Product family master plan

Developed by Daniel Vorting

Abstract

When rationalizing or developing a new range of products, it is essential to get an overview of the entire product portfolio. An overview should “describe the structure of the product family and the variety with in the product family”

This article clarifies how a project manager in charge of a product family rationalization or development projects, can benefit from using a product family master plan (PFMP). The PFMP is a powerful tool for visualizing a complete product family, and how customer specified requirements impact the product family. The PFMP describes the product family from three different perspectives – the customer view, the engineering view and the part view. A product family project manager can utilize this overview when deciding on how and where project resources should be focused. The PFMP overview yields a practical insight into where product modules should be developed, that can benefit the entire product portfolio depending on customer requirements.

The process of developing a PFMP is dependent on a 7-step process, which guides and serves as a facilitator of discussion within the group. This forces the team to agree and have a common understanding on product terminology, product systems, modules etc. which in return greatly enhances communication between both team members and the project manager. The PFMP’s credibility is highly depended on the correctness of product details which is why it is of high importance, that it is developed in collaboration with key stakeholders, that bring important product knowledge to the table.

7-step process to developing a PFMP

The development of the PFMP can be broken down into 7 steps, that should be followed chronologically:

1. Establish common terminology
2. The customer view
3. The engineering view
4. The part view
5. The part sharing matrix
6. Attributes
7. Cardinallity