Intended learning outcomes: Produce logistics characteristics of a product variety concept. Explain adaptive and generative techniques in detail. Describe the use of generative and adaptive techniques for engineer-to-order. Differentiate various ways of cooperation between R&D and Engineering in ETO Companies.
In buyers’ markets, customers ask producers to meet their specific requirements with regard to product composition and quality. Customers do not want to have to adapt their own processes to standard products. Instead, they demand adaptation of the product to their own specific requirements. This has given rise to a tendency toward product families and one-of-a-kind production, which requires appropriate product and process concepts as well as logistics concepts. The traditional MRP II concept does not suffice.
The variant-oriented concept does not aim toward reduction of the number of product variants, but instead aims toward mastering a variety of variants.
For many, particularly medium-sized companies, being market driven, that is, fulfilling customer specification, through flexibly offering product families with many variants, is the main market strategy. Globally known examples are turbochargers of ABB Turbo Systems (Baden) or elevators of Schindler (Lucerne-Ebikon), both Switzerland-based companies. Service industries show similar tendencies. In the insurance sector, e.g., in addition to mass business that focuses on low costs, “custom” insurance policies are offered with flexible terms and customer design ease. Mass customization is the corresponding production type that emphasizes custom products that do not cost more than mass-produced products.
The Lean/JIT concept as presented in Chapter 6 is also useful in the case of production with infrequent or without order repetition: With short lead times, the (customer) order penetration point (OPP) can be set as far as possible upstream in the supply chain. This reduces the need of forecasting. The Kanban technique, however, cannot be used: it requires production with frequent order repetition. Often, customer order-specific drawings must be completed as early as the bidding phase. In actual production, the problem to be faced is how to set up the machines rapidly for a new variant. Moreover, variant-specific work documents must also be produced. Here, the variant-oriented concept is required (also compare Figure 4.5.3.1). It is also called product family orientation, variant orientation, variant production, and customer order production. It affects virtually all planning & control tasks (see Figure 5.1.4.2). What stands at the fore is discrete manufacturing, or convergent product structure.
Course 7: Sections and their intended learning outcomes
Course 7 – The Concept for Product Families and One-of-a-Kind Production
Intended learning outcomes: Produce logistics characteristics of a product variety concept. Explain adaptive and generative techniques in detail. Describe the use of generative and adaptive techniques for engineer-to-order. Differentiate various ways of cooperation between R&D and Engineering in ETO Companies.
7.1 Logistics Characteristics of a Product Variety Concept
Intended learning outcomes: Differentiate between high-variety and low-variety manufacturing. Describe different variant-oriented techniques, and the final assembly schedule.
7.2 Adaptive Techniques
Intended learning outcomes: Explain techniques for standard products with few variants as well as techniques for product families.
7.3 Generative Techniques
Intended learning outcomes: Disclose the combinatorial aspect and the problem of redundant data. Present variants in bills of material and routing sheets as production rules of a knowledge-based system. Explain the use of production rules in order processing.
7.4 Generative and Adaptive Techniques for Engineer-to-Order (ETO)
Intended learning outcomes: Differentiate between the classical procedure and different archetypes of engineer-to-order. Describe the approach for basic and for repeatable engineer-to-order.
7.5 Cooperation between R&D and Engineering in ETO Companies
Intended learning outcomes: Describe different means used for cooperation between the R&D and the order-specific engineering departments. Present the portfolio of cooperation types between R&D and engineering in ETO companies.
7.6 Summary
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7.7 Keywords
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7.8 Scenarios and Exercises
Intended learning outcomes: Apply adaptive techniques for product families. Disclose the use of production rules in order processing. Elaborate the setting the parameters of a product family.
7.9 References
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