A new plank in the platform: object-oriented extensions to platform R&D

Platform R&D has been shown to be a useful technique to diversify product offerings, reduce product costs, improve time to market, and improve product quality. Techniques for the architectural design of product platforms have evolved from industry-specific models to more generic approaches. Modularity is a key aspect of product platform architecture. Object-oriented design is a proven technique for developing software that is extendable, reusable, and easy to maintain, all of which positively impact quality and lifecycle costs. Object-oriented programming languages abound. Modularity is a significant facet of object-oriented design. Given the shared focus on modularity, it is not surprising that a comparison of object-oriented design and platform R&D methodologies yields several similarities. However, a contrast of these techniques suggests some principles from the field of object-oriented design that might be beneficially applied to the platform R&D process. In particular, object-oriented methodology is more explicit in characterizing module interface design. A synthesis of these two approaches is proposed.