Bridging Differing Perspectives on Technological Platforms: Toward an Integrative Framework

Product family design and platform-based product development has received much attention over the last decade. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art research in this field. A decision framework is introduced to reveal a holistic view of product family design and platform-based product development, encompassing both front-end and back-end issues. The review is organized according to various topics in relation to product families, including fundamental issues and definitions, product portfolio and product family positioning, platform-based product family design, manufacturing and production, as well as supply chain management. Major challenges and future research directions are also discussed.

Product family design and platform-based product development: a state-of-the-art review

Revolutionizing product development

The impact of supply chain complexity on manufacturing plant performance

The mass customization decade: An updated review of the literature

Towards integrated optimal configuration of platform products, manufacturing processes, and supply chains

The product platform concept represents a powerful approach for manufacturers to compete cost-effectively in a global market that requires diverse product range, quick time to market, and rapid responses to supply sources. A key challenge is how to strike a balance between platform commonality and modularity. When a manufacturer outsources its raw materials or module options, the supplier capabilities and production costs should be considered. This paper discusses optimizing decision variables for simultaneously configuring not only platform-based product variants but also their supply chain. We develop a mixed-integer programming model that integrates both platform product design and material purchase decisions based on cost drivers sensitive to commonality and modularity. Theoretical analysis of the model yields two properties, allowing us to further simplify the model and thus help in developing an effective solution algorithm. A numerical example is presented to illustrate how manufacturers strive to ...

Simultaneous configuration of platform products and manufacturing supply chains

This paper is concerned with optimizing the configuration of a set of platform products and the associated supply chain consisting of one manufacturer and multiple suppliers using a three-move dynamic game-theoretic approach. The variants in the product family share a common platform for developing/configuring variant modules which are substitutable in the sense that high-end module options can functionally replace low-end ones at higher prices. As the customer in the supply chain, the manufacturer takes its leading role by making the first move to give decisions on platform products development (PPD) and supplier selection. The concerned suppliers make the second move to optimize their decisions including price discounts and their ordering policies. The manufacturer finishes the game by taking the last move to make his ordering decisions. The ranges of the rational reactions for the players are derived from the analyses of their payoff models, and an enumerative algorithm is developed to find the subgame perfect equilibrium of the game through the technique of backward induction. The game model and the proposed solution procedure are illustrated through a series of simulation experiments and sensitivity analyses using a numerical example. The results have allowed us to draw some meaningful interpretations and useful managerial insights. The use of platform commonality and modularity has been found generally beneficial not only to the supply chain as a whole but also to individual players that are eventually configured into the game. Flexibility of the suppliers' capability is also found to affect the PPD decisions

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Integrated Configuration of Platform Products and Supply Chains for Mass Customization: A Game-Theoretic Approach

Platform Products Development (PPD) has been recognized as a formidable approach to effective Mass Customization (MC) for striking the balance between the necessary variety of end-products and the cost to meet the customer requirements in the highly competitive marketplace. Although it is generally acknowledged that it is more effective to consider PPD strategies and design decisions of the associated supply chain simultaneously, little attention and interests have been put on this problem. In this chapter, we conceptualize the problem of integrated configuration of platform products and supply chain and formulate it as a non-linear mathematical problem. Analysis of the model yields two properties, namely single sourcing and absolute replacement. These two properties form the basis of our solution procedure for the problem. The proposed model and solution procedure are applied to a simple numerical example and the computational results are presented and discussed.

Xin Yan Zhang

Papers

Towards integrated optimal configuration of platform products, manufacturing processes, and supply chains

Simultaneous configuration of platform products and manufacturing supply chains

Integrated Configuration of Platform Products and Supply Chains for Mass Customization: A Game-Theoretic Approach

Platform Products Development and Supply Chain Configuration: An Integrated Perspective

Efficient Small-Object Detection in Airport Surface Based on Maintain Feature High Resolution