|
ESD
Dissertation Defense – Ryan
Boas
Commonality
in Complex Product Families: Implications
of Divergence and Lifecycle Offsets
Abstract:
Commonality, or the sharing of components,
processes, technologies, interfaces
and/or infrastructure across a product
family, represents one of many potential
tools for increasing corporate profitability.
Industrial interest in commonality
is strong, but results appear to be
mixed. A rich stream of academic research
has examined commonality (typically
under terms such as “product
platforms” and “platform-based
development”) but has inadequately
addressed the benefits and penalties
of commonality, a topic that is critical
to effective product family planning
and lifecycle management, and ultimately,
to improving corporate profitability.
This
dissertation leverages field research
and a simple cost model to contribute
to an improved understanding of commonality
in the context of complex product
families. The core research effort
was focused on conducting seven case
studies of complex product families
(aircraft, automobiles, satellites,
and capital equipment). While the
case studies provided a wealth of
general insights, the studies were
focused on examining divergence and
lifecycle offsets, two critical topics
that influence the benefits and penalties
of commonality, yet appear to be inadequately
addressed by the existing literature.
Divergence refers to the tendency
for commonality to reduce with time,
for both beneficial and non-beneficial
reasons. Lifecycle offsets refer to
temporal differences between the lifecycle
phases of product family members.
Lifecycle offsets significantly alter
the potential benefits and penalties
of commonality and their apportionment
to individual products. Additionally,
key factors identified during the
literature review and case studies
were translated into a simple two-product
cost model in order to demonstrate
key research insights in a more rigorous
manner.
The
case studies provide a refined view
of commonality that reflects the realities
of industrial practice. The cases
indicate that complex product families
are developed in a mostly sequential
manner; that commonality is highest
during the product family planning
phase and then declines significantly
throughout the lifecycle; and that
development relies more on reusing
prior product baselines than on enabling
future, potential commonality. The
case studies also identified challenges
in the evaluation of commonality opportunities;
the implementation of visions for
commonality; and the lifecycle management
of commonality. The case findings
and simple cost model contribute to
an improved theoretical understanding
of commonality, while the recommendations
offer potential paths to improved
corporate profitability.
Thesis
Supervisor: E. Crawley
Committee members:
O. de Weck, D. Whitney
|
