strategies to support future product family planning: (1) an evolutionary approach to product platforming, (2) a bottom-up approach to product platforming, and (3) industry-based platform case studies. Future research directions are also outlined.

A Product Family Design Method for Configuration and Spatial Layout Requirements

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
John-Travis Hansen ◽  
David Rosen
Keyword(s):  
Design Method ◽  
Product Family ◽  
Product Variety ◽  
Complex Problem ◽  
Spatial Layout ◽  
Lead Times ◽  
Global Marketplace ◽  
Product Platforms ◽  
Spatial Layouts ◽  
Reducing Costs

Product platforms allow companies to compete in the global marketplace by facilitating product variety, by adding, removing, or substituting components and features across a product family, while reducing costs and lead times. In many cases, developing a common platform involves determining which components are in a product family, their connections, and their spatial layouts. The development of product configurations and layouts is a complex problem and involves both discrete and continuous mathematical processes. This paper presents algorithms and an implementation to address the problem of configuring products and component layouts. The algorithms will describe the processes used to generate the product configurations based on constraints on combinations and the layout of components within the products. The implementation presents software developed to present the algorithms for the configuration and layout processes.

scholarly journals Product platform design and customization: Status and promise

2004 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
TIMOTHY W. SIMPSON
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
Product Family ◽  
Lead Times ◽  
Product Platform ◽  
Product Family Design ◽  
Research Activity ◽  
Global Marketplace ◽  
Product Families ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Product Platforms

In an effort to improve customization for today's highly competitive global marketplace, many companies are utilizing product families and platform-based product development to increase variety, shorten lead times, and reduce costs. The key to a successful product family is the product platform from which it is derived either by adding, removing, or substituting one or more modules to the platform or by scaling the platform in one or more dimensions to target specific market niches. This nascent field of engineering design has matured rapidly in the past decade, and this paper provides a comprehensive review of the flurry of research activity that has occurred during that time to facilitate product family design and platform-based product development for mass customization. Techniques for identifying platform leveraging strategies within a product family are reviewed along with metrics for assessing the effectiveness of product platforms and product families. Special emphasis is placed on optimization approaches and artificial intelligence techniques to assist in the process of product family design and platform-based product development. Web-based systems for product platform customization are also discussed. Examples from both industry and academia are presented throughout the paper to highlight the benefits of product families and product platforms. The paper concludes with a discussion of potential areas of research to help bridge the gap between planning and managing families of products and designing and manufacturing them.

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