AN INTRODUCTION TO INNOVATION ADOPTION THEORIES FOR THE DESIGN OF A PRODUCT FAMILY INFORMATION MANAGEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE

As new computer technologies emerge for the design and development of product platforms, applied theories of innovation diffusion and technology acceptance will become increasingly important for securing user cooperation with an information management system for product families. Incorporation of human factors therein will shorten the time required to reach return on investment and increase the depth and breath of information. The history of innovation adoption theories are explored and extended to include commercially available enterprise management software and the proposed product family infrastructure. Six practices, which can be included in the infrastructure in its experimental stages, are described for improving user likelihood of adoption. One efficient way to reuse design knowledge is by leveraging product platforms. Robertson and Ulrich define a product platform as “the collection of assets [i.e., components, processes, knowledge, people and relationships] that are shared by a set of products” [5]. They point out that “by sharing components and production processes across a platform of products, companies can develop differentiated products efficiently, increase the flexibility and responsiveness of their manufacturing processes, and take market share away from competitors that develop only one product at a time” [5]. An effective product platform strategy puts stress on engineers, though, to recognize and capitalize on those elements. It requires both hindsight to examine previously successful products and foresight to predict the shape and appeal of similar products in the future.