Adapted Design for Variety: Consideration of the Software-Domain

Abstract

Many companies are expanding their product program in response to current megatrends. In many cases, this leads to an increase in complexity within the company. One way of counteracting this is to develop variety-oriented product structures. However, existing methods do not consider the fact that in many products the functionalities are realized by physical components and/or software. This paper presents an adaptation of the Design for Variety Method (DfV) of the integrated PKT-approach is presented that permits considering the software domain while using the method. The necessary adaptations are presented for each step of the method. It concludes with an outlook on further possible research topics.