LEVERAGING SYSTEM SIMULATION FOR DECISION SUPPORT IN STRATEGIC PRODUCT PLANNING

The effects of decisions in strategic product planning are usually far-reaching, but at the same time difficult to assess. Simulations help to make these effects more tangible. Until now, the use of simulation in strategic product planning has been limited to behavioral and innovation diffusion studies. This paper presents a process model for widening business models or planning upcoming product generations. It supports integrating the simulation of technical systems into decisionmaking processes to select the most suitable product for adaptation to new application scenarios. To this end, the characteristics of such new application scenarios are applied to existing product models in simulation, and the system behavior is evaluated based on key figures. This supports the comparison of different products and the selection of the product alternative requiring the least amount of modification. The process model enables decision-makers to systematically integrate simulation into the decision-making process and thus make more data-based decisions.