28. Product Variants

Another area that should be considered with caution when considering the marketing requirements is that of product variants. Product variants can be a useful marketing ploy but they need to be considered carefully in the context of the overall product profitability.

By determining the strategy for product variants within the product definition, consideration can be made at every stage of the product design process as to the implications of the variants.

The Cost Of Variants

It must be recognised that product variants do not come without cost. In particular they have a major impact on the economy of manufacturing, marketing, sales and warehousing operations depending on how the variants are implemented.

Within a manufacturing context, product variants can necessitate retooling, restocking, foreshortening production runs, higher stock holdings of materials associated with the variant, greater complexity in manufacturing coding and control systems, higher investment in test or production equipment development.