Approach For The Systematic Assessment Of The Impact Of New Product Variants On Factory Systems

authored by: Mehmet Demir, Lennart Hingst, Matthias Schmidt
Abstract: In the 1970s, markets changed from a seller’s to a buyer’s market, leading to an increasing variety of product variants. This variety confronts manufacturing companies with significant challenges, especially when integrating new product variants into existing factory systems. Decisions about new product variants are usually made by the marketing and development departments, while production and logistics, the areas most affected, are often insufficiently involved and have to deal with the resulting consequences. Therefore, identifying unprofitable product variants before production begins is crucial for preventing irreversible costs and ensuring long-term competitiveness and sustainability. This paper presents a systematic description model to evaluate the impact of new product variants on existing factory systems. For this, relevant change dimensions of new product variants are identified and an approach for an evaluation and decision model is developed to assess the effects of a new product variant before the start of production. The model serves as a decision support tool, providing a transparent view of how new product variants influence factory systems. The paper concludes with a future research outlook, emphasizing the identification of interactions between factory systems and product characteristics, as well as the definition of capacity limits in existing systems.
Organisation(s): Institute of Production Systems and Logistics
External Organisation(s): Phoenix Contact GmbH & Co. KG
Type: Conference contribution
Pages: 139-148
No. of pages: 10
Publication date: 2025
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Mechanical Engineering, Strategy and Management, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Management of Technology and Innovation
Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.15488/18863 (Access: Open)