Engineering design methodology for Planned Product Innovation

In designing products and product platforms, it is essential to consider the role of technology evolution to avoid the premature obsolescence of key components and frequent redesign costs. Considering technology evolution in multi-generational design is termed planned product innovation. Existing engineering design tools/processes fail to delineate a product's or product family's technologies and therefore capitalize on ways of technology change within products.; This research begins by constructing a framework for technology change in terms of its three elements---performance level, principle of operation, and technology architecture. Measuring the three elements of technology change separately and comparing them to their respective forecast information yields a technology's potential for planned innovation.; The Planned Product Innovation Method (PPIM), a structured engineering design process is developed using the technology change framework. The PPIM identifies underlying technologies and provides a systematic technology change analysis of a product and its anticipated planned innovation. A detailed function-structure diagram and a component-based design structure matrix of the initial product design serve as inputs to the PPIM and result in the technology change potentials for each technology. Using the output of PPIM, a qualitative assessment of the risks associated with technology change potentials is also presented in the Planned Product Innovation Risk Assessment method. For each potential technology change option, three dimensions of risk---envisioning risk, design risk, and execution risk---are calculated based on the amounts at stake and the uncertainty in each dimension. The PPIM and subsequent Risk Assessment method are demonstrated using electro-mechanical products---an electric pencil sharpener and computer mice.; Grouping components with similar technology change potentials, similar in all three elements of technology change, into independent clusters is outlined in the Technology-based Clustering Method (TCM). A detailed structure for the TCM using technology similarity and technology dependency measures, as well as a clustering algorithm is presented.; Adapting the technology change framework to product platform identification yields a set of four heuristics to identify technology-based platform elements in the Technology-based Platform Development Method (TPDM). The heuristics require that the platform elements have a low potential for change in performance level, principle of operation, and technology architecture or have standardized interfaces. A case example is constructed by applying the TPDM to the development of the iPod portable music players. Technology change potentials for each technology within an audio iPod are evaluated. The TPDM showed that not all of the elements in the iPod product platform are eligible for inclusion in a technology-based platform. Opportunities for standardization and identifying technology-based platform elements for new markets are confirmed.