Product Platform and Product Family Design

Overview of Lecture

• Recap of the book

• What we covered and what we did not…
• …and other books of interest

• Current/future directions in platform/family design

• Excerpts from:
• Simpson, T. W., Marion, T. J., de Weck, O., Holtta-Otto, K., Kokkolaras, M. and Shooter, S. B. (2006) Platform-Based Design and Development: Current Trends and Needs in Industry, 2006 ASME Design Engineering Technical Conferences - Design Automation Conference, Philadelphia, PA, ASME, Paper No. DETC2006/DAC-99229

• The Model T as the “model” platform

• Excerpts from:
• Alizon, F., Shooter, S. B. and Simpson, T. W. (2008) Henry Ford and the Model T: Lessons for Product Platforming and Mass Customization, 2009 ASME Design Engineering Technical Conferences - Design Automation Conference, Saitou, K., ed., New York, NY, August 3-6, ASME, DETC2008/DAC-49420 to appear in Design Studies (2009)

Product Platform and Product Family Design

• Editors:

• Timothy W. Simpson, Zahed Siddique, & Jianxin (Roger) Jiao

• Year of Publication:

• 2005

• Publisher:

• Springer (New York)

• Focus:

• Methods for designing product platforms and product families

Target Audience

• Our target audience includes:

• 1. Researchers and Ph.D. students in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Computer-Integrated Manufacturing, and related fields in Engineering Management
• 2. Practitioners involved in Design, Development, Planning and Production in the manufacturing industry

• We wanted to provide an overview of the more mature research that has occurred, emphasizing methods for:

• developing platform architectures
• identifying platform leveraging strategies
• positioning products within a family
• planning the extent of the product family
• optimizing families of products based on platforms

• including platform case studies form industry

Contributing Authors

• Over 30 authors contributed 22 chapters

• Authors span academia as well as industry:

• Penn State, MIT, Georgia Tech, Michigan, BYU, Bucknell, UIUC, University of Oklahoma
• Osaka University, Nanyang Technological University, University of Twente, Chalmers University of Technology
• ABB, PRTM, Robust Systems & Strategy, Infotiv, Hofer & Partner, KPMG Advisory Services

• National and international contributors from:

• United States, Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Malta, Japan, Singapore

Chapter 1: Introduction & Overview

• Chapter 1 

• Product Variety and Customization
• Definitions of Platforms and Product Families
• General Approaches to Platform Design
• Module-Based Product Families and Examples
• Scale-Based Product Families and Examples
• Discuss Organization of the Book

• Authors:

• Timothy W. Simpson, Penn State University
• Zahed Siddique, Oklahoma University
• Jianxin (Roger) Jiao, Nanyang Technological University (Singapore)

Pictorial Overview (Chapter 1)

Part I: Front-End Issues in Platforming

• Chapters 2-7

• 2: Effective Platform Planning in the Front-End 
• Daniel Bowman, PRTM
• 3: Platform-Driven Development of Product Families 
• Johannes I. M. Halman, University of Twente (Netherlands), Adrian P. Hofer, Hofer & Partner (Switzerland), and Wim van Vuuren, KPMG Advisory Services (Malta)
• 4: Platform Concept Selection 
• Katja Hölttä-Otto, MIT (UMass-Dartmouth) with Kevin Otto, Robust Systems and Strategy
• 5: Platform Leveraging Strategies and Market Segmentation 
• Tucker Marion and Timothy W. Simpson, Penn State University
• 6: Product Family Positioning
• Jianxin Jiao and Yiyang Zhang, Nanyang Technological University (Singapore)
• 7: Commonality Indices for Product Families 
• Henri J. Thevenot and Timothy W. Simpson, Penn State University

Part II: Optimization-Based Approaches

• Chapters 8-12

• 8: Methods for Optimizing Platforms and Families 
• Timothy W. Simpson, Penn State University
• 9: Commonality Decisions in Platform Design
• Michael Kokkolaras, Ryan Fellini, and Panos Y. Papalambros, University of Michigan
• 10: Product Variety Optimization
• Kikuo Fujita, Osaka University (Japan)
• 11: Analytical Target Cascading in Product Family Design
• Ryan Fellini, Michael Kokkolaras, and Panos Y. Papalambros, University of Michigan, with Harrison H. Kim from UIUC
• 12: Determining Product Platform Extent 
• Olivier de Weck, MIT

Part III: Back-End Issues in Platforming

• Chapters 13-18

• 13: Roadmap for Product Architecture Costing
• Sebastian K. Fixson, University of Michigan
• 14: Activity-Based Costing for Product Families
• Jaeil Park and Timothy W. Simpson, Penn State University
• 15: Product Platform Redesign using Platforms
• Zahed Siddique, University of Oklahoma
• 16: Process Platforms and Product Configuration
• Jianxin (Roger) Jiao, Lianfeng Zhang, and Shaligram Pokharel, Nanyang Technological University (Singapore)
• 17: Measuring Shape Commonality
• Zahed Siddique, University of Oklahoma
• 18: Process Parameter Platform Design
• Christopher B. Williams, Janet K. Allen, David W. Rosen, and Farrokh Mistree, Georgia Tech

Part IV: Applications

• Chapters 19-22

• 19: Ice Scraper Platforms at Innovation Factory 
• Steven B. Shooter, Bucknell University
• 20: Engineering Platforms and Families at ABB 
• Srinivas Nidamarthi and Harshavardhan Karandikar, ABB (Germany)
• 21: Product Design Generator at Honeywell 
• Gregory M. Roach and Jordan J. Cox, BYU
• 22: Platform Management Practice at Cetetherm 
• Tobias Holmqvist and Magnus Persson, Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden) with Karin Uller from Infotiv

Other Books: The Power of Product Platforms

• Authors:

• Marc Meyer & Al Lehnerd

• Year of Publication:

• 1997

• Publisher:

• Free Press (New York)

• Focus:

• This has become THE book on product platform planning

Product Strategy for High-Tech Companies

• Author:

• Michael E. McGrath

• Year of Publication:

• 2001

• Publisher:

• McGraw-Hill (New York)

• Focus:

• Use of platforms in high-tech industries and PRTM’s platform planning process

Managing Product Families

• Authors:

• Susan Sanderson & Mustafa Uzumeri

• Year of Publication:

• 1997

• Publisher:

• Irwin (Chicago, IL)

• Focus:

• Product family management with an emphasis on Sony’s platform planning strategy

Design Rules Volume I: The Power of Modularity

• Authors:

• Carliss Y. Baldwin & Kim B. Clark

• Year of Publication:

• 2000

• Publisher:

• MIT Press (Cambridge, MA)

• Focus:

• Modular-based design strategies and examples

The Age of Modularity

• Author:

• Peter O’Grady

• Year of Publication:

• 1999

• Publisher:

• Adams and Steele (Iowa City, IA)

• Focus:

• Modularity and its role in product design as well as organizational design

Controlling Design Variants

• Authors:

• Anna Ericsson & Gunnar Erixon

• Year of Publication:

• 1999

• Publisher:

• SME (New York)

• Focus:

• Modular Function DeploymentTM and Module Identification MatrixTM Methods

Product Variety Management

• Editors:

• Teck-Hua Ho & Christopher S. Tang

• Year of Publication:

• 1998

• Publisher:

• Kluwer (Boston, MA)

• Focus:

• Collection of papers dealing with the management of product variety

Integrated Design of a Product Family

• Authors:

• Pierre De Lit & Alain Delchambre

• Year of Publication:

• 1998

• Publisher:

• Kluwer (Boston, MA)

• Focus:

• Assembly system design to facilitate manufacturing products in a family

Build-to-Order & Mass Customization

• Author:

• David M. Anderson

• Year of Publication:

• 2004

• Publisher:

• CIM Press (Cambria, CA)

• Focus:

• Product design and supply chain issues associated with mass customization and build-to-order systems

Overview of Lecture

• Recap of the book

• What we covered and what we did not…
• …and other books of interest

• Current directions in product family and platform design

• Excerpts from:
• Simpson, T. W., Marion, T. J., de Weck, O., Holtta-Otto, K., Kokkolaras, M. and Shooter, S. B. (2006) Platform-Based Design and Development: Current Trends and Needs in Industry, 2006 ASME Design Engineering Technical Conferences - Design Automation Conference, Philadelphia, PA, ASME, Paper No. DETC2006/DAC-99229

• The Model T as the “model” platform

• Excerpts from:
• Alizon, F., Shooter, S. B. and Simpson, T. W. (2008) Henry Ford and the Model T: Lessons for Product Platforming and Mass Customization, 2009 ASME Design Engineering Technical Conferences - Design Automation Conference, Saitou, K., ed., New York, NY, August 3-6, ASME, DETC2008/DAC-49420 to appear in Design Studies (2009)

2004 Platform Management for Continued Growth

• Nov. 30 – Dec. 1, 2004 in Atlanta, GA

• Sponsored by PDMA/IIR

• Keynote Speaker:

• Marc Meyer, co-author of Power of Product Platforms

• Twenty industry experts:

• Harley Davidson, Kodak, DuPont, Intel, and Lockheed Martin, Aventis Pasteur, IBM, Case-New Holland Global, Cingular Wireless, Playtex, Argon Engineering, and Innovation Focus

Post-Conference Workshop

• Hosted by Mr. Patrick Gordon from PRTM

November 9-10, 2005 at MIT

• November 9-10, 2005 at MIT

• Co-organized by Olivier de Weck and Timothy W. Simpson
• Co-sponsored by MIT, CIPD (Prof. Chris Magee), Penn State, and a generous donation from DuPont (Debbra Johnson)

• Objectives:

• Unveil and present new edited volume (book)
• Bring community of practitioners and academics together: to learn, think, debate, network, socialize,…
• Extend concept of product families and platforms to non-traditional areas: software, services
• Transition from CIPD to Center for Engr Sys Fundamentals

Conference Highlights

• Two keynote speakers:

• Marc Meyer, co-author of Power of Product Platforms (1997)
• B. Joseph Pine II, author of Mass Customization (1993)

• Industry speakers from:

• HP, DuPont, Design Continuum, LG, United Technologies, PRTM, ABB, GM/Saab, Robust Systems and Strategy, and Innovation Factory

• Panel discussion and enlightening talks from academia

• Drew 114 participants split evenly between industry and academia

• All presentations and materials available on website:

• http://cipd.mit.edu/pd

Platforms for Innovation and Enterprise Growth

Common Themes & Trends

• Several common themes arose from the 30+ industry presentations and ensuing discussions:

• Corporate Culture Change
• Upper Management – Catalyst for Change
• Product Development – Results through Teamwork
• Architecture – Common Subsystems and Reduced Complexity
• Platform Strategies in “Non-Traditional” Applications
• Forecasting and Analysis – Understand the Market
• Financial Planning
• Globalization and Product Platforms

Corporate Culture Change

• Corporations that embraced cross-functional product platform teams routinely were able to quickly reinvent themselves and successfully enter new markets

• Functional management structures tend to lead to ‘fiefdoms’ with overlapping capabilities (R&D, marketing, design, etc.)
• IBM example taken from Paul Mugge:

Upper Management – Catalyst for Change

• Reorganization will fail without strong support from upper management

• After losing $8B in 1993, Louis V. Gerstner spearheaded a culture change by appointing senior management to lead the effort and commit the required resources (see: LVG, Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance?, Harper Business, 2002)
• In 2000, Intel’s Desktop Platform Group shifted focus from developing components to developing platforms, and management provided evolutionary improvement and implementation of a coherent Platform Development Management System

• Whether through a change manager (IBM) or an evolutionary change (Intel), upper management must support and be integrated in platform management

Product Development – Results through Teamwork

• Cross-functional product development teams are essential for implementing a successful platform development strategy

• Sanofi Aventis shared experiences with using platforms to expedite FDA approval process for the vaccines that they develop

• Some firms experimenting with layered models:

• platform teams serve as “middleware”, connecting slower science-related R&D layer with fast-paced market-related product development layer that wants to assemble and customize products from existing, proven technologies quickly for changing customer demands

Architecture – Common Subsystems and Reduced Complexity

• Developing cohesive and flexible product architectures is a necessity for successful platform implementation

• To achieve this, nearly every speaker presented a customized version of Meyer’s “Power Tower” at the PDMA Conference that served as their firm’s product planning roadmap

• DuPont’s example from their work with Innovation Focus 

“Non-Traditional” Applications of Platforms

• Platform-based development is being adopted in “non-traditional” sectors such as telecommunications, software, food and drug industries, health care and service systems (e.g., entertainment, tourism, banking)

• Requires rethinking platform principles for technology-focused platforms, artistic and industrial design-based platforms, brand recognition-based platforms, etc.

Forecasting and Analysis – Understand the Market

• Companies must listen to and identify the needs and expectations of each market segment and tier

• What is the significance of this segment?
• What are the key products?
• What are their volumes, revenue, and profits?
• What is the outlook for the next 5 years?
• What does the company have to do to enter, sustain, and grow in the segment?

• Companies can then develop a ‘360 degree’ view of potential customers to understand their needs, requirements, and usage patterns

• ‘Voice of the Customer’ (VOC) based approaches were used successfully by many companies to guide the specification and features of new product platforms

Financial Planning

• Justifying product family development to senior-level management requires estimating the expected financial benefits: savings due to commonality (e.g., in manufacturing, inventory, training, maintenance) and revenues due to successful products in the market

• Requires integrating marketing, design, engineering, and manufacturing considerations into a unifying framework to support platform decision-making

Globalization and Product Platforms

• Globalization not only offers opportunities for product families but actually implies them

• Speakers stated that platform-based development is the only way for international companies to market their products efficiently and stay in business

• Taking a global perspective can offer new market opportunities also

• DuPont example 

Needs & Future Directions

• Recognizing a Holistic Platform Strategy

• How to integrate life-cycle concerns and manage knowledge

• Flexible Platform Design for Multiple Generations

• How do we embed flexibility into platforms to enable them to evolve as technology changes to serve multiple generations

• Corporate Platform Strategy and Tradeoffs

• How can we facilitate corporate reorganization for platform teaming while ensuring management “buy in” is achieved

• Expanding Views for Platforms

• How to best leverage platform principles to service platforms, software platforms, brand platforms, etc.

• Effective Partnerships: Industry+Academic+Government

• How to exploit synergies among our efforts and help educate future generations of platform designers and engineers