Product Development Through Cyclic and Evolving Markets: An Application of Product Platform and Product Family Design Principles

Abstract

Abstract Product development in cyclic and uncertain markets is challenging, and continuity in long-term product development can often be lost. Because products developed over multiple cycles can lack commonality in the underlying technology and knowledge from previous development initiatives, it can be almost impossible to reach sustainable economies of scale and drive cost efficiencies. In addition, when similar products are designed and manufactured individually, high design, manufacturing, and inventory costs can result. This presents significant challenges when it comes to product development for both current and future needs. The concept of product family design has been successfully used in various industries such as automotive, power tools, aviation, and information technology. In one example, this approach was used to successfully head off business challenges by creating a family of products that would be standardized around a robust platform but offer the flexibility to serve multiple market segments via the addition or scaling of features at a minimal cost impact. To address the product development challenges and reduce costs, product platform and product family design principles were used to successfully develop the next generation of landing string equipment and other derivative products. The development program was executed in four phases. During the first 1.5 years of the program, the product platform was developed. This included extensive tests to establish the platform configuration and its performance limits. In the subsequent phases, the platform was used to develop derivative products for the HPHT landing string and 15,000-psi workover systems. Although the effort to quantify the relationship between the design variables was significant, the data obtained were critical in reducing the development timelines for subsequent products. The use of product platform and product family design principles reduced the time to market for new derivative products by approximately 40%. The established platform will be used to efficiently generate complementary products, paving the way for structured product development for years to come.