A Framework Supporting Mixed Production Strategies in Platform Development: A Case Study in Post and Beam Building

Industrialised house building (IHB) design incurs complexities as extensive engineering are required due to high customisation. Companies use different production strategies (PS) to develop building components ranging from standardised to customised depending on the requirements. Platform-based product development has received increased attention from IHB companies striving to be competitive in the industry. However, strategies for platform development supporting the design process are not well-defined for companies using a combination of PS in their development. This study proposes a framework using different PS in the development of a product platform to support the design phase of the post and beam IHB system. Empirical data were gathered from a Swedish multistorey house building company. The main contribution of this study is to provide insights into production strategies while designing components. Moreover, the case is used to exemplify how different subcomponents of the building system can be classified into production strategies and facilitate postponement of strategies to achieve platformbased development. The potential application of different support tools and methods in incremental platform development has been presented.