Managing Product Platforms: Delivering Variety and Realizing Synergies

Companies from Lockheed Martin to GE use product platform strategies to deliver more variety to their customers and compete more effectively. For example, Black and Decker uses shared motors and batteries across a range of power tools. These firms realize quicker new market entry and reduced costs but, to do so, they must orchestrate complex, multi-product development projects.

However, recent research suggests that many firms fail to earn a return on their platform investments. This work has uncovered that many firms face systemic pressure to diverge from their platform sharing. Several cases studied realized less than half of their platform sharing goals. Are these failures the result of a flawed product platform management strategy or poor execution?

This executive business course focuses on helping companies develop strong product platform strategies and execution programs by teaching executives how to understand the managerial levers necessary to operate in complex environments. As a participant in this course, you’ll be exposed to a range of platform strategies, from product platform, to supply chain platform, to industry platforms. The course content draws on case examples from a diversity of industries and includes opportunities for you and your peers to share and discuss industry experience.

As a participant in this course, you will learn:

• How to analyze the difference between a company-centric platform strategy and a more open “industry platform” strategy such as at Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Facebook
• You will analyze the differences in intent between product platforms and industry platforms and identify the boundaries of such strategies
• You will also learn how to identify the management levers related to your supply chain as a function of the boundaries of your platform strategy and your firm’s cost structure

At the conclusion of this course, you will have a clear understanding of:

• Named platform strategies and past corporate examples
• Criteria for evaluating market conditions for which the strategy is or isn’t appropriate
• Management levers for use in complex programs
• Key performance indicators for successful platform development
• Benchmark savings and investment sizing data from other firms
• Knowledge and examples of failure modes from past platform efforts
• The differences among industry platforms, supply chain platforms, and product platforms

This product platform management course introduces participants to the concept of product platforms, also known as "commonality"—the sharing of components, processes, technologies, interfaces and/or infrastructure across a product family. Successful product platform management software allows companies to develop better products more easily, improve product family planning and lifecycle management, and increase corporate profitability. Learn how you can develop a strong platform strategy that will deliver ROI for your organization.

The course teaches product platform management through a combination of lectures, case studies, breakout sessions, and group problem solving. Case studies covered in the course include GE Healthcare, Lockheed Martin, DG Flugzeubau, Siemens Rail, Joint Strike Fighter, and Google. Topics covered include the strategic marketing of product families, financial evaluation of platform proposals, building incentives for distributed platform execution, structuring development programs, and supply chain platforms.

As part of the live online session, you will also be offered the opportunity to schedule a private 15-minute consulting session with faculty member Bruce Cameron to discuss any individual issues or concerns facing your organization.