Organised by: Cranfield UniversityProduct configuration has a central role in PLM application. The generic product configuration which
factories the similarities between the product types, is used to facilitate the production by permitting delay
differentiation.
In this research, the role of business object in the construction of generic product configuration is studied.
Then the rules used in the procedure of structuring the generic and specific configuration are presented.
These rules are based on the” variability points” method. The concept is identifying the major variability’s of
different products by finding the dependencies of their properties. The industrial case of the culinary articles
is then studied.Mori Seiki – The Machine Tool Compan

Gzara, L.

Izadpanah, S-H.

Tollenaere, M.

English

Cranfield CERES

CThe Mechanisms of Construction of Generic ProductConfiguration with the Help of Business Object and DelayDifferentiationS-H. Izadpanah, L. Gzara, M. TollenaereG-SCOP LaboratoryGrenoble Institute of Technology, France{Seyed-Hamedreza.Izadpanah, Lilia.Gzara, Michel.Tollenaere } @inpg.frAbstractProduct configuration has a central role in PLM application. The generic product configuration whichfactories the similarities between the product types, is used to facilitate the production by permitting delaydifferentiation.In this research, the role of business object in the construction of generic product configuration is studied.Then the rules used in the procedure of structuring the generic and specific configuration are presented.These rules are based on the” variability points” method. The concept is identifying the major variability’s ofdifferent products by finding the dependencies of their properties. The industrial case of the culinary articlesis then studied.Keywords:Product Lifecycle Management, Product Structure Model, Delay Differentiation, Genericity in productconfiguration1. INTRODUCTIONImplementation of a PLM system within an enterprise isan opportunity to improve its information managementand rationalize its document structure, since it preliminaryrequires structuring plenty of product information. Productinformations to be structured in a PLM are essentially thedocuments and the configuration. Structuring of productconfiguration is studied in this research. [Rangan 05]Analyzing some industrial cases of PLM deployment,shows that the management of product configuration inthe many cases is about to construct the configuration foreach commercialized product, independently to theconfiguration of other similar products in the sameproduction line. Therefore the amount of information to bemanaged is relatively huge. This manner of configurationmanagement, can make some difficulties concerning tothe creation and possible future modification ofconfigurations.It’s obvious that many of commercialized productsfabricated by an enterprise belong to a family of product,more explicit, a production line. Therefore, it’s frequentthat some of their properties are similar and common.This commonality is not already been taken to account inmany of industrial cases; each product configuration isconstructed independently to the configuration of theother similar product. This procedure, make the system sohuge and difficult to manage, mostly its modification.So, in order to avoid from this problem, it seems that itsuit to factorize the common information of wholeproducts of a production line (from their configurations),and create one product configuration which represent the“generic product configuration”, in opposite of “specificproduct configurations”, that are constructed separatelyfor all products. [Mannisto 01]It should be noticed that the specific product configurationis created based on two logics (or viewpoints), design orfabrication. [Jiao 99] Therefore, two type of configurationmay be managed in PLM systems, “as-designed” and “as-built”. These two types of specific configuration cancorrespond to two type of generic configuration. Thegeneric configuration “as-designed” is more knownbecause the generic configuration usually created for thedesign-based purposes.This research is aimed to propose a mechanism whichleads to construct the generic product configuration “as-built” as well as “as-designed”, in the way that creationand mostly modification of specific configurations becamemore easily and straightforward.The basic issues of generic product configuration, thetype “as-designed” and “as-built” are studied andpresented in the first section. In the second section, theconstruction rules of generic product configuration withthe “as-designed” viewpoint are discussed and validatedby the industrial case. Then in the later section, theconstruction of generic product configuration with the “as-built” viewpoint is under analysis. It is done by using theIRP Design Conference 2009delayfinish2. GGeneregroprodupossiimporLikecompcomp- AbsAll theproduis becsimilaparamconfigto thebe opHeritaWithin(variainheriif acompspecidecomusingconfigWithstockknowlonly omuchproduall ofGeObColoFigurespeciaCIRPedEricupctbletaotosostrctareusetiogntt tdeosalipthuthedednctitsnejer=1liDdifferentiation exigencies. The article is thenby the conclusion and perspective.NERIC PRODUCT CONFIGURATIONconfiguration has been proposed with the aim toall of the properties of the products in the sameion line. So it contains all options and variablesof these products. [Gzara 03] Here soment properties are presented:her configurations, the generic configuration ised essentially by two different relationships, theition relationship and specialization relationship.action:objects (document, components etc) in the genericconfiguration are abstracted, means virtual. Thisuse the generic configuration should cover all theproduct of a same type. So there are severalters without values. Going from genericration to specific one is done by allocating valuesparameters. The values of these parameters cannal or variable.ethe product configuration, the specialized objectsobjects that are assigned to a generic object)he properties of their generic object. It means thatcomposition schema is defined for a genericed object, all of the objects which are thezation of this generic object obey thisosition schema. This is one of the advantages ofe concepts of object-oriented theory in the productration context. This is shown in figure 1e help of that, the amount of information to bein the system decrease as all the commonge are transferred to the generic level and savede time. Moreover the evolution of this system iseasier, because a modification in the genericconfiguration will be implemented automatically inspecialized specific product configuration.The fact to be noticed here is the continuity of thisheritage. The heritage may be applied only in thebeginning of specific configuration structuring, whichmeans the saved specific configuration is not moredependent on the generic product configuration. But thebetter strategy is that this heritage will continue during thelifecycle of the specific product configuration. In this casethe specific product configuration is reconstructed by thepattern of generic product configuration, each time that isused.2.2 As-Built vs As-DesignedThe product configuration is based on the businessviewpoint of the user. It means that the configuration thatis done for a manufacturing or fabrication is different withthe configuration of the same product but structured fordesign phase.The configuration for design viewpoint is more conceptualand functional structure, whereas the one with afabrication viewtpoint is more based on the process andprocedures of manufacturing. [Gzara 03].3. THE CONSTRUCTION RULES FOR “AS-DESIGNED” GENERIC PRODUCTCONFIGURATION AND CENTRAL ROLE OFBUSINESS OBJECT3.1 The definition of basics of method.The properties of generic configuration are alreadydiscussed. The genericity of product should beconserved. This means that the as-designed genericconfiguration must represent the variety of specificproduct designed by a company. The heritage is one ofthe most important relations in the product configuration.A specific product inherits the properties and relationshipsof its father (generic product). If the generic configurationcan not support this, then it’s not appropriate.The as-designed generic configuration depends also onthe enterprise’s process of design. For example thecircumstance of codification of the components of aproduct and its order may Influence on the genericconfiguration. In the other case, the organization of thedesign department and their logics influence on theconfiguration.Our proposed method of structuring of the as-designedgeneric configuration is based on the variability pointtechnique. In this technique, all of the variety of specificproducts are studied and compared in order to find thewhole set of proprieties making them different. Then thisset of variability points is analyzed in order to find thepoints on which the other points mostly depend. Thesepoints are then considered as the properties that shouldbe valued, even in the generic configuration. The otherproperties can be regarded as the generic parameters.(Without value)In order to illustrating this method, an industrial casestudy will be elaborated in the next section.3.2 The industrial caseThe case that has been chosen to validate the proposedmethod of generic product configuration construction is afrying pan. The different parts of a frying pan arepresented in figure 2.ricct“” GenericComponent2GenericComponent1GenericComponent4GenericComponent3SpecializedObjectColor= “Blue”SpecializedObjectColor= “Red”Component1Component2Component4Component3: the heritage of composition within thezationesign Conference 2009Figure 2, the decomposition of a frying panThe initial decomposition of the specific productconfiguration of a frying pan is shown in the figure 3.As it’s shown, the objects presented on the productconfiguration, are not only the components of a product,but also the tools and the documents associated to thecomponents.Table 1lists the differentconfiguration which cover theThe Object The propertiesFrying pan (wholeproduct)Dimension ofProductFamily of ProductDeep Dish Dimension DDFamily DDPressed Disk Diameter PDTools DDDThicknessAll of the equipments DiameterFamilyLid Diameter LTool LTable 1, the different properties determining a frying pan.Lid Disk LTools LScrewHandleBasementPinPressed Disk Disk DDGrilleTools DDDTools DDDeep DishEquipmentsFrying PanFigure 3 the decomposition of a frying panproperties of the productvariability points.Table 2 presents the extracted list of dependenciesbetween variability points:The Parameters The dependenciesDimension DD Dimension of productFamily DD Family of productDimension PD Dimension of productTools DDD Dimension of productDimension related to theequipmentsDimension of productFamily related to theequipmentsFamily of productDiameter L Dimension of productTool L Dimension of productTable 2 , the dependencies.These dependencies are found via the business rules andexperiences and obtained from the discussion meetingwith the technical sector members of the industrialpartner.It’s shown here that the determining variables are“diameter of product” and “family of product”. Thereforethe constant parameters in the generic frying pan arethese variables. So the generic frying pan is defined likethat:Generic Fraying Pan of 20 and the Family of BestCuisine.This will be a starting point of specialization of theproduct.4. THE CONSTRUCTION RULES OF “AS-BUILT”GENERIC CONFIGURATION AND THE CENTRALROLE OF DELAY DIFFERENTIATIONAs the generic configuration “as-built” is related to themanufacturing process its construction is based on thegenericity in the fabrication. One of the subjects thatanalyze the genericity in the fabrication line is delaydifferentiation. Delay differentiation is a strategy of theproduction line design for the high variety production orhuge customization product. The concept of delaydifferentiation is how to maintain the genericity of aproduct during its fabrication. [Agard 02] [Ghiassi 03]The production line consists of several stations. In eachstation, one of the production activities is done. Thestarting product has uncompleted configuration. Duringthe fabrication, its configuration evolves and enriched.This evolution is done, by specifying or determining thevalues of the parameters. This means whether choosingan option or a component or valorizing a value (such ascolor). So the evolution of product configuration isconsidered as a key concept in this study. This evolutionis similar with the evolution of generic configuration toexemplary configuration via several specificconfigurations.Delay differentiation will be done by elimination ofintermediary products, and construction of a genericintermediary product. Figure 4 shows the simple exampleof delay differentiation.Therefore the delay differentiation is to retard thedifferentiation point of product or process within theproduction line. At the differentiation point, differentspecific products obtain their own valued properties,identities or codification.The proposed concept here is like the variability pointstechnique used in the previous section, but the variabilityrelates to the production process. Therefore theprocedure is similar to the previous one, but here theparameters of product that are related to the fabricationare considered. It’s obvious that the product configurationextracted from this mechanism is different with theprevious one. Here, the decomposition of product is donebased on fabrication conditions.The first stage is to find the parameters and variables1that specify a product and then categorize theseparameters and variables with fabrication viewpoint. Thisis done by analyzing the different specific productconfigurations “as-built”. Then the different stations ofproduction line are studied in order to determine in eachstation, which parameter of product is specified. Forexample in the case of frying pan, in a station thatcoloration is done, the color of product becomes fixed orin the press station, the family and dimension of producttake values.1 The parameter may have a fixed value, but the variableis not valued.Coloring Kitting DistributionColoring Kitting DistributionRed pulloverBleu pulloverColoring DistributionColoringKittingDistributionRed pulloverBleu pulloverBefore implementation of Delay DifferentiationAfter implementation of Delay DifferentiationFigure 4, the concept of product differentiationNext stage is to find the dependencies of stations, whichmeans the obligatory order of fabrication. These areconsidered like the constraints of fabrication. Forexample, a coloring or coating station can not be placedbefore the pressing station.Then finally the stations are ordered from the mostdependent station, and will continue until the mostindependent, in order to fulfill the delay differentiationexigencies. The corresponding generic productconfiguration is then constructed based on this proposedorder. For example the generic configuration “as-built” is aproduct in the first stage, but each station specialize oneor more properties of it.5. CONCLUSIONThe generic product configuration is considered as one ofthe most important structure in the PLM systems. In theother hand, there is a variety of configurations made foreach type of fabricated product. This diversity of productswhich is a source of the huge quantity of differentconfigurations to be managed in the system obligates usto take in to account the concept of genericity in productconfiguration and search to find this genericity within alltypes of a product line. So in the context of structuringthe product configuration, which is done with the designviewpoint, the genericity is inevitable.Moreover in the fabrication process, in order to reduce thecost, delay differentiation has been introduced. Thismethod of ordering the production line is used with theobjective of preserving the genericity of product as longas possible during the production. This genericity may berepresented in the form of generic product configurationas-built.In this study, we construct the generic productconfiguration as-designed from the basics of designprocess and variability points. This “as-designed” genericconfiguration must be capable to facilitate the designprocess, the development of product, the evolution ofconfiguration, etc. Subsequently, the generic productconfiguration as-built is extracted from delaydifferentiation exigencies. It means the genericconfiguration and delay differentiation are considered likehigh relevant concepts.The generic configuration as-designed is more about thestatic genericity in the designed product, whereas thegeneric configuration as-built, as well as delaydifferentiation are the dynamic one; they are about thegenericity of a fabricating product during its fabricationprocess.In this research, the genericity of configuration within PLMsystems was studied. The other important subject to bestudy is the genericity in the documentation. The othersubject that should be analyzed in the future is therelationship between the two generic configurations, as-built and as-designed. The mechanism of transformingbetween these configurations as well as the coherencethat should be maintained between them are theinteresting to be studied.6. REFERENCES[Agard 02] Agard, B. (2002), ` Contribution à uneméthodologie de conception de produit à fortediversité’ PhD thesis report, INPG, 2002[Gzara 03] Gzara L. (2003)`Product information systemsengineering: an approach for building productmodels by reuse of patterns`, Robotics andComputer Integrated Manufacturing, Vol.19, pp.239-261.[Mannisto 01] Mannisto T. et al. (2001) ` Multipleabstraction levels in modelling productstructures`, Data & Knowledge Engineering Vol36.[Jiao 99] Jiao J. (1999), ` An Information ModelingFramework for Product Families to Support MassCustomization Manufacturing`, Annals of theClRP Vol. 48[Ghiassi 03] Ghiassi M. et al. (2003) ` Deﬁning the Internet-based supply chain system for masscustomized markets `, Computers & IndustrialEngineering Vol. 45[Rangan 05] Rangan R. M. et al. (2005) ` StreamliningProduct Lifecycle Processes: A Survey ofProduct Lifecycle Management Implementations,Directions, and Challenges’, Journal ofComputing and Information Science inEngineering, Vol 5

An Information Modeling Framework for Product Families to Support Mass Customization Manufacturing`,

Contribution à une méthodologie de conception de produit à forte diversité’

Deﬁning the Internet-based supply chain system for mass customized markets `,

information systems engineering: an approach for building product models by reuse of patterns`,

Multiple abstraction levels in modelling product structures`,

Streamlining Product Lifecycle Processes: A Survey of Product Lifecycle Management Implementations, Directions, and Challenges’,

The Mechanisms of Construction of Generic Product Configuration with the Help of Business Object and Delay Differentiation

International audienceProduct configuration has a central role in PLM application. The generic product configuration which factories the similarities between the product types, may be used to facilitate the production by permitting the delay differentiation. In this research, the role of business object in the construction of generic product configuration is studied. Then the rules which are used in the procedure of structuring the generic and specific product configuration are presented. These rules are based on the" variability points" method. The principal concept of this method is identifying the major variability's of different products by finding the dependencies of their properties. The industrial case is used to develop and validate the results is the culinary articles. In this case, the generic product configuration is constructed by this method

Izadpanah, Seyed-Hamedreza

Gzara, Lilia

Tollenaere, Michel

Hal - Université Grenoble Alpes

The mechanisms of construction of generic product configuration with the help of business object and delay differentiation

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00369203

The Mechanisms of Construction of Generic Product Configuration with the Help of Business Object and Delay Differentiation

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