Study on the Product Description Method for Networked Customization

摘要

Networked customization had gradually become one of the import manufacturing and marketingrnpatterns in the information age. Product description had an important effect on realizing networked customization.rnFrom this point of view, this paper firstly analyzed four requirements of adaptability, stability, conciseness andrndefinitude that product description methods for networked customization must satisfy. According to thesernrequirements, the paper commented on current methods of product description, pointing out their advantages andrndisadvantages. As none of current methods could satisfy the four requirements simultaneously, they were not fullyrnapplicable to networked customization. Then a plug-in based product description method was brought forwardrnand discussed in detail. In this method, product description for networked customization was abstracted as threerncomponent parts of basic description, basic feature and customization feature. These parts had differentrncharacteristics. Basic description was applicable to all products types. Basic feature was stable as concerningrnspecific product type. Variants of certain product type all possessed identical basic features. Customizationrnfeatures were variable. Different combinations of customization features would give birth to different productrnvariants. Applying object-oriented method, three standard product description plug-ins could be got byrnencapsulating these component parts. As “basic feature” and “customization feature” plug-in had similarrnstructures, they could be further abstracted as “feature” plug-in. When describing a type of product, a “basicrndescription” plug-in would be instantiated firstly. Then according to product’s specific characteristics, necessaryrnnumber of “basic feature” and “customization feature” plug-ins would be instantiated and appended, such asrn“color”, “material”, etc. Each “basic feature” plug-in related to an instantiated “feature value” plug-in, while eachrn“customization feature” plug-in related to one or multiple instantiated “feature value” plug-ins. Finally,rn“associate” and “exclude” relationship should be specified among associated “customization feature” plug-ins.rnThrough appending and combining various plug-ins, this method was capable of describing any type of productrnwhile meeting the four requirements simultaneously. From analysis, we could draw the conclusion that plug-inrnbased product description method was superior to current description methods and fully adapted to networkedrncustomization environment.