Niels Henrik Mortensen

Definition and evaluation of product configurator development strategies

Product configurators represent one of the most successful applications of artificial intelligence principles. Product configurators are a subtype of software-based expert systems with a focus on the creation of product specifications. The use of product configurators has resulted in many positive effects in engineering-oriented companies such as reduced lead times, fewer errors, shorter learning periods for new employees, etc. Unfortunately, many configuration projects also fail because the task of developing the configurator turns out to be much more difficult and time-consuming than anticipated. Thus, it is crucial to apply the appropriate strategy. However, the literature does not discuss different strategic alternatives in a detailed manner; it only provides generalised recommendations of single strategies. To deal with this issue, this paper defines and compares seven different strategies for the development of product configurators. The relevance of the defined strategies is supported by seven named case studies.

A Framework for Determining Product Modularity Levels

The application of modular products is seen as an important enabler for delivering customized products competitively. However, many companies struggle to find ways to implement modular products in a manner that suits their particular business. The literature includes examples of how modular products have been implemented in specific types of companies (mostly mass producers), but little guidance exists on how to identify the right level of modularity for other types of companies (such as engineer-to-order companies). In this article, we address this gap by suggesting a framework that categorizes the different types of modularity, where the categories fit different types of companies. More specifically, we introduce the Modularity Application Matrix – a conceptual tool that leads to a better understanding of partial modularization in relation to products. Through four case studies, its application in practice is illustrated. This article thereby contributes with new theoretical developments as well as a practical tool for practitioners in industries using partial modularization, such as the construction and building industry.

The impact of product configurators on lead times in engineering-oriented companies

Abstract This paper presents a study of how the use of product configurators affects business processes of engineering-oriented companies. A literature study shows that only a minor part of product configuration research deals with the effects of product configuration, and that the ones that do are mostly vague when reporting the effects of configurator projects. Only six cases were identified, which provide estimates of the actual size of lead time reduction achieved from product configurators. To broaden this knowledge, this paper presents the results of a study of 14 companies concerning the impact of product configurators on business processes related to the creation of quotes and detailed product specifications. The study documents impressive results of the application of configurator technology. For example, in the data retrieved the use of configurators was estimated to have implied up to a 99.9% reduction of the quotation lead time with an average estimated reduction of 85.5%.

Challenges in Designing Mechatronic Systems

Development of mechatronic products is traditionally carried out by several design experts from different design domains. Performing development of mechatronic products is thus greatly challenging. ...

Interface diagram: Design tool for supporting the development of modularity in complex product systems

For products with a myriad of systems, groups of specialised engineers develop entire technical sub-systems, and great effort is needed to integrate these systems for fulfilling the product’s intended properties describing its purposeful behaviour. This way of developing products gets even more complex when using a mass customisation strategy because standard designs (reusable modules) have to be designed to fit a range of products. This product development set-up requires that engineers working in different technical domains collaborate and are able to share information in a unified way. This article presents a visual design tool –the Interface diagram– which aims to support the engineering process of developing modularity in complex product systems. The tool is a model of a product system representing the arrangement of its elements and their interfaces. The tool has similar characteristics to a high-level product architecture model, aiming at supporting integration of technical sub-systems by documenting interfaces and interactions among components from different functional sub-systems and among different physical modules. One of the objectives for using the design tool is to support the activity of decomposing a product system into modules consisting of components developed by different engineering teams. The usefulness of the Interface diagram has been tested in an industrial development project showing positive results of shortening the lead time and minimising rework. Moreover, the Interface diagram has been used in interplay with a broader Product Lifecycle Management system. This allows the product structures from the Interface diagram to be enriched with detailed product documentation like computer-aided design, requirements, view models, design specifications and interface descriptions.

PLM system support for modular product development

Develop and evaluate modular concepts for complex products.Clear responsibility for interfaces.All engineering teams have access to the same single source of information.Visualisation of multiple views on products.Automated reporting on design progress and cost. A modular design strategy both enables, but also demands, parallelism in design activities and collaboration between a diversity of disciplines in companies, which often involves supporting computer-based tools for enhancing interaction, design management, and communication. Product data management (PDM) and product lifecycle management (PLM) systems offer support by automating and managing some of the operational complexity of modular design activities. PLM system tools are used for handling a variety of product definitions, to manage workflow of development activities, and to measure relational properties such as cost and performance. Companies often use a PLM tool for management of CAD files, documents, and drawings, but they do not take advantage of the full potential of the PLM system to support the development activities of modular product designs. The key result of this paper is the description of an empirical tested approach using a visual product architecture representation in combination with a PLM system to support the development of a product family of products. The results from the study encompass new PLM capabilities for handling multiple product structures, visualising multiple architectural views on products, controlling interfaces, and quantifying and communicating the status and progress of product-related resources.

Visual Product Architecture Modelling for Structuring Data in a PLM System

The goal of this paper is to determine the role of a product architecture model to support communication and to form the basis for developing and maintaining information of product structures in a PLM system. This paper contains descriptions of a modelling tool to represent a product architecture in a company to support the development of a family of products, as well as the reasons leading to the use of the specific model and its terminology. The fundamental idea for using the architecture model is that an improved understanding of the whole product system, will lead to better decision making. Moreover, it is discussed how the sometimes intangible elements and phenomena within an architecture model can be visually modeled in order to form the basis for a data model in a PLM system.

Mechatronic Design : Still A Considerable Challenge

Development of mechatronic products is traditionally carried out by several design experts from different design domains. Performing development of mechatronic products is thus greatly challenging. ...

Front-end conceptual platform modeling:

Platform thinking has been the subject of investigation and deployment in many projects in both academia and industry. Most contributions involve the restructuring of product programs, and only a few support front-end development of a new platform in parallel with technology development. This contribution deals with the development of product platforms in front-end projects and introduces a modeling tool: the Conceptual Product Platform model. State of the art within platform modeling forms the base of a modeling formalism for a Conceptual Product Platform model. The modeling formalism is explored through an example and applied in a case in which the Conceptual Product Platform model has supported the front-end development of a platform for an electro-active polymer technology. The case describes the contents of the model and how its application supported the development work in the project. The conclusion is that the Conceptual Product Platform model supports stakeholders in achieving an overview of the development tasks and communicating these across multidisciplinary development teams, as well as making decisions on the contents of the platform and providing a link between technical solutions and market requirements.

Identification of a reusable requirements structure for embedded products in a dynamic market environment

A technical product can have hundreds of requirements, resulting in a resource consuming requirement processes. Requirements are therefore becoming a valuable knowledge. Requirement reuse has been recognized as a promising enabler to increase efficiency and quality of the requirement processes. Before documenting and reusing requirements there must be a defined way of organizing them. An efficient comprehension of the context of the requirement structure will support the usage of the structure and thus reuse of existing requirements. To understand what makes a structure qualified for requirement reuse; criterions for a good requirement structure were identified. A survey of current requirement structuring techniques revealed that the current methods only fulfil some but not all of the criterions. A proposal of a structure for a reusable requirement specification has been presented. It suggests a new way of grouping requirements and also utilizes techniques presented in some of the existing modelling methods. The proposal was applied to a product development project of Solar Inverters. The case study revealed that the proposed structure was well accepted by its users, remained stable between projects and supported reuse.