DOI 10.1007/s10845-007-0008-x Flexible platform component design under uncertainty

Abstract Incorporating flexibility into product plat-forms allowsmanufacturers to respond to changingmar-ket needs with a minimal increase in product family complexity and investment cost. To successfully design a flexible product platform, proper design of flexible platform components is critical. These components can be described as “cousin ” parts as they are neither com-pletely unique nor completely common among variants. In this paper, a multidisciplinary process for design-ing flexible product platform components is introduced, assuming the platform component is decided a priori. The design process starts with identification of uncer-tainties and generation of multiple design alternatives for embedding flexibility into the component. Design alternatives are then optimized for minimum cost, while satisfying the component performance requirements. The flexible designs are then evaluated for economic profitability under identified uncertainty, using Monte Carlo simulation.At the end, themost profitable flexible D. Chang was retired from General Motors R &