產(chǎn)品開發(fā)的平臺方法

（注：本文是譯文，Original author: David Robertson )

The platform approach to product development is a key success factor in many markets. The platform approach allows a company to quickly and efficiently develop a set of differentiated products. By sharing components and production processes across a platform of products, companies can develop products faster and more cheaply, increase the flexibility and responsiveness of their manufacturing processes, and take market share away from competitors that develop only one product at a time. For example, in the auto industry, Nobeoka and Cusumano (1994, 1995) showed that a platform approach was associated with market share gains of 5.1 percent per year, while firms pursuing a single model approach lost 2.2 percent per year.
這個平臺的產(chǎn)品開發(fā)是許多市場的關(guān)鍵成功因素。平臺方法允許公司快速有效地開發(fā)一套差異化產(chǎn)品。通過在產(chǎn)品平臺上共享組件和生產(chǎn)過程，企業(yè)可以更快更便宜地開發(fā)產(chǎn)品，增加其制造過程的靈活性和響應(yīng)性，并將市場份額從一次只開發(fā)一種產(chǎn)品的競爭者手中奪走。例如，在汽車行業(yè)，NoeNoka和CuuMuno（1994, 1995）表明，平臺的方法與市場份額每年增長5.1%相關(guān)聯(lián)，而追求單模型方法的公司每年損失2.2%。

What is a platform?
什么是平臺？

A platform is the collection of assets that are shared by a set of products. These assets can be divided into four categories:
平臺是由一組產(chǎn)品共享的資產(chǎn)的集合。這些資產(chǎn)可分為四類：

Components: the part designs of a product, the fixtures and tools needed to make them, the circuit designs, and the programs burned into programmable chips or stored on disks.
Processes: the equipment used to make components or to assemble components into products, and the design of the associated production process and supply chain.
Knowledge: design know-how, technology applications and limitations, production techniques, mathematical models, and testing methods. (See [Kim and Kogut, 1996] for an interesting discussion of the strategic role of knowledge platforms.)
People and relationships: teams, relationships among team members, relationships between the team and the larger organization, and relations with a network of suppliers.
組件：產(chǎn)品的零件設(shè)計、制造所需的夾具和工具、電路設(shè)計和程序燒成可編程芯片或存儲在磁盤上。
工藝：用于制造部件或?qū)⒉考M裝成產(chǎn)品的設(shè)備，以及相關(guān)的生產(chǎn)工藝和供應(yīng)鏈的設(shè)計。
知識：設(shè)計訣竅、技術(shù)應(yīng)用和局限性、生產(chǎn)技術(shù)、數(shù)學(xué)模型和測試方法。
人員和關(guān)系：團隊、團隊成員之間的關(guān)系、團隊和較大組織之間的關(guān)系，以及與供應(yīng)商網(wǎng)絡(luò)的關(guān)系。

The challenge of platform planning
平臺規(guī)劃面臨的挑戰(zhàn)

The central challenge of developing platform products is simultaneously meeting the needs of diverse market segments while conserving development and production resources. Developing platform products involves two sets of difficult tasks. First, a product planning and marketing activity addresses the problem of which market segments to enter, what the customers in each segment want, and what product attributes will appeal to those customers. Second, a system-level design activity addresses the problem of what product architecture should be used to simultaneously deliver the different products while also sharing many parts and production steps across the products. These two sets of tasks are challenging both because the tasks themselves are inherently complex and because their completion requires coordination among at least the marketing, design, and manufacturing functions of the firm. These functional groups may not be accustomed to working with each other, and can find such cooperation difficult due to differences in time frames, jargon, goals, and basic beliefs.
開發(fā)平臺產(chǎn)品的核心挑戰(zhàn)是同時滿足不同細分市場的需求，同時節(jié)約開發(fā)和生產(chǎn)資源。開發(fā)平臺產(chǎn)品涉及兩組困難的任務(wù)。首先，產(chǎn)品規(guī)劃和營銷活動解決了哪些細分市場要進入的問題，每個細分市場中的客戶想要什么，哪些產(chǎn)品屬性將吸引這些客戶。第二，系統(tǒng)級設(shè)計活動解決了什么樣的產(chǎn)品架構(gòu)應(yīng)該被用來同時交付不同的產(chǎn)品的問題，同時也在產(chǎn)品上共享許多零件和生產(chǎn)步驟。這兩組任務(wù)都具有挑戰(zhàn)性，因為任務(wù)本身是復(fù)雜的，因為它們的完成需要至少在企業(yè)的營銷、設(shè)計和制造功能之間進行協(xié)調(diào)。這些功能組可能不習(xí)慣于彼此合作，并且由于時間框架、術(shù)語、目標和基本信念的不同，可以發(fā)現(xiàn)這樣的合作困難。

Platform planning is also difficult because of the many ways it can fail. We have observed two common dysfunctions in organizations attempting to create product platforms. First, organizational forces frequently hinder the ability to balance commonality and distinctiveness. One perspective can dominate the debate. Design or manufacturing engineers often prepare hard cost data showing how expensive it would be to create distinctive products, leading to products that are too similar from the customer’s perspective. This dysfunction was illustrated graphically (if perhaps inaccurately) by a Fortune magazine cover photograph in 1983 showing “look-alike” Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, Buick, and Pontiac automobiles (Fortune, 1983). Alternatively, the marketing function may mount a convincing argument that only completely different products will appeal to the different market segments, and that commonality is penny wise and pound foolish.
平臺規(guī)劃也是困難的，因為它可能失敗的很多方式。我們觀察到在試圖創(chuàng)建產(chǎn)品平臺的組織中有兩種常見的功能障礙。首先，組織力量經(jīng)常阻礙平衡共同性和獨特性的能力。一種觀點可以主導(dǎo)辯論。設(shè)計或制造工程師通常準備硬成本數(shù)據(jù)，顯示如何創(chuàng)造昂貴的產(chǎn)品與眾不同，導(dǎo)致產(chǎn)品過于相似，從客戶的角度來看。這種功能障礙被圖解（如果可能不準確）由財富雜志封面照片在1983顯示“看起來像”雪佛蘭，奧斯莫比爾，別克和龐蒂亞克汽車（財富，1983）。另一方面，營銷功能可能會提出一個令人信服的論點，即只有完全不同的產(chǎn)品會吸引不同的細分市場，而共同性則是因小失大。

Platform planning in the auto industry
汽車工業(yè)中的平臺規(guī)劃

While we believe that the platform planning method we describe below is broadly applicable across many types of products, we illustrate the method using an example from the auto industry. Throughout the paper, we use the example of the design of an instrument panel (i.e., the “dashboard”) to illustrate the key ideas. An instrument panel is a critical part of new car’s design and plays several important functional roles. It provides structural support for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) ducts, components, switches, gauges, audio components, storage areas (such as the glove box), airbags, and a great deal of tubing and wiring. The instrument panel also must help absorb the shock of a front or side collision, and help prevent the car body from twisting during normal driving (which improves handling). The instrument panel has a strong role in the aesthetics of a new car: the look, feel, and even smell of an instrument panel can effect the appeal of the car. The look and feel of the instrument panel can also do a great deal to distinguish one car from another.
雖然我們相信，我們下面描述的平臺規(guī)劃方法廣泛適用于許多類型的產(chǎn)品，我們舉例說明的方法，從汽車行業(yè)的一個例子。在整個論文中，我們使用儀表板（即儀表板）的設(shè)計的例子來說明關(guān)鍵思想。儀表板是新車設(shè)計的關(guān)鍵部分，起著重要的作用。它為加熱、通風(fēng)和空調(diào)（暖通空調(diào)）管道、部件、開關(guān)、量規(guī)、音頻部件、存儲區(qū)域（如手套箱）、安全氣囊和大量管道和布線提供結(jié)構(gòu)支撐。儀表板還必須有助于吸收正面或側(cè)面碰撞的沖擊，并有助于防止車身在正常行駛過程中扭動（這提高了操控性）。儀表板在新車的美觀性方面具有很強的作用：儀表盤的外觀、感覺甚至氣味可以影響汽車的吸引力。儀表板的外觀和感覺也可以很好地區(qū)分一輛車和另一輛車。

Establish a product plan
制定產(chǎn)品計劃

The product plan for the collection of products encompassed by the platform specifies what the distinct market offerings will be over time, and is usually taken from the company’s overall product plan. Exhibit 4 contains a product plan for a new platform showing a sporty coupe, a family sedan, and a family station wagon. The two axes of the chart correspond to the segments of the marketplace and to time. The timing and segment of each planned product are indicated by location on the chart. The genealogy of the products is indicated by the links on the chart.

The product plan is supported by a top-level description of each product. This description contains the customer profile (key needs, psychographics, and demographics), and a basic business plan (expected sales volumes and selling price range). The product plan indicates major models, but does not show every variant and option of the product.
產(chǎn)品計劃是通過對每個產(chǎn)品的頂級描述來支持的。該描述包含客戶檔案（關(guān)鍵需求、心理圖表和人口統(tǒng)計）和基本商業(yè)計劃（預(yù)期銷量和銷售價格范圍）。產(chǎn)品計劃指示主要模型，但不顯示產(chǎn)品的每個變體和選項。

The product plan is linked to several other key issues and pieces of information, including:
產(chǎn)品計劃與其他幾個關(guān)鍵問題和信息相關(guān)，包括：

Availability of development resources.
Life cycles of current products.
Expected life cycles of competitive offerings.
Timing of major production system changes.
Availability of key product technologies.
開發(fā)資源的可用性。
當(dāng)前產(chǎn)品的生命周期。
競爭產(chǎn)品的預(yù)期生命周期。
主要生產(chǎn)系統(tǒng)變化的時機。
關(guān)鍵產(chǎn)品技術(shù)的可用性。

The product plan is reflective of the firm’s product strategy. Some firms will choose to simultaneously issue several products, while others will choose to launch products in succession.
產(chǎn)品計劃反映了公司的產(chǎn)品戰(zhàn)略。有些公司會選擇同時發(fā)行幾款產(chǎn)品，而另一些公司則會選擇陸續(xù)推出產(chǎn)品。