5.6.2 Decision Making in Modular Product Platform Development

In order to achieve larger market share and address individual customer needs, firms are challenged to manage the seemingly contradictory existence of internally low variety and a maximum external variety. One very powerful approach is to use modular product architectures (PA). This permits one to establish product families based on platforms. Using platforms is a common strategy in diverse industries. For development of platform architectures, there are almost infinite possible configurations. There is a need for a framework for evaluation and selection of possible concepts. By evaluating design concepts one is faced with decision-making. To do this, one must make choices over a distinct evaluation method and effective metrics. In this choice, the quality of information is the limiting and determining factor, it is the differentiating characteristic among methods. To show this, diverse methods will be presented and their characteristics and benefits will be discussed.