Product Family Deployment Strategies under Different Types of Product Variety Design Circumstances

DS 58-4: Proceedings of ICED 09, the 17th International Conference on Engineering Design, Vol. 4, Product and Systems Design, Palo Alto, CA, USA, 24.-27.08.2009

Year: 2009
Editor: Norell Bergendahl, M.; Grimheden, M.; Leifer, L.; Skogstad, P.; Lindemann, U.
Author: Fujita, Kikuo; Akai, Ryota; Amaya, Hirofumi
Series: ICED
Section: Product and Systems Design
Page(s): 215-226

Abstract

As product variety design has become an effective framework for mass customization, product platform and family design has been intensively studied in the last two decades. While their focuses have been put mainly on consumer products, their possibilities must be spread over various kinds of products, which are under different time frames. This paper prospects the possibilities of design methodologies for expanding product variety design to such wider meaning. For the purpose, how product family deployment under given product platforms are affected by types of product variety design circumstances and what strategies should be used for respective types are discussed. Firstly, the relationships among platform design, product family development and market mechanisms are reviewed. Secondly, product design circumstances are categorized into four types under the matrix by the scale of investment and the scale of production, and product variety design circumstances are investigated respectively under the categorized types. Thirdly, some practical cases are analyzed for validating such investigation. Finally, research agendas for optimal design methodologies are argued.

Keywords: Product Family, Product Platform, Design Strategy, Product Variety Design, Optimal Design Framework

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