Virtual Supply Chain Configuration for Product Families: Conceptualization and Formalism

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qianli Xu ◽  
Jianxin Roger Jiao ◽  
Petri Helo
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Mass Customization ◽  
Reference Model ◽  
Formal Semantics ◽  
Product Family ◽  
Product Families ◽  
Decision Factors ◽  
Assembly To Order ◽  
Product And Process

The rationale of product families for mass customization has attracted much attention from both academia and industry alike. While the product family strategy facilitates product differentiation and customization, it inevitably leads to a high variety issue in the downstream fulfillment process. In particular, when assembly-to-order and outsourcing become common practices, the supply chain decisions are deemed to be very complicated in order to accommodate the diverse product and process variants associated with product families. With focus on variety management, this paper proposes a virtual supply chain (VSC) configuration concept. The general gist is to manage various supply chain variants under a generic umbrella. It emphasizes the conceptualization and modeling of VSC to enhance the power of variety handling, with respect to supply chains, as well as products and processes. A domain-based reference model is employed to identify and coordinate the decision factors of supply chains. These decision factors are used to model the VSC based on formal semantics and object-oriented modeling techniques. The management of supply chain variety is formulated as the VSC configuration problem, and is coped with variety handlers and their states. A case study of electrical motor global supply chains is reported. It is demonstrated that the generic characteristics of VSC excel in coordinating the decisions regarding product, process and supply chains towards mass customization.

Optimal Kinematics Design of an Industrial Robot Family

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan O¨lvander ◽  
Xiaolong Feng ◽  
Bo Holmgren
Keyword(s):  
Mass Customization ◽  
Industrial Robot ◽  
Product Family ◽  
Industrial Robots ◽  
Mathematical Framework ◽  
Product Family Design ◽  
Product Families ◽  
The Common ◽  
Object Of Study ◽  
Common Platform

Product family design is a well recognized method to address the demands of mass customization. A potential drawback of product families is that the performance of individual members are reduced due to the constraints added by the common platform, i.e. parts and components need to be shared by other family members. This paper presents a formal mathematical framework where the product family design problem is stated as an optimization problem and where optimization is used to find an optimal product family. The object of study is kinematics design of a family of industrial robots. The robot is a serial manipulator where different robots share arms from a common platform. The objective is to show the trade-off between the size of the common platform and the kinematics performance of the robot.

Achieving automotive suppliers’ mass customization through modularity

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 306-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qun Wu ◽  
Kun Liao ◽  
Xiaodong Deng ◽  
Erika Marsillac
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Information Sharing ◽  
Mass Customization ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Automotive Suppliers ◽  
Product And Process ◽  
Role Of Information

Purpose Previous literature tends to combine postponement and modularity or view them as parallel factors to achieve mass customization (MC) while ignoring the sequence of a firm to design and implement operations and supply chain strategy. Based on a customer-oriented strategy and theories of organizational information processing theory, three-dimensional (3D) concurrent engineering and resource dependency, the purpose of this paper is to propose a sequential model reflecting the sequence of practices as well as an overview picture for a firm to achieve MC. Design/methodology/approach The model links three company antecedents – postponement orientation, operational alignment and information sharing, to three company supply chain practices – product and process modularity and supplier segmentation. These practices, in turn, lead to the company’s MC capabilities. The proposed model is tested with a data set collected from automotive suppliers in China and in the USA. Structural equation modeling is used to analyze the data and test the model. Findings The results suggest that, for suppliers to achieve MC, postponement orientation and operational alignment are vital antecedents. The results also reveal the important responsibility and role of information sharing practices in coordinating suppliers’ modularity practices. Originality/value This research provides three findings that are of value to both academicians and practitioners of supply chain management. First, this study originally proposed and empirically tested that a postponement orientation is an antecedent of product and process modularity and supplier segmentation to achieve MC in the automotive sector, contrary to the traditional view of parallel relationships for both. Second, it developed and verified measures of operational alignment and supplier segmentation for future research use. Third, the vital role of information sharing to coordinate internal and external supply chain practices to achieve MC is empirically supported.

Complexity Analysis of Assembly Supply Chain Configurations

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Wang ◽  
Xiaowei Zhu ◽  
S. Jack Hu ◽  
Yoram Koren
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Mass Customization ◽  
Analytical Study ◽  
Complexity Analysis ◽  
Product Variety ◽  
Entropy Theory ◽  
Modular Assembly ◽  
Supply Chain Configuration ◽  
Assembly Constraints

This paper studies the complexity of assembly supply chains in mass customization environment. The high product variety from mass customization increases the complexity of assembly supply chains. The paper identifies the factors causing supply chain complexity and defines a complexity measure of an assembly supply chain based on these factors and the information entropy theory. Algorithms that determine the optimal supply chain configuration are developed to minimize the supply chain complexity (without and with assembly constraints). This analytical study of supply chain complexity will generate new insights on the influence of product variety on supply chains performance in mass customization. The model and algorithms developed in this paper can assist in making decisions such as when and how to implement a modular assembly supply chain and how much variety should be economically offered.

Open Source Supply Chains

2012 ◽  
pp. 74-102
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Reference Model ◽  
Life Cycle Management ◽  
Complex Products ◽  
Business Cases ◽  
Application Programming ◽  
Related Application ◽  
Programming Interfaces

This chapter deals with an ambitious Management Information System goal: the creation of open source supply chains. It starts with some basics and background for the open (source) supply chains, discusses relevant architectures and modelling work, proceeds to an analysis of real-world business cases and the related application scenarios, and presents an open source reference model. In current e-commerce frameworks, the issue of dynamic supply chain establishment and supply chain life cycle management is still misrepresented and not addressed adequately. Registration, advertisement, and change management for complex products and services heavily relies on proprietary application programming interfaces and protocols as well as emerging and partially competing (pseudo)standards.

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.

scholarly journals Mass Customization's Missing Link

2011 ◽  
Vol 133 (04) ◽  
pp. 32-35
Author(s):  
David M. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Mass Customization ◽  
Design Strategy ◽  
Product Families ◽  
Missing Link ◽  
Supply Chain Strategy ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Production Strategy ◽  
Customized Products ◽  
Flexible Processes

This article focuses on the missing link in mass customization. Mass customization has not really caught on yet because of a missing link—knowing how to actually design and build mass-customized products. The solution is concurrently engineering product families and flexible processes so any product variation within a family can be built on-demand using common parts that are always available. Accomplishing this requires some new and different strategies: production strategy, supply chain strategy, design strategy, and marketing strategy. The production strategy aims to build any variation in a product family on demand economically, which requires versatile flexible processes without expensive setup charges or delays. Supply chain strategy assures that all parts, modules, and materials must be always nearby and spontaneously resupplied by using some specific techniques. Design strategy concurrently engineers the design of the product families and their flexible processes to build customized products on-demand from common parts and materials. Marketing strategy identifies product families that have a need for mass-customized products and can be economically built on demand.

scholarly journals Revenue-Sharing Contract Models for Logistics Service Supply Chains with Mass Customization Service

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weihua Liu ◽  
Xuan Zhao ◽  
Runze Wu
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Mass Customization ◽  
Supply Chain Coordination ◽  
Revenue Sharing ◽  
Logistics Service ◽  
Revenue Sharing Contract ◽  
One To One ◽  
The One ◽  
Service Supply Chains

The revenue-sharing contract is one of the most important supply chain coordination contracts; it has been applied in various supply chains. However, studies related to service supply chains with mass customization (MC) are lacking. Considering the equity of benefit distribution between the members of service supply chains, in this paper, we designed two revenue-sharing contracts. The first contract for the maximum equity of a single logistics service integrator (LSI) and single functional logistics service provider (FLSP) in a two-echelon logistics service supply chain was designed by introducing the fair entropy function (“one to one” model). Furthermore, the method is extended to a more complex supply chain, which consists of a single LSI and multiple FLSPs. A new contract was designed not only for considering the equity of an LSI and each FLSP but also for the equity between each FLSP (“one toN” model). The “one to one” model in three-echelon LSSC is also provided. The result exemplifies that, whether in the “one to one” model or “one toN” model, there exists a best interval of customized level when the revenue-sharing coefficient reaches its maximum.

Open Variant Process Models in Supply Chains

2011 ◽  
pp. 77-105
Author(s):  
C. Engelhardt-Nowitzki
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Mass Customization ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Supply Chain Design ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Industry Standard ◽  
Systems Implementation ◽  
Scor Model

The following chapter will elaborate on complexity in supply chains and the implications on supply chain design. It investigates the specific requirements of supply chain processes in terms of flexibility versus standardization, evaluating the feasibility of designing, customizing, assessing, and improving logistics processes within a framework provided by process reference models. Mass customization and, in particular, the configuration approach developed by Winter for financial services will be discussed for their applicability for reducing complexity in a process environment. Process reference frameworks will be used as elements of an “open variant process model”. The Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) model defined by the Supply Chain Council as the major cross-industry standard for supply chain management will be discussed for its usefulness and shortcomings in “process mass customization”, with a focus on systems implementation.

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