A methodology for production system design driven by product modelling and analysis – application in the automotive industry

This article synthesises the return of experience of performing a product variety analysis for a (supplier in the automotive sector) that haven’t had yet a product variety management strategy. This paper is part of a multi-year research project on the design of reconfigurable production systems. The contribution is (i) to present at a glance the developed strategy of product similarity assessment and (ii) to underline the industrial benefits of this similarity assessment obtained as a result of the industrial case studies. First, the article reminds, in the context of product variety, a developed methodology to assess product similarities by four indices. These consider the functions, product structures and the way to assemble them. Second, the focus is put on the benefits of their application through three industrial use cases: during the design of a new product identifying its impact on the manufacturing system, identifying the fittest production line for a new product to assemble and generating a new adapted production line by gathering products belonging to the same product family. All benefits are illustrated through the results of the industrial case studies. These are anonymised due to confidentiality issues.