Virtual Market System for Product Line Prioritization
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for prioritizing product development lines are inefficient and costly, as they often rely on time-consuming and expensive meetings between managers and supervisors, which can exclude engineers close to customers and fail to capture the full range of employee feedback.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that equates product development lines to stocks in a future market, allowing selected employees to participate in a trading session, setting rules for operation, and evaluating market trends and purchases to determine priority, thereby enabling anonymous and efficient prioritization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional meetings between managers and supervisors are used to prioritize product development lines, then decisions can be made based on hierarchical authority, but the process becomes costly and time-consuming due to travel arrangements and organization
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the decision-making process through an electronic marketplace interface, where participants can express their views on product prioritization without physical presence. This digital replica eliminates travel and meeting organization while preserving the essence of collective decision-making.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an electronic marketplace as an intermediary between managers and product prioritization decisions. This mediator allows indirect expression of preferences through virtual trading mechanisms, avoiding the need for direct face-to-face meetings while still capturing collective wisdom.
2Reliability
If conventional meetings are used for prioritization, then hierarchical decision-making can occur, but engineers close to customers are excluded from voicing their insights
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the participant base into different roles (managers, engineers, customers) who can all independently participate in the electronic marketplace. This segmentation allows engineers close to customers to separately express their insights without being filtered through hierarchical channels, while managers retain their decision authority.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a new dimension to the decision-making process by introducing a virtual trading interface that operates parallel to the hierarchical structure. This additional dimension allows information to flow from engineers to decisions without passing through traditional hierarchical filters, capturing customer feedback that would otherwise be lost.
3Loss of information
If all employees are allowed to participate in prioritization, then diverse perspectives are captured, but the complexity of managing the process increases
Solution Approach 1:
The electronic marketplace enables self-service participation where employees independently express their prioritization preferences through virtual trading actions. The system automatically processes these inputs and generates prioritization results without requiring manual coordination or complex management overhead, thus capturing diverse perspectives while minimizing process complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter of participation from manual voting or feedback forms to automated virtual trading mechanisms. This parameter change transforms a potentially complex human coordination task into a standardized automated process that can handle many participants simultaneously without proportionally increasing management complexity.
4Loss of information
If traditional meeting methods are used, then face-to-face discussion can occur, but the cost of travel and organization increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical system of physical travel and face-to-face meetings with an electronic information exchange system. The virtual marketplace interface substitutes physical interaction with digital communication, maintaining the quality of information exchange while eliminating the energy costs associated with travel and in-person meeting organization.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are disclosed for maintaining building serviceability information for geographic locations. The disclosed systems and methods may include forming a future market in which the product developments lines are equated to stocks. Furthermore, the disclosed systems and methods may include determining participants in a trading session of the future market and setting rules governing how the trading session in the future market will operate. Moreover, the disclosed systems and methods may include opening the trading session for the participants, closing the trading session for trading and evaluating market session trends and participant purchases to determine the priority of a product line in relation to other product lines.