Product Configuration Modelling Products and Product Families

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Product Configuration-Modelling Products and
Product Families

• Kaj A. Jørgensen
• www.iprod.aau.dk/kaj
• Aalborg University, Department of Production

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Mass Customisation

• Mass customisation
• aims at taking benefits from
• mass production
• one-of-a-kind production
• mass production of customised products
• Customers view
• fulfilment of individual needs by configuration
  decisions
• Producers view
• a set of products must be modelled as a whole
• all modules and components must be prepared for
  production
• often studied approach is mass production ? mass
  customisation
• the approach engineer-to-order is a much greater
  challenge

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Other examples of development projects in Denmark

• F. L. Smidt Co.
• Product cement manufacturing plants
• Configurator for tender support
• Triax
• Product Parabolic antennas a preliminary study
• Demex Electric www.demex-electric.dk
• Product electric control panels
• Product configurator for layout and component
  selection
• Aalborg Industries www.aalborg-industries.com
• Product modular boilers
• Configurator for cost estimation and quote
  generation
• PhD project modelling of product information for
  configuration

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Development of Information Technology (IT)

• IT has developed very rapidly
• the Internet, new technologies, shift of focus
• new software development paradigms
• new languages, e.g. C, Java, XML, C-sharp
• Internet-oriented applications
• portals
• e-business systems
• Internet Service Providers
• I-net services software in 2003 1.7 billion US
  (Gartner)
• What types of Internet services are necessary?
• Are the available new technology and standards
  useful?

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Product Modelling - A Strategic Research Area

• Design methodologies - the design process
• Design knowledge reuse of existing solutions
• The product model properties, components and
  structures
• Representations - multiple abstraction levels
• Purpose, form and structure behaviour and
  appearance
• dual view requirement versus fulfilment
• Applications (web) based on product models
• Graphic presentations - multiple views
• Model manipulation - virtual Reality
• Product configurators
• Product documentation

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Modelling of Products and Product Families

• Basic concepts
• Product and Product Model analytic and
  synthetic view
• More precise concepts Product Family and Product
  Family Model
• Product family set of end-products
• Product family model synthetic and generic model
  of product family
• Product model model generated from a product
  family model
• Product physical end-product manufactured from
  its product model
• Product family model
• Key issues determination of properties of the
  end products
• Structural model of product families
• Modularisation, modules versus attributes,
  functionalities

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Structural Model
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Structural Model - Interfaces
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Product Family Models

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Product Family Model and Configuration

• The product family model has a set of open
  specifications
• Configuration is to decide these specifications
• Pure structural model selection of modules which
  fit together
• The result is a model of the configured
  end-product
• This model is the basis for manufacturing
• Product configurator
• software application
• based on the product family model
• may be used by the customer and perhaps a sales
  person

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Complementary Areas of Product Configuration

• The strategic aspects for industries
• trends, perspectives, re-engineering, etc.
• Product design/re-design for configuration
• modularisation, modelling, maintenance, etc.
• Configuration of customer specific products
• from customer contact to delivery and service
• Product configurators
• architectures, functionalities, performance, etc.
• Configuration knowledge
• knowledge representation, rules versus
  constraints, inference engines
• knowledge based systems, knowledge bases, user
  interfaces

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Product Models Towards Mass Customisation

• Three forms of product models
• Finalised models
• All attribute values are assigned unchangeable
  values
• Special building objects, as-built end-products,
  etc.
• Parameterised models
• Values of a subset of the attributes can be
  modified
• Most building elements, windows, doors, beams,
  columns, etc.
• Building products like stairs, gates, etc.
• Often changed to finalised end-product models
• Configurable models models of product families
• Attributes as well as components and structure
  are defined
• Can be reduced to parameterised or finalised
  models

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Product Model Aggregation
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Use of Product Family Models in Product Design

• Product family models are often proprietary
• Suppliers perform the configuration to finalised
  product models
• Product designers need parameterised or
  configurable models
• Some degree of openness is required
• With open product family models, the designer can
  do configuration
• Semi open product family models
• The supplier can perform configuration to a
  certain point
• The supplier delivers a semi configurable or
  parameterised model
• The designer can perform further
  configuration/finalisation
• Each supplier can secure his competitive
  uniqueness
• The designers can maintain a higher degree of
  freedom

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Models and Modelling

• Modelling is a very important design approach
• The designed artefacts are often very complex
• Many kinds of models the focus here
  computer-based models
• Modelling tools are becoming increasingly
  advanced
• However, tools often dictate certain modelling
  methodologies
• Models are intentional simplified representation
  of something
• A model fulfils a certain purpose
• Abstractions are about properties, components and
  structure
• Most often with respect to components and
  structure
• There is a need for other kinds of abstractions

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Fundamental System Concepts

• Analysis and Synthesis
• Analysis of existing system
• investigate system properties
• identify sub-systems and structure
• Synthesis of new system
• combine known systems in a structure
• identify and define system properties
• System Modelling
• Two kinds of models
• analytic and synthetic systems
• Two modelling approaches
• abstraction and realisation

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Modelling two approaches

• Analytic modelling
• modelling by abstraction

• Synthetic modelling
• realisation of artefacts

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Synthetic Modelling is the Foundation
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Fundamental Issues of Modelling (1)
Modelling includes working with
abstraction from high degree towards low
degree details from low degree towards high
degree
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Fundamental Issues of Modelling (2)
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Fundamental Issues of Modelling (3)
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Product Specification attributes versus modules
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Information Modelling Generic Model Component

• Model component
• Living organism - communicating
• Content
• attributes
• factual - state
• operational - behaviour
• structures of sub-components
• references
• collections
• Encapsulation - attributes can be
• visible for other systems
• hidden from other system

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Instantiation from Model Component Types

• Component types
• Primary content of information models
• Identification - definition - specification
• Attributes - name, data type, constraints
• Relationship types
• reference types
• collection types
• can be defined by special attributes
• Components
• Generated from types
• Indefinite number of instances

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Data Modelling Fundamentals, cont.

• References
• A reference contains the address value of another
  object
• Symbol in type diagrams arrow
• A reference can be used to represent an oriented
  relationship between two objects
• examples window ? wall floor ?
  roombuilding ? building complex

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Data Modelling Fundamentals, cont.

• Collections
• Oriented relationship between two object types
  examples wall ---gtgt window, room ---gtgt wall
• Symbol in type diagrams double-headed arrow
• Anchor type and body type
• Identified by a special attribute in the anchor
  type
• One-to-many relationships
• Internal organisation - information structure
• static structure - array
• dynamic/linked structures standard structures
  lists, trees, networks

?
?
CDset
CDdata
Object types
Objects
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Dynamic Data Structures - Linked Representations

• Characteristics - Efficiency
• Insert and remove operations
• Retrieval operations most efficient search
  trees
• Standard structures
• List structures
• Single-linked
• Double-linked
• Tree structures
• Binary trees
• Multi-way trees
• Networks

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Representation of Product Family Models

• Module type model of a set of interchangeable
  modules
• Syntax name ...
• The end-product is also modelled as a module type
• Module types has attributes with
• data types numeric, boolean, string, etc.
• Example
• HardDisk
• Name String(50)
• StorageCapacity Integer
• AccessTime Float
• Price Currency

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Representation of Product Family Models

• For the available modules, the attribute values
  can be listed in a table
• a column for each attribute
• a row for each module

• Alternatively, the data can be read from a
  database or data warehouse

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Representation of Product Family Models

• Some attributes can be specified by
• a domain the set of possible attribute values
• and optionally default values
• Examples
• Computer
• ...
• PreSet Master, Slave default Master
• OperatingSystem Non, WinXP, Win2000, WinMe
• Default WinXP

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Representation of Product Family Models

• Some attributes can be specified as
• a function of other attributes
• Examples
• Computer
• OperatingSystem Boolean Default true
• Colour ComputerCase.Colour
• HardDisks HardDisk
• DiskMemory Sum(HardDisk.StorageCapacity)
• Weight SumWeight Double
• ... Specific algorithm ...

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Representation of Product Family Models

• Module types can contain relations
• One kind of relations describe the product
  structure
• Syntax
• Contents Optional multiplicity module
  type,...
• Example 1
• Cpu
• ...
• Contents OneOf CpuBoard, AnyOf Processor,
• AnyOf MemoryUnit, ...
• ...

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Representation of Product Family Models

• Example 2
• ComputerCase
• ...
• Contents OneOf PowerSupply,
• Optional OneOf PowerCable
• ...

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Representation of Product Family Models

• Relations with arithmetic and logical expressions
• Ordinary arithmetic operators - /
• Relational operators , gt, lt, gt, lt and ltgt
• Logical operators and, or not, ?, ?
• Example 1
• Cpu
• Constraints
• GraphicBoard IoBoard TvTunerBoard
• lt NbOfBusSlots
• Processor lt ProcessorSlots
• ...

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Representation of Product Family Models

• Example 2
• Computer
• ...
• Constraints
• Monitor lt 2
• HardDisk CdDrive DvdDrive lt DiskCable 2
• OperatingSystem ?
• HardDisk.OperatingSystem ltgt Non
• CdDrive ? not DvdDrive
• ...

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Representation of Product Family Models

• Demo Baan Configuration System iBaan
  E-Configuration
• Cava language, developed as extension to Java

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The end

• Thank you