The impact of social capital on mass customisation and product innovation capabilities

Social capital with customers has three dimensions: structural, relational and cognitive capital. We propose a research model on the joint effects of the three dimensions of social capital on mass customisation capability (MCC) and product innovation capability (PIC). The hypotheses are empirically tested using structural equation modelling and data collected from 276 manufacturing firms in China. The results show that the three dimensions of social capital contribute to MCC and PIC development through different mechanisms. In particular, cognitive capital has a significant impact on MCC; relational capital significantly influences PIC; and structural capital indirectly associates with both MCC and PIC. We also find that structural capital enhances both relational and cognitive capital. MCC improves PIC and fully mediates cognitive capital’s effect on PIC. The findings extend current understanding about the complex interrelationships among structural, relational and cognitive capital and how to develop MCC and PIC by investing in social capital.     

Attribute selection for product configurator design based on Gini index

Customer needs play a critical role in product design. Matching diversified customer needs with a company’s product offerings has been a challenge for academia and industry. To this end, product configurator systems have been accepted as important tools to elicit customer needs to meet the challenge. However for complex products with many product possibilities and intricate inter-product relationships, current product configuration systems may become tedious and time consuming for customers’ choice navigation process. They cannot adapt to each individual customer’s preferences by leveraging on the attribute specification information captured in previous configuration steps. This paper presents a Gini index-based attribute selection approach for configurator design. Product configuring is modelled as a sequential query–answer process. In each configuring step, the Gini index is deployed to quantify the clarity of the designer’s beliefs about the customer’s needs. The attribute which contributes most to the clarity will be selected for the customer to configure. A product recommendation module is also integrated with the configurator to further improve the efficiency. As a result, designers obtain clarification on the customer’s needs and preferences in an accelerated manner. An example is presented to test the viability of the method.     

产品设计专家系统研究

介绍了产品设计的目的和任务,信息时代的产品设计发展状况及存在的问题,讨论了将人工智能理论与专家系统技术应用于产品设计领域,提出一个产品设计专家系统的框架结构.利用智能代理技术实现了信息与资料的整理,依据形态分析法实现了辅助创新设计,并提出采用数学建模法进行产品方案的评定.     

Optimisation of product configuration in consideration of customer satisfaction and low carbon

Product configuration is one of the key technologies in the environment of mass customisation, and it has been emphasised and concerned by much research. However, previous studies mostly focus on the cost or the customer utility, but ignore the environmental concern which becomes an important design criterion due to the rising awareness of environmental protection. Moreover, various preferences of customers are also not considered. In this paper, we develop a new bi-objective optimisation model with simultaneous consideration of customer satisfaction and the environmental impact in product configuration. Two objectives of our model are the customer satisfaction index (CSI) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of products. The CSI is presented for the evaluation of customer satisfaction and the GHG emission model is developed to assess the environmental impact of the product. Essential constraints, such as selection, cost and compatibility, are also considered in the model. In addition, a two-phase approach is proposed to solve the optimisation model. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated through a case study.     

Palletisation efficiency as a criterion for product design

The paper is concerned with the question of how implications for palletisation efficiency may be taken into account in the product/packaging design process. The perspective from which this topic is approached is the reverse of that usually adopted: rather than dealing with an evaluation of pre-determined design alternatives, the paper considers the problem of identifying the options open to the designer if a given palletisation efficiency target is to be achieved. In addition to a number of algorithmic issues various practical aspects of the problem are also discussed. The results of two case studies provide a concrete frame of reference throughout the paper.     

Innovation at the end of the life cycle: discontinuous innovation strategies by incumbents

This paper focuses on the strategies of incumbents that seek to develop discontinuous innovations within the boundaries of a mature innovation system. Mature innovation systems do not provide support for these discontinuous innovations. This article focuses on exploring why incumbents in these setting engage in discontinuous innovation and what strategies they deploy to become successful. We analyse 10 cases of incumbents developing discontinuous innovations in the mature Dutch greenhouse horticulture sector. The results of our analysis show that the incumbents are primarily triggered by dissatisfaction with the current way of doing business and that the existing institutions are the main barrier to discontinuous innovation. In response, the incumbents try to circumvent the existing innovation system in their innovation process, but when successful also engage in changing the existing innovation system. This paper contributes to the understanding of the role of incumbents as source of discontinuous innovation in mature innovation systems.     

Joint decision of product configuration and remanufacturing for product family design

Product family design (PFD) is a popular method for increasing product variety to satisfy the needs of diversified markets. With the increasing concern for environmental friendliness in society, more and more companies develop launching remanufactured products and include them in their product families. Therefore, PFD should be considered in a broad decision space where configuration of product variants and remanufacturing are considered simultaneously. However, this issue was not addressed properly in previous research. In this paper, a methodology for joint decision of product configuration and remanufacturing is proposed in which a bi-objective mixed integer programming model is formulated to determine the configurations of both new and remanufactured products for minimising product cost, maximising total market share, and satisfying reliability requirements. Then, Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGAII) is adopted to solve the optimization problem. Computational experiments were conducted and their results show that NSGAII is convergent to the model well. A case study is presented to illustrate the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed methodology.     

Modularity analysis and commonality design: a framework for the top-down platform and product family design

With a highly fragmented market and increased competition, platform-based product family design is recognised as an effective method for constructing a product line that satisfies diverse customer demand while keeping design and production cost- and time-effective. Recognising the need for modularity and commonality in platform development, this paper presents a systematic framework to assist in implementing top-down platform and product family design, which aims to achieve system-level modularity for variety generation, and rationalise the commonality configuration for module instantiation. In the first phase of platform development, a robust and flexible product family architecture is constructed to accommodate variations by analysing the external varieties of the generic product architecture, and provide a modularity design space, wherein the design tasks are further decomposed into module instantiation. The second phase of detailed platform development aims to enhance commonality in terms of engineering efficiency by coordinating with the back-end product realisation stage. A tractable optimisation method is used to capture and resolve the trade-off between commonality configuration and individual product performance. A family of power tool designs is used to demonstrate the potential and feasibility of the proposed framework at the system level and detailed design stages.     

产品语意学在设计中的应用

通过讨论产品语意学在设计中的应用,使设计师更准确地把用户的社会属性映射在产品形态上,开发出受市场欢迎的产品,从而透视出产品语意是产品创新设计源泉的观点.     

产品包装的人性化设计

产品和产品包装是不可分割的整体,在进行产品包装设计的时候,就要充分的考虑人的因素,不仅仅要考虑包装的基本功能,还要有很多和产品相关的人性化考虑.比如在包装给人的信息方面和使用方面,多站在使用者的角度来考虑.     

Product platforms design,selection and customisation in high-variety manufacturing

Product platforms represent an effective strategy implemented by manufacturers to cope with dynamic market demands, decrease lead-time and delay products differentiation. A decision support system (DSS) for product platforms design and selection in high-variety manufacturing is presented. It applies median-joining phylogenetic networks (MJPN) for the platforms design and phylogenetic tree decomposition for platforms selection by determining the product family phylogenetic network and defines the platforms at various levels of assembly corresponding to different trade-offs between number of platforms (variety) and number of assembly/disassembly tasks (customisation effort). Product platforms are reconfigured and customised to derive final product variants. The phylogenetic tree is decomposed in multiple levels, from the native platforms to the final variants. New Platforms Reconfiguration Index (PRI) and Platforms Customisation Index (PCI) were developed as metrics to evaluate the platforms customisation effort. A case study of a large family of plastic valves is used to demonstrate the DSS application. It shows reduction of 60% in platforms variety and increases in platform customisation assembly/disassembly tasks by only 20% leading to significant production and inventory efficiencies and cost savings. This methodology supports companies in the design and selection of best product platforms for high-variety to reduce cost and delivery time.     

儿童产品的人性化设计

研究了儿童的特点及分析儿童产品的现状,论述了对儿童产品进行人性化设计的必要性.在人性化设计理念的基础上,提出了对儿童产品的人性化设计原则;同时通过具体的实例论证人性化设计原则在儿童产品设计中的重要性.     

现代产品设计中的适当设计理念

论证了在现代产品设计中提出适当设计理念的理由,阐述了适当设计的本质含义.并从消费需求、产品的功能、材料及造型等4个方面,对适当设计的具体运作方法进行了比较详细的分析和研究.同时也指出了,利用适当设计,可使产品能最准确地满足目标群体最真实、最合理的消费需求,以缓解当前因产品的过度设计所带来种种问题.     

面向可适应性的产品平台设计参数规划方法

 在分析已有产品平台特点的基础上,将模块化和参数化产品平台统一表示为基于“设计参数”的产品平台,提出了面向可适应性的产品平台设计参数规划方法．引入可适应设计理念,分析了产品平台结构及变型方式;以公理设计理论为指导,进行产品功能要求 设计参数的映射,建立公理设计矩阵;分析各设计参数之间及其与功能要求之间的敏感性,构建设计关联矩阵并对其进行关联度分析;然后通过变型产品关于设计参数的差异度计算,合理识别平台参数和变型参数,确定设计参数在产品平台中的共享策略．通过桥式起重机产品族的柔性配置实例,证明了该方法的可行性和实用性．