Mapping Knowledge Domain Of Product Platform

Using bibliometric methods, this research maps the knowledge domain of product platform. SCI, SSCI and A&HCI databases are choosed to be data source and key journals, articles and authors are identified through citation analysis. Based on the result, co-citation analysis is employed to investigate the research fields of the whole sample period(2000-2015) and the sub-periods and the corresponding network maps are plotted. Then a frequency analysis is conducted to explore the research hotspots of strategic planning. Finally, countries’（regions’） cooperation map and institutes’ distribution are made through citespace.Some conclusions are obtained through the above research process. The study finds that from 2000 to 2016, the most four influential scholars are Simpson, Meyer, Jiao and Ulrich and the top three most frequently cited documents are Meyer’s Power Product Platforms, Robertson’s Planning For Product Platforms and Ulrich’s The role of product architecture in the manufacturing firm. Product platform related researchs are dominated by “modularity research”, “product platform construction and management ” and “fundamental research on product platform”. Research foundations differed in different periods, which means the research foundation changed from the product design to the product platform gradually. Robertson(1998), Meyer(1997), Ulrich(1995), and Meyer(1993) largely connected the other research on product platform as the role of the bridge,which has a great influence. The hotspots of product platform research are: platform, product family, product development, mass customization, modularity, performance, platform strategy, and marketing. The most prolific country is United States, followed by Britain and china. The most prolific institution is NTU, followed by the Pennsylvania Stste University and the University of Hong Kong. The research areas of the three institutions are the construction of the product platform and the design of the product family in the circumstance of the mass customization.