Title: Product platform replacement: impact of performance objectives, innovation speed, and competition

Authors: Maud Van Den Broeke; Bart Devoldere; Stefan Creemers; Robert Boute

Addresses: IESEG School of Management, LEM-CNRS Lille, 9221, 59000 Lille, France ' Vlerick Business School, 9000 Gent, Belgium; TNO Netherlands Applied Scientific Research Organization, 2595 DA, The Hague, The Netherlands; TomorrowLab, 1800 Vilvoorde, Belgium ' IESEG School of Management, LEM-CNRS Lille, 9221, 59000 Lille, France ' Vlerick Business School, 9000 Gent, Belgium; KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium

Abstract: Product platforms are assets shared by multiple products. Their primary purpose is to offer product variety while keeping time-to-market and operational costs down. As new products are developed over time, the question arises when to replace a platform. The repetitive use of the same platform for multiple product generations keeps platform development time and costs low. As the platform gets obsolete, however, the time and efforts to adapt the platform to the newest product will go up. With these dynamics in mind, we develop a simulation model to gain insight into the desired platform replacement planning. We examine how platform replacements are impacted by a firm's performance objectives, the speed of innovation, and the competitive landscape.

Keywords: product platforms; platform replacement; simulation; performance objectives; innovation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2021.113689

International Journal of Technology Management, 2021 Vol.85 No.1, pp.21 - 41

Accepted: 24 Aug 2020
Published online: 18 Mar 2021 *

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