1.2. Diversity Analysis

ious needs, presented here as the modern definition of product standardization, is rapidly felt. We begin with the relationships between diversity and standardization before proposing a lead to optimize this standardization. 1. DIVERSITY AND STANDARDIZATION After an overview of standardization fundamentals, the diversity concept will be examined in detail 1.1. Standardization fundamentals Standardization efforts are undertaken in all industrial-ized countries in the first half of the nineteenth century. In France, it seems that modeling of this rationalization dates back to the mid 1800s with the work of Renard on French navy ropes: increasing ship sophistication, with custom-designed rigging, and colonial expansion led to a rapidly unmanageable proliferation of rope stocks. The idea is quite simple. In this problem, the main character-This approach to the problem can limit the number of item-types to produce and manage, but the number of intervals and their definition remain to be solved. To do so, empirical work proposed solutions (and gave birth namely to the “Renard series ” still used in the industry). Before proposing an economic modeling of this problem under a multicriteria generalization approach, it could be useful to put the problem in a larger perspective of diver-sity and its cost, in an economic context that further aims at interesting the client through custom production of goods and services