Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-4hhp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-30T21:54:49.262Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE ON SYSTEM GENERATION ENGINEERING BY THE EXAMPLE OF THE IPHONE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 June 2023

Felix Pfaff ,
Gregor Theodor Götz ,
Simon Rapp  and
Albert Albers
Felix Pfaff*
Affiliation:
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Gregor Theodor Götz
Affiliation:
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Simon Rapp
Affiliation:
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Albert Albers
Affiliation:
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
*
Pfaff, Felix, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany, felix.pfaff@kit.edu

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Industrial practice shows that products are developed in generations. Innovation success with complex technical systems can only be achieved economically by using existing solutions as references. These references come from predecessors, competitors, and even industry-external sources. The model of SGE – System Generation Engineering describes these relationships. The iPhone is often used as an example of an innovative product developed in generations. Multiple studies have examined the iPhone. However, none of these studies systematically considers the influence of the product context on references and variations. In this contribution, an evolutionary descriptive model based on the model of SGE is applied to 15 iPhone product generations. The central result is an overview of the variation shares over the generations and the relationships between context factors, reference-based variation activities, and innovation success and hypotheses for causalities. This is one of a series of case studies to investigate these causalities. The study showed how the iPhone remained successful in its context: not through a high new development share, but through strategically placed variations and the use of references from various sources.

Keywords

InnovationProduct modelling / modelsDesign methodsDesign management
Type
Article
Information
Proceedings of the Design Society , Volume 3: ICED23 , July 2023 , pp. 1715 - 1724
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

References

Albers, A., Bursac, N. and Rapp, S. (2016), “PGE - Product generation engineering Case study of the dual mass flywheel”, DESIGN 2016: 14th International Design Conference Cavtat-Dubrovnik, Croatia, 16th - 19th May 2016. Ed.: Marjanović, D., The Design Society, Glasgow, pp. 791–800.Google Scholar
Albers, A., Heimicke, J., Walter, B., Basedow, G., Reiss, N., Heitger, N., Ott, S. and Bursac, N. (2018), “Product Profiles: Modelling customer benefits as a foundation to bring inventions to innovations”, Procedia CIRP, Vol. 70, pp. 253–258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Albers, A., Nikola, B. and Wintergerst, E. (2015), “Produktgenerationsentwicklung - Bedeutung und Herausforderungen aus einer entwicklungsmethodischen Perspektive”, Stuttgarter Symposium für Produktentwicklung (SSP), Stuttgart, 19. Juni 2015; Hrsg.: H. Binz, Fraunhofer Verl., Stuttgart, pp. 1–10.Google Scholar
Albers, A. and Rapp, S. (2022), “Model of SGE: System Generation Engineering as Basis for Structured Planning and Management of Development”, in Krause, D. and Heyden, E. (Eds.), Design Methodology for Future Products: Data Driven, Agile and Flexible, Springer International Publishing, Cham, pp. 27–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Albers, A., Rapp, S., Fahl, J., Hirschter, T., Revfi, S., Schulz, M., Stürmlinger, T. and Spadinger, M. (2020), “Proposing a generalized Description of Variations in different types of Systems by the Model of PGE - Product Generation Engineering”, Proceedings of the Design Society: DESIGN Conference, Vol. 1, pp. 2235–2244.Google Scholar
Albers, A., Rapp, S., Spadinger, M., Richter, T., Birk, C., Marthaler, F., Heimicke, J., Kurtz, V. and Wessels, H. (2019), “The Reference System in the Model of PGE: Proposing a Generalized Description of Reference Products and their Interrelations”, International Conference on Engineering Design (ICED19), Delft, Netherlands, August 5-8, Design Society, Glasgow, pp. 1693–1702.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arthur, W.B. (2009), The nature of technology: What it is and how it evolves, Simon and Schuster, New York.Google Scholar
Baccarini, D. (1999), “The Logical Framework Method for Defining Project Success”, Project Management Journal, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 25–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bauer, R. (2006), Gescheiterte Innovationen: Fehlschläge und technologischer Wandel, Zugl.: Hamburg, Helmut-Schmidt-Univ., Habil.-Schr., 2004, Campus-Forschung, Vol. 893, Campus-Verl., Frankfurt.Google Scholar
Biswas, S., Ali, I., Chakrabortty, R.K., Turan, H.H., Elsawah, S. and Ryan, M.J. (2022), “Dynamic modeling for product family evolution combined with artificial neural network based forecasting model: A study of iPhone evolution”, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Vol. 178, pp. 1–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooper, R.G. and Kleinschmidt, E.J. (1987), “Success factors in product innovation”, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 16 No. 3, pp. 215–223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corbin, J. and Strauss, A. (1990), “Grounded Theory Research: Procedures, Canons and Evaluative Criteria”, Zeitschrift für Soziologie, Vol. 19 No. 6, pp. 418–427.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gericke, K., Meißner, M. and Paetzold, K. (2013), “Understanding the context of product development”, 19th International Conference on Engineering Design (ICED13): Design For Harmonies, Seoul, Korea 19-22 Aug 2013, pp. 191–200.Google Scholar
Griffin, A. and Page, A.L. (1996), “PDMA success measurement project: Recommended measures for product development success and failure”, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Vol. 13 No. 6, pp. 478–496.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hales, C. and Gooch, S. (2004), Managing Engineering Design, Springer London, London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirchner, E. (2020), Werkzeuge und Methoden der Produktentwicklung, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Berlin, Heidelberg.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, Y., Ni, Y., Zhang, N., Liu, Q. and Cao, J. (2022), “Towards the evolution characteristics of product structural properties based on the time-dependent network”, Journal of Engineering Design, Vol. 33 No. 3, pp. 207–233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nadadur, G., Parkinson, M.B. and Simpson, T.W. (2014), “Application of the Generational Variety Index: A Retrospective Study of iPhone Evolution”, in Simpson, T.W., Jiao, J., Siddique, Z. and Hölttä-Otto, K. (Eds.), Advances in Product Family and Product Platform Design: Methods & Applications, Springer New York; Imprint; Springer, New York, NY, pp. 737–751.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pahl, G., Beitz, W., Blessing, L., Feldhusen, J., Grote, K.-H. and Wallace, K. (2007), Engineering Design: A Systematic Approach, Third Edition, Springer-Verlag London Limited, London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peglow, N.M.E. (2021), “Systematics for Evaluation of Variants in the Quotation Phase of Common-Rail Pumps of the Automotive Supplier Industry on the Basis on the Model of PGE - Product Generation Engineering”. Forschungsberichte IPEK, Band 135, Dissertation, IPEK - Institut für Produktentwicklung, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), Karlsruhe, 2021.Google Scholar
Pfaff, F., Eberhardt, C., Patlakis, C., Nowak, M., Rapp, S. and Albers, A. (2022a), “Descriptive model for evolutionary innovation research in Product Generation Engineering”, XXXIII ISPIM Innovation Conference: Innovating in a Digital World, 5-8 June, Copenhagen, Denmark, LUT Scientific and Expertise Publications.Google Scholar
Pfaff, F., Kempf, S., Rapp, S. and Albers, A. (2022b), “Review of Evolutionary Approaches in Design Research to Support PGE - Product Generation Engineering”, NordDesign 2022, August 16-19, Lyngby, Denmark.Google Scholar
Schumpeter, J.A. (1934), The theory of economic development: An inquiry into profits, capital, credit, interest, and the business cycle, Harvard economic studies, vol. XLVI, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar
Statista (2022), Apple iPhone - Absatz weltweit bis 2021 | Statista. [online] available at: https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/203584/umfrage/absatz-von-apple-iphones-seit-dem-geschaeftsjahr-2007/ (accessed 13 June 2022).Google Scholar
VDI (2019), Entwicklung technischer Produkte und Systeme: Gestaltung individueller Produktentwicklungsprozesse, No. VDI 2221 Blatt 2, Beuth, Berlin.Google Scholar