Reconfigurable products and manufacturing systems have enabled manufacturers to provide ＂cost effective＂ variety to the market. In spite of these new technologies, the expense of manufacturing makes it infeasible to...Reconfigurable products and manufacturing systems have enabled manufacturers to provide ＂cost effective＂ variety to the market. In spite of these new technologies, the expense of manufacturing makes it infeasible to supply all the possible variants to the market for some industries. Therefore, the determination of the right number of product variantsto offer in the product portfolios becomes an important consideration. The product portfolio planning problem had been independently well studied from marketing and engineering perspectives. However, advantages can be gained from using a concurrent marketing and engineering approach. Concurrent product development strategies specifically for reconfigurable products and manufacturing systems can allow manufacturers to select best product portfolios from marketing, product design and manufacturing perspectives. A methodology for the concurrent design of a product portfolio and assembly system is presented. The objective of the concurrent product portfolio planning and assembly system design problem is to obtain the product variants that will make up the product portfolio such that oversupply of optional modules is minimized and the assembly line efficiency is maximized. Explicit design of the assembly system is obtained during the solution of the problem. It is assumed that the demand for optional modules and the assembly times for these modules are known a priori. A genetic algorithm is used in the solution of the problem. The basic premise of this methodology is that the selected product portfolio has a significant impact on the solution of the assembly line balancing problem. An example is used to validate this hypothesis. The example is then further developed to demonstrate how the methodology can be used to obtain the optimal product portfolio. This approach is intended for use by manufacturers during the early design stages of product family design.展开更多
A fundamental criterion for reusing and continuously improving knowledge in product development is ensuring that the knowledge is explicit and visual.This paper is based on the situation of an engineer-to-order（ETO）...A fundamental criterion for reusing and continuously improving knowledge in product development is ensuring that the knowledge is explicit and visual.This paper is based on the situation of an engineer-to-order（ETO） manufacturing company,where historically grown product variety and related knowledge are diffuse（tacit）.Consequently,several resources are used in（re）developing derivatives of previous products rather than innovating new ones.To establish a more competitive configure-to-order（CTO） product strategy,product knowledge needs to be revealed,systemized,and structured,and thus made explicit.Hence,product-specific knowledge and product variants have been analyzed and subsequently mapped at architectural,functional,and physical levels in one unified map and tested in the form of a proof-of-concept（POC）demonstrator with the introduced SME company.The result is a product portfolio map that forms a base for defining a systemized,transparent,unified product variant overview,which can be used as a basis for implementing a cross-variant product architecture and supporting knowledge-based approaches.展开更多
文摘Reconfigurable products and manufacturing systems have enabled manufacturers to provide ＂cost effective＂ variety to the market. In spite of these new technologies, the expense of manufacturing makes it infeasible to supply all the possible variants to the market for some industries. Therefore, the determination of the right number of product variantsto offer in the product portfolios becomes an important consideration. The product portfolio planning problem had been independently well studied from marketing and engineering perspectives. However, advantages can be gained from using a concurrent marketing and engineering approach. Concurrent product development strategies specifically for reconfigurable products and manufacturing systems can allow manufacturers to select best product portfolios from marketing, product design and manufacturing perspectives. A methodology for the concurrent design of a product portfolio and assembly system is presented. The objective of the concurrent product portfolio planning and assembly system design problem is to obtain the product variants that will make up the product portfolio such that oversupply of optional modules is minimized and the assembly line efficiency is maximized. Explicit design of the assembly system is obtained during the solution of the problem. It is assumed that the demand for optional modules and the assembly times for these modules are known a priori. A genetic algorithm is used in the solution of the problem. The basic premise of this methodology is that the selected product portfolio has a significant impact on the solution of the assembly line balancing problem. An example is used to validate this hypothesis. The example is then further developed to demonstrate how the methodology can be used to obtain the optimal product portfolio. This approach is intended for use by manufacturers during the early design stages of product family design.
文摘A fundamental criterion for reusing and continuously improving knowledge in product development is ensuring that the knowledge is explicit and visual.This paper is based on the situation of an engineer-to-order（ETO） manufacturing company,where historically grown product variety and related knowledge are diffuse（tacit）.Consequently,several resources are used in（re）developing derivatives of previous products rather than innovating new ones.To establish a more competitive configure-to-order（CTO） product strategy,product knowledge needs to be revealed,systemized,and structured,and thus made explicit.Hence,product-specific knowledge and product variants have been analyzed and subsequently mapped at architectural,functional,and physical levels in one unified map and tested in the form of a proof-of-concept（POC）demonstrator with the introduced SME company.The result is a product portfolio map that forms a base for defining a systemized,transparent,unified product variant overview,which can be used as a basis for implementing a cross-variant product architecture and supporting knowledge-based approaches.
