Knowledge-based system for customer variety representation in product lines definition
Résumé
The product lines design is necessary in order to deal with the flexibility request-ed by the mass customisation. All product lines are based on a model that de-scribes the product variety. In this model a deep understanding of the relation-ships between customer domain and the engineering domain is required to avoid an excess of variety that is an issue for customers and customizers. In this paper the focus is on the identification of a gap between the current product lines mod-els and the customer domain. After an overview on marketing and engineering solutions we propose a knowledge-based system for the product lines definition based on system engineering concepts. Filling the identified gap, this knowledge-based system has to support the definition of product lines that offer the right product variety to customers.