On the product portfolio planning problem with customer–engineering interaction

Jiao and Zhang (2005) propose a shared-surplus maximization model considering customer preferences and choice behavior as well as platform-based product costing to tackle the so-called product portfolio planning problem (optimal mix of products and attributes). They emphasize the joined consideration of customers concerns and operational implications and propose a stochastic, mixed-integer, non-linear program. We discuss several issues and ambiguities of the original approach and propose some improvements such as demand model calibration, deterministic customer surplus, and an effective objective function.