Product Platform Design and the Gate Model: Lessons From Industry Case Studies

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence P. Chao ◽  
Kosuke Ishii
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Industrial Robot ◽  
Laser Printer ◽  
Product Platform ◽  
Platform Design ◽  
Ac Motor ◽  
Platform Development ◽  
Effective Product ◽  
Product Platform Development ◽  
Globally Distributed

Organizations that seek long-term success no longer depend on just one product but rather a platform of products that target key markets. Time-to-market pressures and globally distributed engineering design environments demand support through life-cycle models, particularly in the early stages of product development, for an effective product platform. Product definition and structured processes such as gate models are necessary in platform design for organizations to focus their effort on developing families of products that share common components and technology. This paper discusses conventions and research directions in different industries, describes methods in use, and explains a roadmap for product platform development. Case studies of laser printer, industrial robot, and AC motor drive controller platform development further explore challenges in platform design and the role of gate models. The paper concludes with gate model lessons and proposed work to further this research including decision analytic and system approaches.

A bottom-up method for module-based product platform development through mapping, clustering and matching analysis

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 623-635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meng Zhang ◽  
Guo-xi Li ◽  
Jian-ping Cao ◽  
Jing-zhong Gong ◽  
Bao-zhong Wu
Keyword(s):  
Product Platform ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Platform Development ◽  
Product Platform Development

Decisions in Product Platform Development Projects

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (01) ◽  
pp. 1550001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter E. Harland ◽  
Haluk Yörür
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Product Variety ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Product Platform ◽  
Product Platforms ◽  
Platform Development ◽  
Product Platform Development

Introducing "product platforms" in companies to achieve competitive advantages, like decreased costs and increased product variety, is a widely recognized strategy in research and industry. Nevertheless, there are certain challenges involved in developing product platforms. In order to address this complexity, we focus on the decision-making perspective of platform development in this paper. Based on a systematic literature review, we identify the decisions in product platform development projects (PPDP) and categorize them. We identified 21 decisions that are made within PPDP, which represent a greater scope of decisions than presented in the literature sources reviewed. The plausibility of these platform project decisions is illustrated with a case study of a perennial platform development project within the automotive supply industry. While most of the literature sources only mention very few decisions, the case study shows the complexity and high number of decisions required for an actual PPDP. In addition, it also recognizes all of the prior reviews of the decisions identified. Unlike in the literature, the decisions in the case study were made over a certain period of time. Therefore, we propose that the dynamics of the decision-making process in PPDP have to be taken into account. The set of PPDP decisions identified will help project managers to structure future PPDPs better and support researchers in building related product platform models.

Linking 10 Years of Modular Design Research: Alternative Methods and Tool Chain Sequences to Support Product Platform Design

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Otto ◽  
Katja Hölttä-Otto ◽  
Timothy W. Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Design Research ◽  
Modular Design ◽  
Alternative Methods ◽  
Product Platform ◽  
Platform Design ◽  
Product Platforms ◽  
Design Activities ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
Generic Set ◽  
Product Platform Development

Modular product platforms have been shown to provide substantial cost and time savings while still allowing companies to offer a variety of products. As a result, a multitude of product platform methods have been developed over the last decade within the design research community. However, comparison and integration of suitable methods is difficult since the methods have, for the most part, been developed in isolation from one another. In reviewing the literature in modularity and product platforms, we create a generic set of twelve platform design activities. We then examine a set of product platform development processes used at several different companies, and from this form a generic sequence of the activities. We then associate the various developed methods to the sequence, thereby enabling the chaining together of the various modular and platform design methods developed by the community.

An integrated approach to technology platform and product platform development

2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoffer E Levandowski ◽  
Daniel Corin-Stig ◽  
Dag Bergsjö ◽  
Anders Forslund ◽  
Ulf Högman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Product Platform ◽  
Technology Platform ◽  
Platform Development ◽  
Product Platform Development
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