A Literature Survey and Future Directions for Product Development: A Focus on Conceptual Design Stage

Product development process follows a sequence of activities, methods, and tools to design and develop a high quality product. An optimized strategy for a single generation product development may not be the best choice when multi-generation scenarios are considered. In this article an attempt has been made to study the nature of multi-generational product development and compare it with that of single generation product development to drive validating arguments. Further, a qualitative analysis framework for multi-generational product development is developed to identify correct user requirements and to propose a reusability concept during the concept design stage. In order to capture the right customer requirements clearly in the product definition phase, axiomatic design with design failure mode and effects analysis approach is reviewed. For architecture development, the design for modularity and design for reusability have been discussed. This qualitative analysis framework is based on the related case studies summarized from the industrial projects during the past 2 years. The qualitative data is obtained through face-to-face interviews, site visits, observations, and documentation at several companies, which produce both types of product. With detailed design information up front, a better concept could be selected to meet the overall objective of an organization. Additionally, targeting product development from multi-generational product development aspects optimizes the overall resource planning, investment, and thus maximizing the profit.