Position Evaluation in Industrial Product Life-cycles

The importance of the clarification of the objectives in the early stages of product development is often stressed in the scientific literature. It is primarily focused on the target search. Until today, methodological approaches were not the subject of consideration, which aim to determine the status quo of a product with regard to various aspects, i.e. to evaluate the exact position of the product. This paper focuses on the methodological support of the position evaluation in product development; the results of such a position evaluation should in the scope of the product development methodology result in a search for objectives on a higher and more informed level of information. Both, the current work of the authors in the industrial product development as well as several retrospective analyses point to a clear need for a deeper and wider positioning. Important emphasis of the developed methodological approaches is the stimulation of abstraction in the case of existing products in order to avoid solution fixations in function and feature options. As a novel aspect the focus on optimal functional performance and optimal characteristics is proposed. Another main aspect is the inclusion of field experience and quality problems. Basically, qualitative and quantitative analyzes of the existing product are used as a basis, wherein, when possible, a quantification with respect to the monetary impact is attempted. As one key driver of cost and complexity the product variance is taken into consideration. The approaches have been developed and verified using the example of a compressor for the air supply for braking systems of rail vehicles and are explained on this example.