Software Product Lines: The Product Assembly Process

Although software product lines are increasingly important to companies competing in global markets, rushed and ineffective implementation of product assembly practices results in valuable resources being wasted without achieving the significant tangible benefits of the product line investment. To minimize risks and maximize potential benefits of product lines, a company needs to know to what degree it is adopting software product line practices and in what aspects it needs to improve. Based on the generalization of data collected from industry partners, this book describes a process reference model for product assembly. The reference model contains an evaluation framework, which can be used to characterize product assembly practices in industry. This book can support the adoption of automated product assembly approaches. Furthermore it can be used as a foundation from which company specific product assembly process content can be developed.