Integrating A Software Product Line Strategy with a Product Production Strategy: A Case Study

Many manufacturing organizations adopt product production strategies that influence a wide range of factors within the company. These strategies define policies, procedures and structures that affect the same areas as a software product line strategy. When an organization initiates a product line strategy, that strategy must be integrated with existing strategies while not losing the benefits of the software product line strategy. This paper is a brief report of our experience integrating a software product line strategy similar to that developed by the Software Engineering Institute with a specific product production strategy, the PACE model. Problems such as conflicts in terminology and clashes in organizational structure were identified and resolved. We present an integration process that can be used to coordinate a software product line approach with other manufacturing strategies. Introduction The software product line strategy is a comprehensive approach that touches many facets of an organization. Software product line initiation, even “green field” initiatives, typically occurs in an existing corporate environment. Corporate or business unit initiatives set goals and often mandate strategies to achieve those goals. The software product line effort must be consistent with these previously established strategies. Product production strategies are guidelines that define how the organization will manage the actual creation of a product [Chastek 02]. Aspects of the software product line strategy will, almost certainly, provide guidance on some of the same issues as the more general product production strategy. For example, a software development business unit can find itself constrained by the initiatives of the hard goods units of the corporation. These units have often been in existence longer or manufacture a more tangible portion of each product. In the remainder of this paper we will focus on the integration of a software product line strategy and product production strategies. There are many widely recognized corporate strategies for product production or product manufacture such as Product And Cycle-time Excellence (PACE) [McGrath 96], Six Sigma [Pande 00], and Supply Chain Management [Chopra 00]. Each strategy solves specific types of problems and imposes assumptions that constrain possible solutions. The scope of each strategy varies. Supply chain management impacts most of the phases in a manufacturing process but it is limited to the management of inputs into these phases and delivery to customers. Six Sigma techniques impact the record keeping and decision making of most steps in the product development process but not the technical details of how to carryout the steps. The PACE strategy is a comprehensive strategy that specifies some portion of the organizational structure and establishes priorities among activities in the manufacturing process. These examples illustrate how the software product line and product production strategies can have one of four relationships with one another. The product line strategy (PL) may overlap with another strategy (S), as in Figure 1a, so that there is some region of potential conflict or agreement. There are also regions in which neither interacts with the other. The two strategies must be synchronized in the common region and each must be modified to accommodate the compromises necessary in the region of commonality. Strategy S may totally encompass strategy PL, Figure 1b. Strategy S will often dominate strategy PL by defining organizational and management structures. Strategy PL must be integrated into strategy S. This situation has the potential to reduce the effectiveness of the PL strategy.