Product structure modeling for ETO system product considering the product lifecycle : A case study of ABB Mine Hoist

Sammanfattning: In order to gain competitive advantages in markets, companies have provided a variety of customized products to satisfy customer-specific requirements, leading to not only a large amount of product data but also high cost, long lead-time and complexity of quality control. Efficient product data management throughout the product lifecycle has become increasingly crucial, of which product structure management is regarded as the most important constituent.  The study took ABB Mine Hoist system as a case to investigate how to construct a generic product structure model fit for engineer-to-order system offerings with the consideration of their sales-delivery product lifecycle. The aim of the model is to facilitate the product-related information sharing and reuse across a company, and the integration of different business operations throughout the entire product lifecycle as well. Based on the current situation analysis of product data management on ABB Mine Hoist, three major issues were identified which need to be addressed in the formulation of a generic structure model: namely the integration of requirements of multiple disciplines; the consistency of product information throughout the product lifecycle; and the constant update of product repository. Through illustrating the formulation of ABB Mine Hoist generic structure model, the method of how to construct a generic product structure model for engineer-to-order system product was presented. The model was achieved by applying the framework of the step-based product model and was regarded as a result of integrating domain-specific requirements. The adaptive generic product structure model was then employed to display the role of this generic model in the different phases of a sales-delivery lifecycle. The model could serve as a “master concept” to transfer common product information in the product lifecycle. It’s expected to benefit the business of engineer-to-order system product through improving the integration of different disciplines, enhancing information exchange and reuse. It could also provide an abstract and conceptual basis for potential product repository to reinforce data consistency and completeness.