Discussion Product Families and Mass Customization ME 546

Discussion: Product Families and Mass Customization ME 546 - Designing Product Families - IE 546 Timothy W. Simpson Professor of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering and Engineering Design The Pennsylvania State University Park, PA 16802 USA phone: (814) 863 -7136 email: tws 8@psu. edu http: //www. mne. psu. edu/simpson/courses/me 546 PENNSTATE © T. W. SIMPSON

Overview of Class Discuss Examples from Homework #1: • ABB • Black & Decker • Cetetherm • Honeywell • HP • Innovation Factory • Lutron • NBIC • Sony Procedure: Gather with everyone that studied your company (4 -5 people) q In your group, discuss answers to questions on next slide q Summarize discussion on overhead transparencies q Elect someone to present your group’s results to the class q Each group will then have 5 min. to “teach” everyone else in class about what their particular company is doing and how it related to designing product families q PENNSTATE © T. W. SIMPSON

Discuss the Following in Your Group: • Briefly describe your company and its product line • What is the extent of the product variety being offered? • What are the key enabling technologies used by the company to provide this product variety? • Is the company mass customizing goods or effectively using a family of products? Do they differentiate between the two? • Is mass customization worth pursing? Are product families worth pursuing? Why? • Is there a relationship between mass customization and product families? If so, what? • How do the views and opinions expressed in this paper relate to the course question: How can product realization teams provide increased product variety at less cost for a highly competitive, global marketplace? PENNSTATE © T. W. SIMPSON