A Customer Needs Motivated Conceptual Design Methodology for Product Portfolios

Platform design strategy is currently a very important topic in modern product development; however, current methods do not fully address platform definition with respect to customer needs. Customer satisfaction is the key for survival and it is crucial that the customer be used to differentiate between different variants of a product, also known as a company’s product portfolio. This research explores the utility of high-level customer needs as a direct means to define the product’s base platform and differentiating modules. Our approach is to outline platform and differentiating modules during the conceptual design stage of product development and plan a product portfolio before any embodiment design occurs. Modern design tools such as the Functional Basis, functional modeling and modular heuristics are used in this approach. Based on a case study, a function based and customer need motivated design method for conceptual design of product portfolios is proposed. The developed method is validated by applying the technique to existing products and by comparing the results against known product platforms. Finally, the method is applied to a new product to generate conceptual design of product variants.Copyright © 2004 by ASME

[1]  K. Srinivasan,et al.  Broader product line: a necessity to achieve success? , 1990 .

[2]  Kevin Otto,et al.  Product Design: Techniques in Reverse Engineering and New Product Development , 2000 .

[3]  Steven C. Wheelwright,et al.  Leading Product Development (Управление разработкой продуктов: пособие для старших менеджеров по созданию и формированию предприятия). , 1995 .

[4]  Abbie Griffin,et al.  The Voice of the Customer , 1993 .

[5]  Carliss Y. Baldwin,et al.  Managing in an age of modularity. , 1997, Harvard business review.

[6]  Michael A. Cusumano,et al.  Multiproject strategy, design transfer, and project performance: a survey of automobile development projects in the US and Japan , 1995 .

[7]  Karl T. Ulrich,et al.  Product Design and Development , 1995 .

[8]  B. Kogut,et al.  Technological Platforms and Diversification , 1996 .

[9]  James M. Utterback,et al.  The product family and the dynamics of core capability , 1992 .

[10]  S. Sanderson,et al.  Managing product families: The case of the Sony Walkman , 1995 .

[11]  Matt R. Bohm,et al.  USING PRODUCT ARCHITECTURE-BASED DESIGN METHODS TO GET SMART IN THE BATTLEFIELD , 2003 .

[12]  Robert Stone,et al.  Investigation of Customer Needs Frequency vs. Weight in Product Platform Planning , 2003 .

[13]  Mark V. Martin,et al.  DESIGN FOR VARIETY: DEVELOPMENT OF COMPLEXITY INDICES AND DESIGN CHARTS , 1998 .

[14]  Kristin L. Wood,et al.  Functional Interdependence and Product Similarity Based on Customer Needs , 1999 .

[15]  Lawrence D. Miles,et al.  Techniques Of Value Analysis And Engineering , 1961 .

[16]  Biren Prasad,et al.  Designing products for variety and how to manage complexity , 1998 .

[17]  Aaron D. Little,et al.  Functional Analysis: A Fundamental Empirical Study for Reverse Engineering, Benchmarking, and Redesign , 1997 .

[18]  K. Lancaster.  The Economics of Product Variety: A Survey , 1990 .

[19]  David W. Rosen,et al.  Product Family Configuration Reasoning Using Discrete Design Spaces , 2000 .

[20]  Kristin L. Wood,et al.  A heuristic method for identifying modules for product architectures , 2000 .

[21]  S. Kotha.  Mass Customization: The New Frontier in Business Competition , 1992 .

[22]  Kristin L. Wood,et al.  Development of a Functional Basis for Design , 2000 .

[23]  K. Ulrich,et al.  Planning for Product Platforms , 1998 .

[24]  B. Wilhelm,et al.  Platform and Modular Concepts at Volkswagen — Their Effects on the Assembly Process , 1997 .

[25]  B. J. Pine,et al.  Making mass customization work , 1993 .

[26]  Wolfgang Beitz,et al.  Engineering Design: A Systematic Approach , 1984 .

[27]  Ravindra M. Kurtadikar.  A function based and customer needs motivated conceptual design methodology for design of product platform and product portfolio , 2003 .

[28]  Kevin Otto,et al.  Modularization to Support Multiple Brand Platforms , 2001 .

[29]  Erik Jan Hultink,et al.  4 Product development performance: strategy, organization and management in the world auto industry☆ , 1994 .

[30]  Marc H. Meyer,et al.  The power of product platforms : building value and cost leadership , 1997 .

[31]  W. Souder.  Managing relations between R&D and marketing in new product development projects☆ , 1988 .

[32]  Kosuke Ishii,et al.  DESIGN FOR VARIETY: A METHODOLOGY FOR DEVELOPING PRODUCT PLATFORM ARCHITECTURES , 2000 .

[33]  Niklas Sundgren,et al.  Introducing Interface Management in New Product Family Development , 1999 .

[34]  Robert Stone,et al.  Striking A Balance: Bringing Engineering Disciplines Together For A Senior Design Sequence , 2002 .

[35]  Simon Szykman,et al.  A functional basis for engineering design: Reconciling and evolving previous efforts , 2002 .

[36]  Marc H. Meyer,et al.  Metrics for Managing Research and Development in the Context of the Product Family , 1997 .

[37]  David W. Rosen,et al.  ON THE APPLICABILITY OF PRODUCT VARIETY DESIGN CONCEPTS TO AUTOMOTIVE PLATFORM COMMONALITY , 1998 .

[38]  R. Verma,et al.  Using conjoint analysis to help design product platforms , 1999 .