Zahed Siddique

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

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.

On combinatorial design spaces for the configuration design of product families

For typical optimization problems, the design space of interest is well defined: It is a subset of Rn, where n is the number of (continuous) variables. Constraints are often introduced to eliminate infeasible regions of this space from consideration. Many engineering design problems can be formulated as search in such a design space. For configuration design problems, however, the design space is much more difficult to define precisely, particularly when constraints are present. Configuration design spaces are discrete and combinatorial in nature, but not necessarily purely combinatorial, as certain combinations represent infeasible designs. One of our primary design objectives is to drastically reduce the effort to explore large combinatorial design spaces. We believe it is imperative to develop methods for mathematically defining design spaces for configuration design. The purpose of this paper is to outline our approach to defining configuration design spaces for engineering design, with an emphasis on the mathematics of the spaces and their combinations into larger spaces that more completely capture design requirements. Specifically, we introduce design spaces that model physical connectivity, functionality, and assemblability considerations for a representative product family, a class of coffeemakers. Then, we show how these spaces can be combined into a “common” product variety design space. We demonstrate how constraints can be defined and applied to these spaces so that feasible design regions can be directly modeled. Additionally, we explore the topological and combinatorial properties of these spaces. The application of this design space modeling methodology is illustrated using the coffeemaker product family.

Platform-Based Product Family Development

Nearly a century ago, Ford Motor Company was producing Model T’s in, as Henry Ford has been quoted, “any color you want—so long as it’s black”. Today, customers can select from more than 3.8 million different varieties of Ford cars based on model type, exterior and interior paint color, and packages and options listed on http://www.fordvehicles.com/. And that does not even include the staggering array of choices available with Ford’s minivans, trucks, and sport utility vehicles, or any of the models offered under Ford Motor Company’s “global family of brands”, namely, Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda, Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover, or Aston Martin. Ford is not alone as nearly every automotive manufacturer produces a wide variety of vehicles so that nearly every customer can find one that meets his/her specific needs. And it is not only in the automotive industry—consumers can purchase a nearly endless variety of goods and services: bicycles, motorcycles, appliances, computers, audio and video equipment, clothes, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, software, banking and financial services, telecommunications services, and travel services.

A mass customization information framework for integration of customer in the configuration-design of a customized product

One of the aspects of mass customization is to provide customers with products that are manufactured to their needs and requirements. To provide such support requires better integration of the customer into different stages of design and manufacturing. Expansion of the Internet provides an opportunity for such an integration, which will need to link design and manufacturing of the company with the customer. In current approaches, customers usually specify the options and get the price or simple pictures of the object. In this paper we present a framework in which customer options and size parameters are gathered using the Internet. It is used to automatically generate a 3-dimensional computer-aided design model of the product, estimate the price of the product, and generate assembly sequence information. The framework for mass customization of products necessitates information management among different segments of the company and the customer. The Internet-based system presented in this paper uses a graph grammar and templates to explicitly maintain correspondence among various types of product information from a module perspective. The system is demonstrated using a customizable coffeemaker product family.

Estimating Cost Savings when Implementing a Product Platform Approach

Many market forces are driving companies to improve their targeting of increasingly small market niches. To accomplish this efficiently, products are organized into product families that typically share common platforms. To reorganize the current product offerings or new products into a product family, using a platform approach, requires estimating the savings for such a modification. One of the problems encountered in estimating development and design cost is the lack of availability of hard information during the initial design phases. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the design and development cost, when moving towards a platform approach, using simple models. The activity based product family cost models are developed from existing single product design activities, which are modified and extended to reflect activities related to development of product platform and subsequent product family members supported by the platform. Uncertainty related to cost associated with activities are included in the model, which is solved using Monte Carlo simulation. The approach is demonstrated using a hard disk drive spindle motor platform development for a family of hard disks.

Automatic Generation of Product Family Member CAD Models Supported by a Platform Using a Template Approach

Current global markets are volatile, where companies are striving to deliver greater quality, more customization, faster response, more innovative designs and lower prices. New models need to be introduced in the market more frequently, which has given momentum for designing family of products. Development of family of Products using a platform approach requires making decisions regarding platform selection and trade-off studies, which require analysis and evaluation of performance for the entire family instead of an individual products. One of the first steps in performing these activities require development of solid models for the entire family quickly and automatically as platform and family member configurations and size are changed. This paper presents an approach to automatically generate CAD models for a family of products. In the approach, a product family template that integrates configuration and parametric design information is presented. The template is implemented in the developed Product Family CAD (PF-CAD) module for Pro/E. A coffeemaker product family is used as a case study to automatically generate solid models of product family members from customer input.© 2002 ASME

An Integrated Testbed for Reverse Engineering of Aging Systems and Components

This paper presents an integrated testbed that supports defense logistics centers to conduct reverse engineering of aging systems and components. This testbed constructed using commercial off-theshelf (COTS) software and equipment supports three major engineering tasks: the reverse engineering that supports recovering of technical data from worn sample parts, re-engineering that alters design for better performance or lesser cost, and fast prototyping that incorporates advanced manufacturing technologies to produce functional or physical prototype of the part in small quantity in a short turnaround time. A number of examples obtained from logistics centers are employed to illustrate and demonstrate the reverse engineering, re-engineering, and fast prototyping (RRF) process using the testbed. Further tasks for research and development are also presented.

Competencies for Innovating in the 21st Century

This is the first paper in a four-part series focused on a competency-based approach for personalized education in a group setting. In this paper, we focus on identifying the competencies and meta-competencies required for the 21 st century engineers. These competencies are the ability to be able perform a specific task, action or function successfully. In the second paper, we provide an overview of an approach to developing competencies needed for the fast changing world and allowing the students to be in charge of their own learning. The approach fosters “learning how to learn” in a collaborative environment. We believe that two of the core competencies required for success in the dynamically changing workplace are the abilities to identify and manage dilemmas. In the third paper, we discuss our approach for helping students learn how to identify dilemmas in the context of an energy policy design problem. The fourth paper is focused on approaches to developing the competency to manage dilemmas associated with the realization of complex, sustainable, socio-techno-eco systems. A deep understanding of innovation-related competencies will be required if we are to meet the needs of our graduates in preparing them for the challenges of the 21 st century. In recent years development of competencies for innovation, especially in engineering, has received signification attention. The nature of innovation and its components needs to be identified and analyzed to determine proper ways to nurture and develop them in engineering students. There are two levels of competencies in any professional field, field-specific task competencies, and generalized skill sets, or meta-competencies. The task-specific competencies are benchmarks for graduates in a given field. Their level of attainment defines how well graduates are prepared to meet job demands and excel in the future. The general (meta) competencies are skill sets that enable them to function more globally, such as to work with others, function in organizations and meet organizational demands, and transfer task-specific skills to new challenges they have not encountered before. 1. Frame of Reference In this paper we will explore the key question: How can we foster learning how to learn and develop competencies? We focus especially on those competencies which are needed for engineers in the future beginning with an understanding of innovation. 1.1 Innovation – What is it?

Facilitating Higher-Order Learning Through Computer Games

Engineering education needs to focus on equipping students with foundational math, science, and engineering skills, with development of critical and higher-order thinking so they can address novel and complex problems and challenges. Learning through a medium that combines course materials with game characteristics can be a powerful tool for engineering education. Games need to be designed for higher order engagement with students, which go beyond remembering, understanding and applying of engineering concepts. In this paper, we present design, development, implementation, and evaluation of a game for engineers. The developed game is founded on experiential learning theory and uses enhanced game characteristics. The racecar game has been designed to facilitate higher-order learning of geometric tolerancing concepts. The course module has been developed and implemented, with assessment of outcomes. The results show that students using the game module, when compared with the control group (lecture-based instruction), had significant improvements when addressing questions that involved higher-order cognition. Survey results also indicate positive student attitudes towards the learning experience with game modules.

Web-Based Mechanical Engineering Design Education Environment Simulating Design Firms

Mechanical design education focuses on teaching students with fundamental design theory and methodology. Educators systematically introduce design theories, processes, and tools to help students solve design problems. Companies and professional organizations expect that students will be equipped with basic understanding of the engineering practice, and be able to effectively perform independently and in a team environment. Senior capstone design courses, particularly with industry sponsored projects, are widely used to satisfy both education and professional needs of students. This paper presents an education system, which can further facilitate students to acquire design skills in a real-time collaborative, and practical environment. The web-based system helps student teams to: (1) specify the design process for their team projects, (2) organize and distribute tasks among different team members to simulate industry design environment, and (3) get instantaneous access to models, analysis, etc. related to their design. The developed web-based system also contains a knowledge-base that provides students with instructions to setup the design process for projects, and to perform different design tasks. A virtual design organization is created in the system, which is managed by students. In this paper different components of the web-based design education system are presented.Copyright