Managing Product Variety-Based On Product Design And Supply Chain Strategy

The tendency of product variety, accompanying the development of technology and market globalization, is clear increasingly due to the difference existing among the regions, cultures, ages and incomes, whose management has been a key issue in industrial competition. At the same time, the uprising of product variety challenge the companies' productivity and marketing such as the shortened product life span, the increased production costs, the prolonged lead time etc. One of the challengeable issues for the companies is how to realize product diversification by effectively use of product design, manufacture and supply chain strategy.Viewing the literatures related, it found that, modular design, product platform design, and supply chain strategy are the effective methods. Modular design and product platform design discuss the problem how to realize product variety, while supply chain strategy such as postponement dispose the problem how to reduce the unpleasant impact of product variety. This paper is focused on the follows:(1) In chapter 2, the paper builds up the structure of modula designing method combining quality function deployment (QFD) theory, production structure theory and module building method. Three indicators (IOD, IOC, and COI) are built up to measure demand importance, pattern importance and the complexity among modules, which could determine the modules consisting with diversity demand. Maneuverability and validity of the structure are shown by use of cases.(2) In chapter 3, the article discusses the issue of multi-module choice under certain demand. By use of optimal theory such as transportation tableau and integer programming, this part gives a model for the problem of optimal module selection, and gives solution to a numerical example. This method offers a better solution for assemble productions in selection optimal modules.(3) In chapter 4, the impact to product variety from product platform design is studied, and so is the problem of component commonality in platform design. This part measures the product variety by difference of product performance, and proves that when existing of over-design cost in platform design, and production cost's second order derivation is zero, platform development will decrease product's variety. What's more, this part also builds up a model for the problem of component commonality based on the MATLAB, and offers the solution of the model by genetic algorithm and MATLAB toolbox.(4) In chapter 5, the article studies the issue on matching between product categories and the supply chain styles. The article quantifies Fisher's conceptual model on the relationship between product categories and supply chain. It also builds up the model on the relationship between production categories and supply chain by the method of goal programming, which further proves Fisher's conclusion through mathematical analysis. Besides, analyzing the profits of manufacturers and retailers respectively, the effects to manufacturers and retailers of collaborative planning and forecasting replenishment (CPFR) are discussed, and it is pointed that retailers could benefit from the system by free-riding under certain conditions.(5) In chapter 6, the article studies the affect of platform product characters to supply chain postponement strategy. This part concerns the cost of supply chain from materials stock to production carrying. Considering customers' sensitivity to the time, this part analyzes the affects of platform product characters to several different postponement strategies such as form postponement, time postponement, and everyone's advantages and disadvantages under different situations are compared with another respectively.(6) In last chapter, it draws the conclusion and indicates the further research.