| Overview | Sample 1 | Sample 2 | Sample 3 | Sample 4 | Sample 5 | Sample 6 | About the Author |
...It may seem difficult to quantify the benefits of less complexity, but consider the following: suppose you ran an automobile factory where people could order any mix of options they wanted. If you had 30 product features (e.g., radio, climate control, airbags, upholstery, wheels, engine size, transmission, etc.) and each feature had just two levels of options (standard and deluxe), then the number of different possible unique automobiles you could produce would be:
Try some different values of features and options with the combination calculator below to see how quickly product offerings can become highly complex:
Contrast this operation with a simpler way of providing variety...
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SCM106 Specifications
Rating:
(908 ratings)Total Reading Time: Approx. 1 - 2 hours (for average readers)
Word Count: Approx. 10,600 words
Author: Dr. Warren H. Hausman
Professor of Management Science & Engineering, Stanford University
Certificate: Counts toward Fundamentals of Supply Chain Management
Datasheet: 
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Contents
- Introduction; Component Commonality, Modularity, Modular vs. Integral Design
- Universality
- Framework for Costs and Benefits
- Benefits of Design Changes
- Benefits of Design Changes, Continued
- Postponement: The HP Deskjet Printer
- Postponement Costs and Benefits (Deskjet Printer, continued)
- A Quick Estimate of Postponement Benefits from Reduced Inventories
- Packaging Postponement
- Postponement via Software
- End-of-Life and New Product Situations
- Process Design for Postponement
- Mass Customization
- Incentive Issues
- Conclusions
- Test Your Knowledge
- Feedback