A Methodology to Support Product Family Redesign Using Genetic Algorithm and Commonality Indices

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henri J. Thevenot ◽  
Jyotirmaya Nanda ◽  
Timothy W. Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Algorithm ◽  
Product Family ◽  
Product Line ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Component Level ◽  
Product Families ◽  
Overall Design ◽  
Family Level ◽  
Systematic Methodology ◽  
Commonality Index

Many of today’s manufacturing companies are using platform-based product development to realize families of products with sufficient variety to meet customers’ demands while keeping costs relatively low. The challenge when designing or redesigning a product family is in resolving the tradeoff between product commonality and distinctiveness. Several methodologies have been proposed to redesign existing product families; however, a problem with most of these methods is that they require a considerable amount of information that is not often readily available, and hence their use has been limited. In this research, we propose a methodology to help designers during product family redesign. This methodology is based on the use of a genetic algorithm and commonality indices - metrics to assess the level of commonality within a product family. Unlike most other research in which the redesign of a product family is the result of many human computations, the proposed methodology reduces human intervention and improves accuracy, repeatability, and robustness of the results. Moreover, it is based on data that is relatively easy to acquire. As an example, a family of computer mice is analyzed using the Product Line Commonality Index. Recommendations are given at the product family level (assessment of the overall design of the product family), and at the component level (which components to redesign and how to redesign them). The methodology provides a systematic methodology for product family redesign.

A Metric for Evaluating Design Commonality in Product Families

1998 ◽  
Vol 122 (4) ◽  
pp. 403-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sridhar Kota ◽  
Kannan Sethuraman ◽  
Raymond Miller
Keyword(s):  
Product Family ◽  
Objective Measure ◽  
Value Added ◽  
New Product ◽  
Product Line ◽  
Product Complexity ◽  
Product Families ◽  
Market Strategy ◽  
Customer Base ◽  
Market Needs

Many companies develop a market strategy built around a family of products. These companies regularly add new product variations to the family in order to meet changing market needs or to attract a broader customer base. Although the core functionality remains essentially unchanged across the products within a family, new functions, feature combinations and technologies are incorporated into each new product. If allowed to grow unchecked, these component variations, commonly referred to as “complexity”, can result in a loss of productivity or quality. The challenge lies in an effective management of product variations in the design studio and on the manufacturing floor. The key is to minimize non-value added variations across models within a product family without limiting customer choices. In this paper we discuss the factors that contribute to product complexity in general, and present an objective measure, called the Product Line Commonality Index, to capture the level of component commonality in a product family. Through our Walkman case study, we present a simple yet powerful method of benchmarking product families1. This method gauges the family’s ability to share parts effectively (modularity) and to reduce the total number of parts (multi-functionality). [S1050-0472(00)02704-5]

Application of Product Line Commonality Index (PCI) in a Family of Products

2014 ◽  
Vol 564 ◽  
pp. 650-655 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Oliver Rubio ◽  
O. Julian Mora ◽  
G. Alvaro Guarin ◽  
I. Pablo Carrizosa
Keyword(s):  
Product Family ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Product Line ◽  
Effective Management ◽  
Aesthetic Appearance ◽  
Design And Manufacturing ◽  
Bicycle Frame ◽  
Market Needs ◽  
Commonality Index

Currently many companies base their marketing strategy around a family of products. Thus, they regularly add new variations to products in order to meet changing market needs, or to attract new customers. Although the basic functionality remains unchanged across products, new features, aesthetic appearance and technologies are incorporated in each new product. This if it is not checked, can generate the “complexity of the product,” which leads to a loss of productivity or quality. Thus, the effective management of product variations in design and manufacturing is challenging. The key is minimizing the non-value added variations through models within a range of options without limiting customers. This article discusses the factors that contribute to the "complexity of the product” and this is done through the product line commonality index (PCI) , which measures the level of common parts in a product family. A case study of bicycle frame displays its implementation and functionality. The index shows the possibility that the products in a family share parts effectively (modularity) and reduces the total number of parts (multifunctionality).

An Extension of the Commonality Index for Product Family Optimization

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aida Khajavirad ◽  
Jeremy J. Michalek
Keyword(s):  
Product Family ◽  
Companion Paper ◽  
Manufacturing Cost ◽  
Discrete Problem ◽  
Product Lines ◽  
Product Families ◽  
Continuous Space ◽  
Product Family Optimization ◽  
Gradient Based ◽  
Commonality Index

One critical aim of product family design is to offer distinct variants that attract a variety of market segments while maximizing the number of common parts to reduce manufacturing cost. Several indices have been developed for measuring the degree of commonality in existing product lines to compare product families or assess improvement of a redesign. In the product family optimization literature, commonality metrics are used to define the multi-objective tradeoff between commonality and individual variant performance. These metrics for optimization differ from indices in the first group: While the optimization metrics provide desirable computational properties, they generally lack the desirable properties of indices intended to act as appropriate proxies for the benefits of commonality, such as reduced tooling and supply chain costs. In this paper, we propose a method for computing the commonality index introduced by Martin and Ishii using the available input data for any product family without predefined configuration. The proposed method for computing the commonality index, which was originally defined for binary formulations (common / not common), is relaxed to the continuous space in order to solve the discrete problem with a series of continuous relaxations, and the effect of relaxation on the metric behavior is investigated. Several relaxation formulations are examined, and a new function with desirable properties is introduced and compared with prior formulations. The new properties of the proposed metric enable development of an efficient and robust single-stage gradient-based optimization of the joint product family platform selection and design problem, which is examined in a companion paper.

Towards Modeling the Evolution of Product Families

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fujun Wang ◽  
Steven J. Fenves ◽  
Rachuri Sudarsan ◽  
Ram D. Sriram
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Unified Modeling Language ◽  
Product Family ◽  
Modeling Language ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Product Model ◽  
Product Families ◽  
Unified Modeling ◽  
Development Costs ◽  
Initial Research

A strategy successfully used by manufacturing companies is to develop product families so as to offer a variety of products with reduced development costs. This paper introduces our initial research on the representation of the evolution of product families and of the rationale of the changes involved. The information model representing product families is an extension of the NIST Core Product Model and consists of three submodels: Product Family, Family Evolution, and Evolution Rationale. In addition, a Unified Modeling Language (UML)-based representation and a prototype implementation of the conceptual model are introduced.

Recommending a Platform Leveraging Strategy Based on the Homogeneous or Heterogeneous Nature of a Product Line

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabrice Alizon ◽  
Steven B. Shooter ◽  
Timothy W. Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
Product Family ◽  
Product Line ◽  
Levels Of Abstraction ◽  
Product Families ◽  
The Family ◽  
Heterogeneous Nature ◽  
Single Use ◽  
And Function ◽  
Blue Jeans

Platform-based product development depends on many factors, including technology, cost, competition, and life cycle considerations, and many companies would benefit from knowing more about the nature of their product families and how they impact platform-based product development. We assert that the development of a product platform and its derivative family of products is also impacted by the homogenous/heterogeneous nature of the products being developed, which has received little attention in the engineering literature. The current study introduces an original metric for assessing the homogeneity/heterogeneity in a given family: the Homogeneity versus Heterogeneity Ratio (HHR), which works at two levels of abstraction, namely, family and function. This study focuses on the platform leveraging strategy and takes an interest in two other aspects of platform development: the specification of the family and the necessary differentiation. To support platform design, the HHRfamily and HHRfunction metrics quantify the ratio of homogeneity/heterogeneity in the family to recommend a platform leveraging strategy by highlighting homogeneous functions that support platform leveraging. Reverse engineering helps us to retroactively study three types of families (power tools, single-use cameras, and blue jeans) using HHRfamily and HHRfunction. In particular, we demonstrate: (1) quantification of the homogeneity/heterogeneity of a family of products based on their functions; (2) recommendation of a leveraging strategy based on HHR; (3) a new leveraging strategy, the combined leveraging strategy via cross leveraging; (4) how HHR can help designers to validate the product family specification; and (5) how HHR can highlight needs to differentiate a family of products other than through functions.

Managing Variety in Product Families Through Design for Commonality

1998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sridhar Kota ◽  
Kannan Sethuraman
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Product Family ◽  
Objective Measure ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Product Variety ◽  
New Product ◽  
Product Line ◽  
Product Portfolio ◽  
Product Complexity ◽  
Product Families

Abstract Majority of companies develop a family of products and many new product variations are added to the product portfolio regularly to meet changing market needs and/or to attract new customer base. Although, the core functionality remains essentially unchanged across all products within a family, new functions, new feature combinations and new technologies are incorporated into each new product. The component variations, commonly referred to as “complexity”, grow exponentially resulting in loss of productivity and/or quality. The challenge lies in effective management of product variations in the design studies and on the manufacturing floor. The key is to minimize non-value added variations across models within a product family without limiting customer choices. Although the benefits of standardization are widely known and most companies do standardize stock components such as fasteners, they are far from standardizing their product -specific core components and thus fail to reap significant benefits in quality and cost. Through this research, we are developing new methodologies for improved management of product variety to achieve higher productivity. In this paper, we discuss the factors that contribute to product complexity in general, and present an objective measure, called the Product Line Commonality Index, to capture the level of part commonality in a product family. Through our Walkman case study, we illustrate robust design/manufacturing strategies, including modularity and postponement of product differentiation, that help minimize non-value added variation across models within a product family1 without limiting customer choices. Finally, we present a simple and yet a powerful method of benchmarking product families or companies in their ability to share parts effectively (modularity) and reduce the total number of parts (multi-functionality) used in product families.

Using Product Dissection to Integrate Product Family Design Research Into the Classroom and Improve Students’ Understanding of Platform Commonality

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy W. Simpson ◽  
Henri J. Thevenot
Keyword(s):  
Design Research ◽  
Product Family ◽  
Product Line ◽  
Product Family Design ◽  
Graduate Course ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Commonality Index

In this paper we describe a product dissection activity that has been developed for a graduate course on product family design to improve students’ understanding of platform commonality. Last spring, the product dissection activity served a second purpose, namely, it provided an opportunity to engage students in product family design research in the classroom by having them participate in a study to evaluate the variability in the Product Line Commonality Index (PCI), a commonality index from the literature. The product dissection activity consisted of five teams dissecting and analyzing three different families of products, each containing four products. Based on their results, we identified three main sources of the variability that occur during the dissection of the products and calculation of the PCI: different levels of dissection, parts omitted from the analysis, and different values for the factors used to compute the PCI. Recommendations for reducing the variability are given based on our findings. Finally, an assessment of the students’ learning reveals that the activity significantly improved their understanding of platform commonality.

A Comparison of Commonality Indices for Product Family Design

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henri J. Thevenot ◽  
Timothy W. Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Product Family ◽  
Individual Performance ◽  
The Other ◽  
Product Family Design ◽  
Global Marketplace ◽  
Manufacturing Costs ◽  
Product Families ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Compare And Contrast ◽  
Commonality Index

Today’s highly competitive and global marketplace is redefining the way companies do business: many companies are being faced with the challenge of providing as much variety as possible for the market with as little variety as possible between products. In order to achieve this, product families have been developed, allowing the realization of a sufficient variety of products to meet the customers’ demands while keeping costs relatively low. The challenge when designing a family of products is in resolving the tradeoff between product commonality and distinctiveness: if commonality is too high, products lack distinctiveness, and their individual performance is not optimized; on the other hand, if commonality is too low, manufacturing costs will increase dramatically. Toward this end, several commonality indices have been proposed to assess the amount of commonality within a product family. In this paper, we compare and contrast six of the commonality indices from the literature based on their ease of data collection, repeatability and consistency. Eight families of products are dissected and analyzed, and the commonality of each product family is computed using each commonality index. The results are then analyzed and compared, and recommendations are given on their usefulness for product family design. This study lays a foundation for understanding the relationship between different platform leveraging strategies and the resulting degree of commonality within a product family.

scholarly journals Design of Personalized Devices—The Tradeoff between Individual Value and Personalization Workload

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 241
Author(s):  
Juliane Kuhl ◽  
Andreas Ding ◽  
Ngoc Tuan Ngo ◽  
Andres Braschkat ◽  
Jens Fiehler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Customer Value ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Treatment Success ◽  
Product Family ◽  
Flow Diverter ◽  
New Method ◽  
Product Families ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Individual Value

Personalized medical devices adapted to the anatomy of the individual promise greater treatment success for patients, thus increasing the individual value of the product. In order to cater to individual adaptations, however, medical device companies need to be able to handle a wide range of internal processes and components. These are here referred to collectively as the personalization workload. Consequently, support is required in order to evaluate how best to target product personalization. Since the approaches presented in the literature are not able to sufficiently meet this demand, this paper introduces a new method that can be used to define an appropriate variety level for a product family taking into account standardized, variant, and personalized attributes. The new method enables the identification and evaluation of personalizable attributes within an existing product family. The method is based on established steps and tools from the field of variant-oriented product design, and is applied using a flow diverter—an implant for the treatment of aneurysm diseases—as an example product. The personalization relevance and adaptation workload for the product characteristics that constitute the differentiating product properties were analyzed and compared in order to determine a tradeoff between customer value and personalization workload. This will consequently help companies to employ targeted, deliberate personalization when designing their product families by enabling them to factor variety-induced complexity and customer value into their thinking at an early stage, thus allowing them to critically evaluate a personalization project.

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