Product Design Selection Under Uncertainty and With Competitive Advantage

This paper presents an approach wherein product design is viewed as a selection process with two main stages: design alternative generation and design alternative evaluation. The focus of this paper is mainly on a design alternative evaluation model in that designer’s preferences, customers’ preferences, and market competition are accounted for in order to select the best possible design. In the model, uncertainties in the product design life, market size and its yearly change, cost and its yearly change, price, and discount rate are considered. Product design selection of a cordless screwdriver is used as a demonstration example. However, the emphasis in the example is on the approach, and not on the details per se. S1050-0472(00)01504-X