Models for managing the redesign and manufacture of product sets

This paper examines the problem of redesigning a large product set to improve product performance and to reduce manufacturing costs. One approach for managing the problem is presented which is referred to as ‘the core product concept.’ In this approach, which is based on an analysis of an example from practice, design families are identified, and a representative member of the family is selected and extensively redesigned. The concepts and design features of this ‘core’ product, or prototype, are reused in redesigning the remaining members of the family. In this way design time is reduced. The issues involved in designing and implementing manufacturing cells for producing the families designed in this way are also examined. Mathematical models are presented for selecting the core products and for selecting the configuration of cells to implement, assigning families to these cells, and products to families in a way that minimizes total production cost. The formulations are robust and simple, and serve to enahnce managerial intuition on this important class of problems while introducing them to the research literature.