Development of a Product Architecture
below you will find the most important steps for developing a product architecture. As it is the most common application, we assume here that you want to create an improved modular architecture for an existing product platform in order to sustainably improve complexity. We will work through the necessary steps in sequence for the whole product to ensure that the modular structure is optimally adapted to your processes. There also the development activities takes place on your premises, as a series of themed workshops in small groups of experts.
Note: In crisis mode, on the other hand, it would make sense to focus first on those modules that promise the fastest possible improvement, even if this approach has to be paid for with lower sustainability of the overall structure (as shown in the report Complexity improvement under Corona)
Definition of Module Drivers
As our modular structure is designed to reduce complexity costs, our first step is to identify your specific supply chain and life cycle processes and describe them in such a way that they can be used to classify the components of your product. We call these the module drivers, as they essentially determine the module definition.
Components‘ Classification
All components of the current product structure are now evaluated with regard to your specific module drivers. We use a low-mid-high scaling for this, which is completely sufficient but requireing minimal effort.
The prerequisite for this step is a good knowledge of the product roadmap as well as the supply chain and technology roadmap of the respective component.
Pré-Grouping , Cluster Analysis
Some of the unnecessary complexity costs arise when very different supply chain or life cycle processes affect a component, as this increases the frequency and cost of changes, or limits the leverage of innovative components.
The aim of this step is to group the components in such a way that
- avoid that components are affected by contradictory processes
- integrate „process-like“ components into one module
For products that consist of a large number of components, the use of cluster analysis is helpful. Cluster analysis is a statistical method for determining “similarities” and thus provides an initial objective grouping approach for the subsequent development of the modular structure.
Definition of the Module Structure
As the cluster analysis only provides a statistical analysis of the “possible grouping”, functional and assembly aspects are taken into account in this step in order to arrive at a feasible module structure. For this purpose, components are grouped into modules. A module is then a group of components that in the longterm can be treated in the supply chain as a single component group
Introduction Workshop
In the intro-workshop, all future participants – and interested managers – have the opportunity to get to know and discuss the background to complexity and the concept of developing a product architecture and to define their own framework conditions and goals.
Product Strategy (optional)
The long-term success of a product architecture depends on how well it can be used to configure next gen products. For this reason, knowledge of the product strategy is a basic requirement for all participants. If this is not (yet) known, the development of “lighthouse products” can help relatively quickly.
Implementation
Once the company-specific product architecture has been defined, a large number of profitable applications can be created. Prioritizing the possible steps for implementation and complexity management ensures the fastest possible benefits.