Decision model for product rollover in manufacturing operations

The purpose of this study is to investigate critical decisions when planning for product rollover at a manufacturing company, and how to organise these decisions. A literature review and a case study are used to develop a decision model. The findings indicate that product rollover can be organised in a five-phase decision model. The research quality is strengthened by a structured literature review, but it can be argued that more empirical research is needed for validation. For researchers, this paper contributes with the identification of critical decisions and a model for product rollover. For practitioners, the study highlights the need to acknowledge the importance of product rollover and its role as a competitive weapon. In earlier studies, product rollover has mainly been investigated from a market perspective, so that this study contributes by investigating the issue from a manufacturing perspective.     

Up or Out—or Stay Put? Product Positioning in an Evolving Technology Environment

When the development cycle for a product is longer than the development cycle for a core technology that is embedded in it, designers may need to modify the product̂s design to avail of upgrades in this core technology. We model optimal product positioning with regard to technology choice in this setting, using a stochastic dynamic programming framework. Under fairly general assumptions, we find that there are three possible optimal actions: to abandon the project, to maintain the current technology, or to reposition so as to use the best technology currently available. We characterize the optimal positioning sequence in different design environments, discussing throughout the practical implications of our model. Previous research and conventional wisdom suggest early finalization of product specifications if design flexibility is decreasing over time. In contrast, we find that in some design environments, repositioning late in the development cycle can be optimal.     

Axiomatic Based Decomposition for Conceptual Product Design

This paper describes a structured methodology for decomposing the conceptual design problem in order to facilitate the design process and result in improved conceptual designs that better satisfy the original customer requirements. The axiomatic decomposition for conceptual design method combines Alexander's network partitioning formulation of the design problem with Suh's Independence Axiom. The axiomatic decomposition method uses a cross‐domain approach in a House of Quality context to estimate the interactions among the functional requirements that are derived from a qualitative assessment of customer requirements. These interactions are used in several objective functions that serve as criteria for decomposing the design network. A new network partitioning algorithm is effective in creating partitions that maximize the within‐partition interactions and minimize the between‐partition interactions with appropriate weightings. The viability, usability, and value of the axiomatic decomposition method were examined through analytic comparisons and qualitative assessments of its application. The new method was examined using students in engineering design capstone courses and it was found to be useable and did produce better product designs that met the customer requirements. The student‐based assessment revealed that the process would be more effective with individuals having design experience. In a subsequent assessment with practicing industrial designers, it was found that the new method did facilitate the development of better designs. An important observation was the need for limits on partition size (maximum of four functional requirements.) Another issue identified for future research was the need for a means to identify the appropriate starting partition for initiating the design.     

An in-depth case study on the role of industrial design in a business-to-business company

In this paper, we investigate how managers perceive the roles of industrial design, based on their experiences with designers in two product development projects in a business-to-business environment. The study demonstrates that designers can make contributions that surpass the design of physical products, and that influence the effective implementation of product development processes. Our findings extend the limited literature on the role of industrial design in industrial markets, and are of value for managers looking to strengthen their product development processes.     

行业竞争力导向的在线大规模定制产品族规模优化方法

客户导向的产品族规模优化方法在与竞争对手产品族相比时并不一定能使在线定制服务提供商获得竞争优势,还需要考虑竞争对手产品族对其产品族规模的影响。产品族规模优化应该在满足工程技术约束和制造规模经济性的基础上,引入产品功能配置元和结构配置元,结合客户需求强度和偏好分析,构建了行业竞争力导向的在线大规模定制产品族规模优化方法,最后结合案例证明该方法的有效性。     

面向服务的复杂成形装备产品架构设计与优化

复杂成形装备作为高端制造产业的基础装备,是各产业转型升级和技术进步的重要保障。同时快速发展的互联网与大数据等新兴信息技术已经成为装备制造业创新不可或缺的组成部分,极其深刻地影响着复杂成形装备产业的制造模式、发展战略以及产品的开发方式。本文研究了面向服务的复杂成形装备产品架构设计与优化方法。采用公理化设计的域结构思想,建立需求域、功能域和架构域之间的映射关系;提出了基于QFD的功能生成方法以及功能模型约简方法;利用DMM建立产品架构和服务架构之间的关联关系;利用模块化理论方法,并考虑成本因素对产品架构进行优化。     

Product Design for Life‐Cycle Mismatch

Life‐cycle mismatch occurs when the life cycle of a product does not coincide with the life cycles of the parts used in that product. This is particularly a problem with products that contain electronic components that sometimes have life spans of only two years. The cost of mitigating component obsolescence, which may require redesigning the product, is often considerable. Thus, prudent product design necessitates the selection of electronic components and product architecture, considering the cost of mitigating an obsolete design and other costs related to the design and manufacture of a product. Accordingly, we develop and analyze a model that shows how a product design can be effectively tailored to a particular product's life cycle.     

基于产品技术链的发展中国家企业技术追赶研究

从产品视角,技术可以理解为由支撑终端产品发明和改进的关键技术环节构成的产品技术链,涵盖了主导设计(技术标准)、核心元件技术和产品架构技术3个技术环节.发展中国家企业技术追赶需经历由低端产品架构技术向高端主导设计(技术标准)发展的技术链构建,依次表现为终端产品的集成创新、核心元件的渐进式追赶和主导设计变迁的技术超越.通过一汽轿车、华录松下和大唐电信3个企业案例对技术链技术突破的3种模式进行了系统论证,将3个案例进行对比分析,印证了发展中国家企业只有建立完整的技术链才能真正实现技术追赶,而灵活运用基于外部技术获取的消化、吸收和再创新能加快技术链的发展.     

In‐House Globalization: The Role of Globally Distributed Design and Product Architecture on Product Development Performance

Changes in the global economy and technological advances are stimulating increased geographic distribution of new product design and development efforts. For large organizations that design and develop complex products, this geographic distribution has added a new layer of complexity to product development operations. In this empirical study of a large auto manufacturer, we examine the operational performance implications of splitting the design of vehicle subsystems across multiple geographic locations. Our results indicate that global distribution diminishes the chance of completing tasks on time and degrades subsystem design quality. Finally, by examining the interplay between subsystem centrality and global distribution, we found that higher centrality in the product architecture amplifies the impact of global distribution on subsystem error rates.     

产品平台在基于大规模定制范式的生产系统中的作用建模

本文围绕一致的质量、合理的成本、快速、灵活、可靠地大规模交付定制化产品或服务的运营战略,概要讨论了面向大规模定制的三种主要的生产系统(交付定制型、装配定制型、制造定制型)的运营特征,详细分析了产品平台的体系结构,首次提出了基于产品平台实施大规模定制的整合策略,对产品平台在面向大规模定制的生产系统的作用进行了建模。本文的研究工作已经在企业应用实践中得到了验证。     

Structuring Work Distribution for Global Product Development Organizations

This study describes (through an application) a novel approach toward organizing work distribution across globally distributed design and development centers of a product development (PD) organization. While there exist several studies (and modeling applications) for work distribution and allocation for manufacturing and supply chain networks, those related to product development organizations are limited to qualitative suggestions such as offshoring of modular tasks. However, most PD efforts are characterized by significant complexity in information sharing and information dependency among PD tasks (represented by coupling in the system architecture of the firm), thus preventing the identification of modular tasks. Also, redesigning the architecture to introduce modularity has associated risks of costs and product integrity. We demonstrate a methodology to organize work distribution globally in an industrial setting, utilizing the design structure matrix to quantify the system architecture of the firm. Our optimization results show significant cost savings through a restructured PD organization. On analysis of the results, we make two significant observations: (a) while offshoring based on modularity is generally appropriate, it is not the whole answer, as there exists a trade‐off between the efficiency of performing specific PD tasks at the offshore location and the modularity of the task; and (b) firms should successively increase work allocation to the offshore location, benefiting from capability improvements through learning effects.     

A reference model for collaborative design in mould industry

The mould industry is an indispensable foundation for mass production by manufacturer and influences the time to market of new product. It is difficult to integrate the new product development processes and information systems among the mould companies which are mainly small and medium enterprises. The design chain operations reference-model (DCOR) provides a well-recognised methodology to standardise the management process for a product development project and enables the integration for mould industry. The DCOR focuses on a primary and preliminary product development process and is necessary to extend the detail templates for the industrial requirements. Hence, the purpose of this research is to develop an approach that extends the DCOR to the mould industry. The framework of the developed model, which is called the design chain operations reference-model for the mould industry, is adopted for a case mould company for a feasibility discussion.     

Managing design and designers for strategic renewal

For producers of traditional or high-tech consumer durables seeking to differentiate themselves from their competitors, the role of the product designer is increasingly taking a key role. In fact design and designers can contribute to corporate strategic renewal, and this paper proposes a framework for understanding how this can be achieved. Building on a study of outstanding innovators in product design – names such as Apple, Alessi and Bang & Olufsen – the authors describe design-driven renewal as a four-phase process stimulated and supported by design, combining continuous product innovation with the periodic revision of the strategic course of the company. For each phase, it discusses the specific role of managers and the most common pitfalls that arise from poor management of the process.     

面向大规模定制的产品平台管理模型

提出了面向大规模定制的产品平台管理模型的体系结构,从功能视图、技术视图和组织视图三个方面对产品平台管理进行描述。在功能视图,产品功能可划分为基本、附加和潜在功能;在技术视图,描述了产品平台的技术管理过程;在组织视图,对涉及产品平台管理的横向团队的职能和协调进行了研究。在此基础上,构建了产品平台本体,论述了产品平台本体的概念和概念关联集。应用产品平台管理模型和本体描述了个人计算机的产品平台实例。     

Contextualist-retroductive case study design for strategic asset management research

Abstract

This paper develops a tailored case study design for strategic asset management research. It draws on the notions of ‘contextualist approach’ and ‘retroductive strategy’ used in case study research, and follows the multiple embedded-case design advocated within qualitative research. Using a published asset management research study as a primer, it demonstrates the application of the proposed research design and its methodological rigour. This research design could serve as a reference framework, as well as a research instrument, for guiding asset management research. As such, it facilitates the development of theory that accounts for the multi-faceted nature and current priorities of asset management. Overall, this research design helps determine what activities to be incorporated into an asset management program to enhance an organization’s ability to capture value from its operations system. In so doing, it promotes a holistic perspective on asset management that is currently lacking in the literature.     

Realizing the Need for Rework: From Task Interdependence to Social Networks

Design rework is a core phenomenon in new product development (NPD). Yet carrying out design rework presupposes recognizing the need for it. I characterize the types of interpersonal knowledge transfer that help developers realize the need for design rework in NPD. As predicted by the NPD literature, I find that individuals who interact frequently with colleagues to address their task interdependences are more likely to realize the need for rework. I also learn that interacting with colleagues who have different expertise in process‐related knowledge (as opposed to product‐related knowledge) facilitates realizing the need for rework. However, to develop a deeper understanding of how individuals recognize the need for rework when interacting with others, we must expand our views beyond task interdependence and expertise‐related factors. In particular, organizational variables—both formal and informal—play a significant role. With respect to formal hierarchical structures, actors of superior rank are less likely to realize the need for rework regardless of whether or not their interacting partner is of superior rank; however, actors of superior rank are more likely to trigger realizing the need for rework when interacting with partners of subordinate rank. By examining an organization's informal structure, I discover that the social “embeddedness” of developers (i.e., the energy and attention invested in a dyadic relationship) significantly influences their propensity to realize the need for rework. Several hypotheses are tested in a sociometric study conducted within the development department of a software company, and I discuss the implications for behavioral operations in NPD.     

Review and reappraisal of modelling and predicting mental workload in single- and multi-task environments

The concept of mental workload has long been recognized as an important factor in individual performance within complex systems. It is documented that either overload or underload may degrade performance, and further affect the efficiency of the whole system. Therefore, systems designers need some explicit models to predict the mental workload imposed on individuals by the system at an early design phase so that alternative system designs can be evaluated. In examining mental-workload literature, it is found that few predictive mental-workload models have considered factors specific to individuals. This research aims to develop a practical framework for predicting mental workload in both single- and multi-task environments considering such individual factors. In order to describe mental workload more precisely and more completely, a framework for mentalworkload definitions, which contains instantaneous workload, average workload, accumulated workload, peak workload and overall workload, is proposed. In order to model individual factors, two new variables, i.e. effective workload and ineffective workload, are introduced to model the taskgenerated workload and individual-generated workload. The extension of the model to multi-task environments is also discussed. The proposed conceptual models are domain-independent and could be used to guide the development of operational models for different specific tasks.     

AON众筹模式下产品线设计与信息发布策略研究

针对众筹模式下如何激励消费者投资以实现众筹项目成功的问题，从信息发布和产品线设计的角度，通过两阶段博弈的理论模型，考虑了AON（all-or-nothing）模式下众筹方采用顺序发布和同时发布两种不同信息发布方式时，产品线的菜单价格和质量设计。研究表明：在顺序发布策略下产品线的质量差异化程度依赖于消费者异质性程度和高价值消费者的比例，和传统模式下产品质量相比，当消费者异质性很大同时高保留价格消费者的比例很高时，产品线质量差异和传统模式相同；当消费者异质性较小并且高保留价格消费者的比例较低时，产品线质量差异更小；当消费者异质性较小而高保留价格消费者比例较高时，产品线质量差异更大；而在同时发布策略下，产品线质量的差异化程度和传统模式相同，但价格差异与传统模式相比更大；相对于顺序发布策略而言，同时发布策略下由于极大程度的降低了消费者可能搭便车倾向，企业可以获取更多收益。这些结果将有助于采用AON众筹模式的企业在不同信息框架下做出最优的产品线质量设计和定价决策。     

社交网络情境下基于同侪影响的产品线规划研究

依托社交网络优化产品线是实现“匹配消费者需求带动产品设计-制造-营销全流程协调发展”的重要途径,尽管已经引起实业界的重点关注,相应的学术研究却十分匮乏。鉴于此,本文基于同侪影响理论与前景理论,结合社交网络情境下消费者的产品需求、偏好及决策,构建涵盖产品线营销层面和设计层面的双层规划模型;然后结合智能手机产品线实例,运用嵌套灰狼算法对该双层规划模型进行求解验证。本研究旨在提出社交网络与产品线规划之间耦合作用的联合优化框架,为面向社交网络的产品线规划提供理论依据。     

基金公司竞争策略研究——基于产品创新和机制创新视角

本文以2004-2012年提供开放式基金的基金公司为研究对象,以基金公司市场份额为切入点,利用动态面板模型,检验了基金公司历史业绩、产品创新策略和机制创新策略在基金公司竞争中的有效性。实证结果显示历史业绩是影响基金公司市场竞争力的重要因素,基金投资者偏好具有产品创新能力和机制创新精神的基金公司,并不热衷于投资成立时间久、旗下基金数量众多的老牌金公司,对基金公司股东背景也没有显著偏好。进一步细分市场发现,在股票型基金市场上,实施创造明星策略有利于获得更高市场份额。在债券型基金市场上,提高新基金供给量和相对供给强度是最优策略。与股票型基金市场相同,在混合型基金市场上提供具有实质性创新特征的新基金、增加基金从业者持基的基金数量,有助于获得更大市场份额。因此,基金公司决策层在制定竞争战略时,应当考虑基金投资者对产品创新认知能力的提高和对利益绑定机制的诉求,依据基金类型的不同,设计具有针对性的竞争策略。