Methodology for identifying and increasing order-neutral components

The higher the share of components that are not related to an order (i.e. order-neutral) and therefore can be used across all product variants of a product family, the more internal costs and delivery times can be reduced. Due to low sales volumes and individual customer requirements, the identification and development of order-neutral components in the custom machine manufacturing sector is highly challenging. Accordingly, this paper presents a methodology that makes it possible to identify order-neutral components and increase their share by fixing individual operating parameters. Subsequently, the paper shows how to standardise variant components with long procurement lead times to optimise delivery time. The methodology is based on a product architecture determined for an existing product family, comprising an assessment of the order dependency of product functions and components using a novel classification matrix. A case study conducted on broaching machines demonstrates the applicability and validity of the methodology.