Achieving Benefits with Design Reuse in Manufacturing Industry

This paper is based on a research project for improving performance of companies in manufacturing industry in introducing new products. One section of the project relates to design reuse, and therefore this article presents a literature review to this theme. Goal of the paper is to present how design reuse can be defined and supported. Our results emphasize focusing on designing products so that reusable sections can be separated from varying sections because of customer specific needs. Five industrial cases discussed in the paper highlight also that operations, processes and IT support needs to be adapted with reusable designs.