Phases Of Product Life Cycle Research Articles

An Inventory Model for Ramp-Type Demand with Two-Level Trade Credit Financing Linked to Order Quantity

In the traditional economic order quantity (EOQ) model, it is assumed that the demand rate is constant. Thereafter, many researchers developed inventory model with time-varying demand to reflect sales in different phases of product life cycle in the market. However, in practice, especially for fashionable and high-tech product, the demand rate during the growth stages of its life cycle increases significantly with linear or exponential in the growth stage and then gradually stabilizes, and remains near constant in the maturity stage. It can be taken a ramp-type demand rate into account. Furthermore, in today’s supply chain, a supplier usually offers a permissible delay in payment to retailers to encourage them to buy more products, and a retailer in turn provides a downstream trade-credit period to its customers. Therefore, this paper focus on 1) ramp-type demand rate and 2) the upstream and downstream trade credit financing linked to order quantity for retailer is considered. The objective is to find the optimal replenishment cycle and order quantity to keep the total relevant cost per unit time as minimum as possible. The study shows that in each case discussed, the optimal solution not only exists but also is unique. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the proposed model. Finally, some relevant managerial insights based on the results are characterized.

Risk cost estimation of job shop scheduling with random machine breakdowns

Scheduling has been playing an important role in the manufacturing phase of product life cycle. In this paper, we focus on the estimation of risk cost for the job shop scheduling under random machine breakdowns, in which all jobs should be delivered together at a given due date. The risk cost measures the sum of expected earliness and tardiness costs. Considering that the risk cost in the form of expectation does not allow analytical calculation for the job shop scheduling, we will try to build a computable analytical approximation to replace the commonly used but time-consuming Monte Carlo simulation. However, the manual design of an effective analytical approximation is generally very complicated. To address it, we will develop a learning method based on the symbolic regression to extract an analytical approximation of risk cost from experimental data automatically. For this purpose, we first list all the features which may be related to the risk cost by analyzing deeply the job shop scheduling under random machine breakdowns. Then, a learning algorithm based on the genetic programming is proposed to extract an analytical approximation of risk cost. Finally, extensive experiments have shown that the accuracy of the generated analytical approximation in evaluating the risk cost is close to that of the Monte Carlo simulation, while it can significantly improve the efficiency of estimation.

Modeling of the Shrinking Product Life Cycle

Generally, it is considered that the products have five phases in their life cycle, namely, introduction, growth, maturity, saturation and decline. But with the rapid advancement of technology and globalization, the product life has dwindled. This paper studies the life cycle of the products whose life cycle has been reduced to only three phases. The life cycle of the various products especially electronic goods (mobile phones) has been studied and it has been observed that life span of these products has been reduced drastically. Another observation is that the introduction and the growth phase have been clubbed into one. Many of the products either will have the growth in the initial part of their life cycle or will be unable to survive, so there is no possibility of the other phases of life cycle. This study formulates a model for the products having only three phases of the life cycle and having a very short life span. While the earlier models have considered five phases of product life cycle with longer duration. The mathematical model considered here has only three phases of life cycle which matches with the life cycles of the electronics products, whose demand increases rapidly during the growth period and declines exponentially during the decline phase.

Rich unboxing experiences: complexity in product packaging and its influence upon product expectations

We explore the influence of complexity in packaging design, defined as complexity of action and transformation, upon product appraisal at an unboxing phase of product life cycle. Three packaging designs of different complexity were developed and prototyped. Participant responses were then gathered through ten bipolar semantic differential scales that measured the influence of packaging complexity upon expectation towards and appraisal of the packaged product. Results indicate how increased complexity of action and transformation evoked higher expectations of product quality. Complexity of product packaging was shown to significantly influence the participants' appraisal of the packaged product's personality. Findings contribute to an understanding of how complexity in product packaging implicates the user's affective response to the packaged product through increased expectation resulting in either heightened delight or increased dissatisfaction. Implications for the use of complexity of action and transformation in product packaging design are discussed.

Rich unboxing experiences: complexity in product packaging and its influence upon product expectations

We explore the influence of complexity in packaging design, defined as complexity of action and transformation, upon product appraisal at an unboxing phase of product life cycle. Three packaging designs of different complexity were developed and prototyped. Participant responses were then gathered through ten bipolar semantic differential scales that measured the influence of packaging complexity upon expectation towards and appraisal of the packaged product. Results indicate how increased complexity of action and transformation evoked higher expectations of product quality. Complexity of product packaging was shown to significantly influence the participants' appraisal of the packaged product's personality. Findings contribute to an understanding of how complexity in product packaging implicates the user's affective response to the packaged product through increased expectation resulting in either heightened delight or increased dissatisfaction. Implications for the use of complexity of action and transformation in product packaging design are discussed.

Hidden product knowledge: problems and potential solutions

Requirements and constraints form the base for each new design but in the design phase only a limited amount of them is known; more requirements and constraints appear during the later phases of product lifecycle. At the moment, the information that is collected after the main design phase is not often stored in a re-usable way. On the other hand, large amount of decisions made by design engineers during the design phase is either not stored or documented at all. This lack of lifecycle knowledge causes large amount of unnecessary costs in a form of scrapping, re-work and additional work hours, therefore providing a potential for large savings. This paper explains the current situation, the challenges, the problems and the consequences of poor knowledge management. The problem of hidden product knowledge is a complex one and solving it requires changes to processes, tools, and maybe even to ways certain functions in companies are organized and managed. This paper proposes ways to at least partially solve the problem by using the Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) tools and modifying the way engineers work.

A systems-based sustainability assessment framework to capture active impacts in product life cycle/manufacturing

Abstract Impacts associated with various product life-cycle phases can be characterized geographically and classified as embodied or active; embodied impacts are accounted for in the realization of a product, e.g., water used in manufacturing; active impacts occur during use and post-use phases, e.g., microfibers in the living tissues of aquatic life. Active impacts can often be more significant than embodied impacts. Embodied impacts are easy to quantify and regulate through efficiency-based measures; whereas active impacts are difficult to trace and quantify, requiring an effectiveness-based approach. Active impacts have greater bearing on sustainability and require systems-based approach to discern causality of impacts traceable to manufacturing/design. Further, current sustainability assessment (SA) tools inadequately trace geographically distributed nature of product life-cycle phases and associated impacts. This paper discusses a systems-based SA framework for manufacturing to capture and trace active impacts to the corresponding life-cycle phases, currently limited to acute and chronic impacts on societal health. The same methodology could be extended, subsequently, to accommodate economic and environmental impacts (of concern).

Categorizing and selecting digitization technologies for their implementation within different product lifecycle phases

The targeted implementation of suitable digitization technologies is a requirement for the competitiveness of manufacturing companies. However, due to the high variety of available digitization technologies, finding the optimal solution for given challenges is a major issue. The paper presents an approach to empower companies to assess individually which of the available technologies are suitable and profitable for them using a so-called ‘technology map’. The technology map categorizes digitization technologies by their purposes and assigns them to the different lifecycle phases in which they can be implemented, while taking into account a variety of indicators, e.g. requirements for their implementation.

Dealing with Knowledge Management Practices in Different Product Lifecycle Phases within Product-service Systems

Through semi-structured interviews in six companies, the current paper investigates the knowledge management practices in product-service systems from product lifecycle perspective. Knowledge requirements (types/sources), knowledge sharing, and knowledge reuse in both beginning-of-life and middle-of-life phases are our focus. Similarities and differences on knowledge management practices were found in the two phases. Our finding suggests that in the current digital era, in order to keep competitive, the knowledge requirements in different PLC phases should be clearly identified, the importance of people should be re-emphasized, external collaboration should be strengthened, and standardization should be advocated in the company.

The role of the Project Management Office (PMO) in product lifecycle management: A case study in the defence industry

Research on Project Management Offices (PMOs) has concentrated on their structure and role as an integrator to facilitate, coordinate and support project activity across organisations and portfolios. This 'lateral' focus across organisations has to some extent disregarded the 'longitudinal' scope of the PMO and its potential to aid in the effective implementation of product lifecycle management. Here we examine critically the PMO's role as a longitudinal integrator of activity across the product lifecycle. More specifically we examine the PMO's potential to bridge the interface gaps that exist between product lifecycle phases. It uses the findings of an empirical study carried out in a multi-national defence company to research the interface between the bid submission stage and subsequent stages. It finds that interface gaps bring issues of inconsistent strategic intent across phases, dissimilar process and method used in separate phases, and poor knowledge management within the gaps between phases. It finds that the PMO can provide continuity across phases by maintaining coherence of purpose, process, and method, and integrity of knowledge to enhance the performance of both the pre- and post-gap phases of the lifecycle. It further suggests that exploration of the lifecycle-based role of the PMO may present opportunities to enhance the strategic value of the PMO within organisations and also improve the integration between project management practice and product lifecycle management. The study contributes to both the product lifecycle management literature and the literature on the role and function of the PMO.

Concept of a Resilient Process Chain to Control Uncertainty of a Hydraulic Actuator

Narrow tolerances are commonly used to control uncertainty in the production of technicalcomponents. However, narrow tolerances lead to financial expense and limit flexibility. In this paperthe concept of a resilient process chain is presented. This concept covers the product life cycle phases ofproduction and usage. It is enabled by the digitalization in mechanical engineering and offers access tovariable process windows instead of rigid tolerances. First steps of this concept are then applied to the TU Darmstadt active air spring. The active air spring can be used to increase the driving comfort in avehicle or, for instance, to minimize kinetosis during autonomous driving. The focus hereby is toidentify possible production influences on the behaviour of the components usage. For this purpose, theactuator of the active air spring is specifically manufactured with typical uncertainty of high precisionmachining of the bore and characterized experimentally in a test rig. The results show an influenceof the production on the efficiency of the actuator. The measurements are fundamental to establish aresilient process chain on the active air spring.

Маркетинговий підхід до визначення категорії "туристичний продукт"

Розглянуто основні підходи до трактування суті поняття "туристичний продукт". Це зробили вітчизняні та світові дослідники з цієї проблематики. Особливу увагу приділено аналізу поняття "туристичний продукт" із позиції маркетингу. Наведено власне визначення категорії "туристичний продукт" із використанням маркетингового підходу. Також виявлено чинники впливу на туристичний продукт та формування попиту на нього. Висвітлено види туристичного продукту, проаналізовано його елементи й охарактеризовано особливості маркетингового складника туристичного продукту сучасного ринку. З'ясовано, що туристичний продукт із погляду туриста, а не суб'єкта туристичної галузі, бере свій початок із первинного джерела інформації (де турист почув про туристичний продукт) і триває довше, аніж закінчення самого туру (через отримані емоції від подорожі). Зазначено, що значна частка в структурі туристичного продукту належить саме емоційній складовій. Проаналізовано фази життєвого циклу туристичного продукту та виявлено, що використання такого маркетингового інструменту, як просування продукту, прямо пропорційно впливатиме як на попит, так і на продовження життєвого циклу туристичного продукту загалом. Запропоновано значне використання засобів просування туристичного продукту на ринку для ширшого охоплення цільової аудиторії та створення належних каналів комунікації із споживачем.

Analysis of the behaviour of the clients assisted and sales variables in the different phases of the product life cycle

Purpose The Bass model was created to analyse the product life cycle (PLC) in order to help sales and marketing departments in their business decision making. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the diferences between the clients assisted and sales variables, to discover which of the two variables is the more useful for the estimation of the PLC phases through the Bass model, thus aiding the managers of company sales and marketing departments. Design/methodology/approach In this research, the authors analysed the 223,577 clients assisted by a nationwide network of car dealerships, who acquired 36,819 vehicles, during a 24-month period. In the analysis, the Bass model was applied to define the PLC phases; and nonlinear regression models were used to carry out the estimations. Findings The results show that more consistent estimates of the PLC phases are obtained from the clients assisted variable. This work has theoretical and practical implications that can help business management. Research limitations/implications The most remarkable thing about this research is that we have shown that the functionality of the clients assisted variable is greater than the sales variable for the Bass model and, therefore, for PLC estimation. Practical implications The results of this research are very useful, since they allow marketing decision makers to obtain more consistent estimations of the PLC phases using the Bass model and the clients assisted variable. This is based on the fact that the use of this variable helps to detect if there is any deficiency in the design of the marketing strategy when the client does not make the purchase. Social implications The data on clients assisted are as easily available to companies as sales data. However, the use of this variable improves PLC analysis and this allows an improvement in company forecasting. Thus, making the clients assisted variable a tool to strategically plan investments in innovation and marketing would reduce uncertainty in business management. Originality/value The purpose of this paper is to analyse the diferences between the clients assisted and sales variables, to discover which of the two variables is the more useful for the estimation of the PLC phases through the Bass model, thus aiding the managers of company sales and marketing departments.

From production planning flows to manufacturing operation management KPIs: linking ISO18828 & ISO22400 standards

International standards are playing a key role in leading and shaping the smart manufacturing landscape. The integration and consistency among different standards is therefore essential to effectively support industrial automation evolution and to ensure their applicability. This paper focuses on the ISO18828 and ISO22400 standards, related to the production planning process and manufacturing, consequential phases in product lifecycle. In this paper the connections between the information related to production planning process (ISO18828) and the KPI main basic elements in manufacturing operation management (ISO22400) are analysed. The analysis aims at supporting the standards’ users, underlining the aspects that should be taken into account in order to consolidate and improve the considered lifecycle phases.

Clarifying Data Analytics Concepts for Industrial Engineering

In the last decade manufacturing experienced a shift towards digitalization. Cost decrease of sensors, wireless connectivity, and the opportunity to store big amounts of data pushed a process towards a next generation of IT industry. Manufacturing now has the opportunity to gather large quantities of data, coming from different areas, such as product and process design, assembly, material planning, quality control, scheduling, maintenance, fault detection and cover all the product life cycle phases. The extraction of value from data is a new challenge that companies are now experiencing. Therefore, the need for analytical information system is growing, in order to explore datasets and discover useful and often hidden information. Data analytics became a keyword in this context, but sometimes it is not clear how different methods or tools are defined and could be effectively used to analyze data in manufacturing. The paper aims to present and clarify the meaning of terms that are currently and frequently used in the context of analytics. The paper also provides an overview of the data analysis techniques that could be used to extract knowledge from data along the manufacturing process.

Decision Support Tool for Supply Chain Configuration Considering New Product Re-Design: An Agent-Based Approach

In the decline phase of product lifecycle, industrials need to re-design their products to introduce new functions and/or customers’ new preferences. These changes may not only affect the product’s bill of material, but also its supply chain network. Consequently, new supply chain costs are generated. This paper addresses the problem of supply chain configuration considering new product re-design using a multi-agent system (MAS). The objective of the system is to ensure good collaboration between two different points of view, supply chain partners and product designers, to make better decisions. To model the proposed system, we select the multi-agent system engineering (MaSe) methodology. The MAS framework contains three types of agents, namely, “product design agent” and “supply chain agents” which are fitted with optimization tools. These tools allow costs’ optimization and selection of supply chain means (suppliers, technologies, etc.). Finally, the system contains a “communication agent” acting like a mediator; it facilitates data exchange between designers. To support distributed decision-making, two models of mixed integer linear programming are adopted and implemented within the framework for supply chain optimization. The overall MAS approach was tested in simulation with a case study. The objective of the simulation is to choose among three product alternatives the cheapest one based on its supplying and production costs, under capacity constraints. The MAS was able to find the best product alternative among three alternatives proposed by product design team and select optimal supply chain means. The optimal supply chain contains two suppliers: one machine and one subcontractor to satisfy customer’s demand.

A spatiotemporal information management framework for product design and assembly process planning reconciliation

This paper introduces an innovative framework for product design and assembly process planning reconciliation. Nowadays, both product lifecycle phases are quasi concurrently performed in industry and this configuration has led to competitive gains in efficiency and flexibility by improving designers’ awareness and product quality. Despite these efforts, some limitations/barriers are still encountered regarding the lack of dynamical representation, information consistency and information flow continuity. It is due to the inherent nature of the information created and managed in both phases and the lack of interoperability between the related information systems. Product design and assembly process planning phases actually generate heterogeneous information, since the first one describes all information related to “what to be delivered” and the latter rationalises all information with regards to “how to be assembled”. In other words, the integration of assembly planning issue in product design requires reconciliation means with appropriate relationships of the architectural product definition in space with its assembly sequence in terms of time. Therefore, the main objective is to provide a spatiotemporal information management framework based on a strong semantic and logical foundation in product lifecycle management (PLM) systems, increasing therefore actors’ awareness, flexibility and efficiency with a better abstraction of the physical reality and appropriate information management procedures. A case study is presented to illustrate the relevance of the proposed framework and its hub-based implementation within PLM systems.

Analysis of personalized production organizing and operating mechanism in a social manufacturing environment

Current manufacturing industry has witnessed the trends of socialization, personalization, and servitization, which prompts the appearance of social manufacturing paradigm. This article addresses the personalized production organizing and operating mechanism in social manufacturing. Socialized manufacturing resources spring up in fine-grained markets and self-organize into social communities to participate in different phases of product lifecycle. A socialized production network integrating different socialized manufacturing resources/social communities is organized to create personalized products. The framework and key aspects for socialized production network operating are discussed. The discussion on personalized production organizing and operating mechanism will reveal the future manufacturing philosophy.

Model-based documentation

Knowledge acquisition is becoming an integral part of the manufacturing industries, which rely on domain experts in various phases of product life cycle including design, analysis, manufacturing, operation and maintenance. It has the potential to enable knowledge reuse, however, poorly managed knowledge can cause information loss and inefficiency. If technical documentation is managed well in the manufacturing industries, intended piece of knowledge can easily be located, used and reused for purpose and as a result, the corresponding industry can be benefited. Some examples of technical documentation are design specification, operating manual and maintenance manual. Model-based Documentation (MBD) is a documentation approach that uses model to provide structure to the data of the documents. MBD can be thought of as a way to better organize knowledge thereby knowledge identification and retrieval become easier, faster and efficient. In this paper, we propose MBD and its extension as a potential solution to overcome the issues involved in the typical technical documentation approaches.

Towards a design-to-sustainability platform based on functional representations and simplified geometric layouts

ABSTRACTSustainability is becoming one of the main drivers of the modern product and system design. However, sustainability assessments are usually carried out at the end of the design process to check the validity of the decisions already taken. As a consequence, when targets are not achieved, numerous time-consuming iteration loops are necessary to optimize the initial solution. The paper merges functional-based and design-to-cost approaches to propose a CAD-based platform able to assess product lifecycle costs and impacts from the earliest design stages by configuring and assessing feasible design solutions. It considers both economic expenses and environmental impacts during all phases of product lifecycle on the basis of the company knowledge.