Measure it to manage it – quantitative review of product family complexity metrics

ABSTRACT:

Product variety increases complexity across product, process, and organizational domains, yet existing complexity measures offer limited guidance for design decisions. This study implements established metrics within a framework to enable consistent assessment across domains. The results reveal substantial redundancies among these metrics - with the notable exception of modularity, emphasizing its central role in complexity management. The consolidated measure set provides practitioners with a systematic basis for evaluating design strategies and managing complexity in product families.