Title: Reducing variety in product solution spaces of engineer-to-order companies: the case of Novenco A/S

Authors: Anders Haug; Lars Hvam; Niels Henrik Mortensen

Addresses: Department of Entrepreneurship and Relationship Management, University of Southern Denmark, Engstien 1, 6000 Kolding, Denmark ' Department of Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Produktionstorvet, Building 424 and 426, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark ' Department of Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Produktionstorvet, Building 424 and 426, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark

Abstract: Today many companies are experiencing increasing demands from customers for shorter delivery times and more competitive prices. In order to increase competitiveness from a price and time-to-market perspective, many companies initiate projects to reduce their internal product complexity by eliminating the product variety that do not create customer value. However, for Engineer-to-Order (ETO) companies, elimination of variety is particularly challenging, since it is about reducing variety in a complex product solution space, rather than just eliminating already produced product variants. To support ETO companies in achieving more efficient product solution spaces, this paper presents a procedure for reducing product solution spaces in ETO companies. The procedure is demonstrated through an action research study at the Danish ETO company, Novenco, which develops and manufactures heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration solutions for land and marine applications.

Keywords: product solution spaces; engineering design; product variety reduction; modularity; product reengineering; engineer-to-order; ETO; Denmark; HVAC-R.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPD.2013.058556

International Journal of Product Development, 2013 Vol.18 No.6, pp.531 - 547

Received: 27 Feb 2013
Accepted: 23 Oct 2013
Published online: 30 Sep 2014 *

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