Title: A revenue-based decision-making approach for evaluating modular product release plans under resource constraints

Authors: Adewole Adegbola; Venkat Allada

Addresses: Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Department, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, Missouri – 65401, USA ' Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Department, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, Missouri – 65401, USA

Abstract: This study introduces the module substitution concept to develop an approach for assessing different strategies for modular product release in a technology-receptive market. We consider a situation where product variants emerge from modules which have varying modular relationships, and each module is defined by specific attributes. The statistical program evaluation and review technique (statistical PERT) was then adopted to address the uncertainties associated with module attributes. A practical example involving the development of modules, product families and their product variants is used to demonstrate the applicability of the approach in which feasible strategies that satisfy the development resource constraint were identified. We then introduced a substitute module to yield a product variant and re-evaluated the strategies. The results obtained shows that the approach is instrumental in assessing various alternatives based on launch timings and revenue generation and can be adopted by managers in deciding on the appropriate product release plan.

Keywords: product release; product variants; resource constraint; module substitution; statistical PERT.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISE.2024.138162

International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering, 2024 Vol.47 No.1, pp.1 - 19

Received: 22 Mar 2022
Accepted: 29 May 2022
Published online: 30 Apr 2024 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article