Assessing and Increasing Product and Family Differentiation in the Market

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabrice Alizon ◽  
Steven B. Shooter ◽  
Timothy W. Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Product Differentiation ◽  
Product Family ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Product Function ◽  
The Family ◽  
Single Use ◽  
And Function ◽  
Differentiation Index ◽  
Family Differentiation

To help guarantee profit and stability in today’s global market, companies must focus on the differentiation of their products. Successfully differentiated products will attract customers, generate revenue and benefit the brand image, whereas a banal product can lose money and leave a bad impression in the market. Many large companies have recently lost significant market share in part due to poor product differentiation. This paper introduces four indices to assess this differentiation at two levels—family and market—based on product function and function attributes. At the family level, the Product Differentiation Index (PDI) assesses the differentiation between a product and other products in the rest of the family and also the differentiation within the family. At the market level, the Family Differentiation Index (FDI), Family Coverage Index (FCI), and Family Un-coverage Index (FUI) assess the differentiation, the coverage, and the un-coverage of a family with another, and/or with the rest of the market, respectively. These indices help designers and marketers evaluate the positioning of their products and support product family planning. A case study involving two competitive single-use camera families is presented.

Assessing and Improving Commonality and Diversity Within a Product Family

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabrice Alizon ◽  
Steven B. Shooter ◽  
Timothy W. Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Product Differentiation ◽  
Diversity Index ◽  
Product Family ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Differentiated Products ◽  
Product Platform ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
The Family ◽  
Single Use

At a time when product differentiation is a major indicator of success in the global market, each company is looking to offer competitive and highly differentiated products. This differentiation issue is restricted by the design of platform-based products that share modules and/or components. It is not easy to differentiate products in a market that is often overwhelmed by numerous options. A platform-based approach can be risky because competition in the global market can become an internal competition among similar products within the family if there is not enough differentiation in the family. Thus, the goal for the product platform is to share elements for common functions and to differentiate each product in the family by satisfying different targeted needs. To assess commonality in the family, numerous indices have been proposed in the literature. Nevertheless, existing indices focus on commonality and reflect an increase in value when commonality increases but do not positively reflect an increase in the value as a result of diversity; hence, the Commonality versus Diversity Index (CDI) is introduced in this paper to assess the commonality and diversity within a family of products or across families. The CDI has variable levels of depth analysis to help designers design or improve the product family. Two case studies using single-use cameras and power tool families highlight the usefulness of this new index.

Recommending a Platform Leveraging Strategy Based on the Homogeneous or Heterogeneous Nature of a Product Line

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabrice Alizon ◽  
Steven B. Shooter ◽  
Timothy W. Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
Product Family ◽  
Product Line ◽  
Levels Of Abstraction ◽  
Product Families ◽  
The Family ◽  
Heterogeneous Nature ◽  
Single Use ◽  
And Function ◽  
Blue Jeans

Platform-based product development depends on many factors, including technology, cost, competition, and life cycle considerations, and many companies would benefit from knowing more about the nature of their product families and how they impact platform-based product development. We assert that the development of a product platform and its derivative family of products is also impacted by the homogenous/heterogeneous nature of the products being developed, which has received little attention in the engineering literature. The current study introduces an original metric for assessing the homogeneity/heterogeneity in a given family: the Homogeneity versus Heterogeneity Ratio (HHR), which works at two levels of abstraction, namely, family and function. This study focuses on the platform leveraging strategy and takes an interest in two other aspects of platform development: the specification of the family and the necessary differentiation. To support platform design, the HHRfamily and HHRfunction metrics quantify the ratio of homogeneity/heterogeneity in the family to recommend a platform leveraging strategy by highlighting homogeneous functions that support platform leveraging. Reverse engineering helps us to retroactively study three types of families (power tools, single-use cameras, and blue jeans) using HHRfamily and HHRfunction. In particular, we demonstrate: (1) quantification of the homogeneity/heterogeneity of a family of products based on their functions; (2) recommendation of a leveraging strategy based on HHR; (3) a new leveraging strategy, the combined leveraging strategy via cross leveraging; (4) how HHR can help designers to validate the product family specification; and (5) how HHR can highlight needs to differentiate a family of products other than through functions.

Merge-Based Design: A New Method for Managing Variety and Improving Customization

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabrice Alizon ◽  
Callida Williams ◽  
Steven B. Shooter ◽  
Timothy W. Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Product Family ◽  
Product Variety ◽  
Original Method ◽  
New Method ◽  
Common Structure ◽  
Internal Structures ◽  
The Family ◽  
Final Design ◽  
Single Use

With markets becoming more and more fragmented, the management of product variety becomes even more critical. Variety management needs to be continuously improved, especially for highly customized products. Although new techniques are constantly being developed, variety is still an issue, and there is room for complementary assistance to manage variety in the final design. In this context, we propose an original method — merge-based design — to manage variety in a product family better. The proposed method targets the already-tailored (unique) components to reduce the number of variant components in the family. Merge-based design also facilitates customization by enabling designers to reduce non-beneficial variety within a family. The proposed method is described and then illustrated via a case study involving two existing internal structures from single-use cameras. Finally, to highlight for improving customization, a proposed new camera is created using the resulting common structure with a different exterior casing. This new method can be applied during detailed studies as well as in the early stages of the design process.

Study on Energy-Saving Product Concept Design Based on TRIZ and Function Analysis

2010 ◽  
Vol 156-157 ◽  
pp. 123-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fu Ying Zhang ◽  
Hong Chao Zhang ◽  
Hui Zheng ◽  
Qing Qing Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Energy Saving ◽  
Function Analysis ◽  
New Product ◽  
Concept Design ◽  
Energy And Environment ◽  
Product Concept ◽  
Product Function ◽  
And Function

The energy consumption and environmental impacts of a product are largely determined during concept design. It is the core for energy saving product development to integrate energy saving into product concept design process. In this paper, a framework for energy-saving product concept design based on TRIZ/function analysis is proposed, the energy flow chart is built based on the analysis of product function. By eliminating the harmful function associated with energy and environment, resolving the conflict parameter and attributes of components in energy and function, the new product that satisfy user needs while minimizing energy consumption is obtained. A case study is also presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed design framework.

Assessing Functional and Shape Differentiation Within a Family of Products

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabrice Alizon ◽  
Jing Fu ◽  
Timothy W. Simpson ◽  
Sanjay B. Joshi ◽  
Steven B. Shooter
Keyword(s):  
Product Differentiation ◽  
Product Family ◽  
Shape Index ◽  
Functional Differentiation ◽  
Competitive Advantages ◽  
Product Lines ◽  
Two Indices ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Shape Differentiation

Market differentiation strategies must identify competitive advantages when offering a line of products varying in features, price, quality, and/or aesthetics. Although this concept is well-known, many companies still have difficulties positioning their own products within their own product lines and against competitors. Few approaches combine two or more facets to answer the product differentiation problem. In this study, two novel indices are proposed to audit shape and functional differentiation within a family of products. The shape index appraises the shape similarity between the products upon digitization, while the functional assessment is based on functions characteristics of the product. Customers’ perception data is obtained experimentally and compared to these indices to validate the result. Pairs of products are evaluated, and the average scores are considered as the indices for a product family. A case study illustrates the usage of these two indices and performance of these tools as well. This approach can be used during detailed studies as well as early stages of the design process to help validate product family positioning.

scholarly journals The Role of Family Hope Program Actor in Empowering Poor Society (Case Study of Bone Regency) Indonesia

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 359
Author(s):  
Misnawati Misnawati ◽  
Hasbi ◽  
Abd Rasyid J ◽  
Yusriadi Yusriadi ◽  
Saidna Zulfiqar Bin-Tahir
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Data Presentation ◽  
Analysis Techniques ◽  
The Family ◽  
Collection Data ◽  
And Function

The Family Hope Program (PKH) is one of government policy programs in poverty alleviation by involving the main actor who called PPKH. This study aimed to describe the task and function of PPKH in empowering the sick society in Bone Regency. Qualitative approach used with case study research. Data collection techniques used was interviews, observation, and documentation. The instrument in this study was the researcher himself as a human instrument, while the informants selected by a purposive method. Data analysis techniques used an interactive model includes data collection, data reduction, data presentation, verification, and conclusion. The results of the study showed that PPKH has carried out their roles well as representatives and technicians but have not been optimal in their roles as facilitators and educators.

Data Mining and Fuzzy Clustering to Support Product Family Design

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seung Ki Moon ◽  
Soundar R. T. Kumara ◽  
Timothy W. Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Data Mining ◽  
Mass Customization ◽  
Product Family ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Product Function ◽  
Fuzzy C Means Clustering ◽  
Large Product ◽  
Functional Features ◽  
Using Data

In mass customization, data mining can be used to extract valid, previously unknown, and easily interpretable information from large product databases in order to improve and optimize engineering design and manufacturing process decisions. A product family is a group of related products based on a product platform, facilitating mass customization by providing a variety of products for different market segments cost-effectively. In this paper, we propose a method for identifying a platform along with variant and unique modules in a product family using data mining techniques. Association rule mining is applied to develop rules related to design knowledge based on product function, which can be clustered by their similarity based on functional features. Fuzzy c-means clustering is used to determine initial clusters that represent modules. The clustering result identifies the platform and its modules by a platform level membership function and classification. We apply the proposed method to determine a new platform using a case study involving a power tool family.

A Systems Framework for Platform Architecture Analysis

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael Araque ◽  
Trevor Bailey ◽  
Murilo W. Bonilha ◽  
Jay Fletcher
Keyword(s):  
Product Family ◽  
Architectural Analysis ◽  
Systems Perspective ◽  
Platform Architecture ◽  
Individual Product ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Systems Framework ◽  
Architecture Analysis

This paper discusses a systems framework for platform architecture analysis. The framework considers architectural analysis at three levels; the individual product offerings within a product family, the platform(s) being leveraged across the family, and the evolution potential for the platform/product family. The framework is decomposed into elements that consider a systems perspective: function, form, concepts, interfaces, needs/goals, upstream and downstream influences, and timing/operation. An application of the framework to a transport refrigeration product family is presented as a case study. The results of this case study indicate that the framework is promising, and it continues to be developed and applied within UTC.

A Family With Autosomal-Dominant Progressive Sensorineural Hearing Loss

1996 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Halpin ◽  
Barbara Herrmann ◽  
Margaret Whearty
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Hearing Aids ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Speech Language Pathology ◽  
The Family ◽  
Patient Will ◽  
Language Pathology

The family described in this article provides an unusual opportunity to relate findings from genetic, histological, electrophysiological, psychophysical, and rehabilitative investigation. Although the total number evaluated is large (49), the known, living affected population is smaller (14), and these are spread from age 20 to age 59. As a result, the findings described above are those of a large-scale case study. Clearly, more data will be available through longitudinal study of the individuals documented in the course of this investigation but, given the slow nature of the progression in this disease, such studies will be undertaken after an interval of several years. The general picture presented to the audiologist who must rehabilitate these cases is that of a progressive cochlear degeneration that affects only thresholds at first, and then rapidly diminishes speech intelligibility. The expected result is that, after normal language development, the patient may accept hearing aids well, encouraged by the support of the family. Performance and satisfaction with the hearing aids is good, until the onset of the speech intelligibility loss, at which time the patient will encounter serious difficulties and may reject hearing aids as unhelpful. As the histological and electrophysiological results indicate, however, the eighth nerve remains viable, especially in the younger affected members, and success with cochlear implantation may be expected. Audiologic counseling efforts are aided by the presence of role models and support from the other affected members of the family. Speech-language pathology services were not considered important by the members of this family since their speech production developed normally and has remained very good. Self-correction of speech was supported by hearing aids and cochlear implants (Case 5’s speech production was documented in Perkell, Lane, Svirsky, & Webster, 1992). These patients received genetic counseling and, due to the high penetrance of the disease, exhibited serious concerns regarding future generations and the hope of a cure.

Karpophoroi deities and the Attic cult of Ge. Notes on IG II2 4758

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 193-203
Author(s):  
Jenny Wallensten
Keyword(s):  
The Earth ◽  
And Function

Karpophoros, fruit-bearing, is an epithet easily considered as “literary”, i.e., a poetic name with little or no relation to cult. The epigraphic sources, however, clearly show us that gods thus named were offered divine worship. The epithet is found in connection with several deities. Goddesses of agriculture, such as Demeter, and Ge, the Earth, naturally carry this name, but so do Zeus, Dionysos and a goddess known as “The Aiolian”, who was sometimes associated with Agrippina. This paper surveys deities known as karpophoroi and examines what their cult entailed. Its focus is, however, on a brief Acropolis inscription, IG II2 4758, where Ge is honoured as Karpophoros, in accordance with an oracle. The case study provides insights into the Attic cult of Ge, the epithet Karpophoros, as well as the use and function of epithets within Greek dedicatory language.

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