Product line development is a development method that increases efficiency by developing systematically and strategically reusable assets and developing products based on those assets.
Next Design includes support features for "Product Line Development" as a design tool.
Without the need for specialized software, you can seamlessly handle everything from requirements to design, and centrally manage scattered variability analysis results and design deliverables.
Design information after product application can be exported individually.
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Model variability relationships with feature models
In product line development, tree-like diagrams are used to model variability relationships (mandatory/optional/alternative).
What is defined here becomes the target for configuration, enabling design replacement for each product.
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Manage designs for multiple products with a single design information set
In addition to the features defined in the feature model, you define the product lines targeted for development. Once the product lines are defined, you assign which features to use for each product.
Because you can list and cross-reference multiple products, it can also be utilized for variability analysis as a product map.
For example, in embedded software typical of the automotive industry, designs for multiple products are realized through a single software base. It can be applied to such cases.
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Easily link features to design information
In Next Design, design information and variability analysis results are unified and can be easily linked. Because design information is prepared in advance for all features, it is referred to as a "150% model."
Defined features can be assigned to various design information via drag-and-drop from a dedicated palette. Design information with assigned features displays an "F" indicator, making it immediately recognizable at a glance.
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Compare product differences across multiple views
Because the 150% model and individual product design information are unified, differences arising from these configurations can be easily compared.
Since the difference display also supports multi-views, you can intuitively review features included or excluded by configuration from various perspectives.
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Distribute design information by product to stakeholders
You can export projects focused on the design information of specific products.
Even when developing across multiple companies or teams, you can distribute only the necessary design information according to each stakeholder's scope of responsibility.
