On the use of product portfolio and variant maps as visualization tools to support platform-based development strategies

Abstract

Current implementation methodologies for platform-based development strategies presume that product variants are made clear and explicit prior to application. However, this might not be the case in many engineer-to-order companies where product variants typically emerge from individual developments over time, commonly without a predefined product strategy. Also, information related to different product variants is usually spread across multiple sources. This makes it difficult to identify the information on which a future configure-to-order strategy can be built. In this article, a systematic, visual approach to identify, analyze, and structure product variant information has been developed. A real-world, proof-of-concept demonstrator case has been defined to verify the proposed modeling approach applied to the unstructured product portfolio of a small- and medium-sized enterprise company that manufactures road signpost masts and gantries. The outcome is a product portfolio map that visualizes the product variants in the product family side by side, and a variant map that provides a closer overview of functional structure and related physical variants. Hence, these two maps combined provide a systemized overview of the product variants at different abstraction levels as a knowledge source. It is concluded that this study has demonstrated the potential of a step-by-step methodology for preparing a dispersed product portfolio as a basis for the implementation of a configure-to-order strategy.