Analytical target cascading in product family design

Most products are neither designed nor manufactured as one piece. They are decomposed into parts that are developed individually before they are assembled to form the final product. Typically, this partitioning-based development process matches the hierarchical structure of the product-offering organization. Design tasks are assigned to divisions, departments, and teams according to expertise. An example from the automotive industry is depicted in Figure 11-1. Obviously, this decomposition is not complete and serves only as an illustration of the decomposition paradigm.