Software Product Lines

A software product line epitomizes strategic, planned reuse. More than a new technology, it is a new way of doing business. Organizations developing a portfolio of products as a software product line are experiencing order-of-magnitude improvements in cost, time to market, and productivity.

Overview

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Research

Tools & Methods

Consulting

Case Studies

Our People

Catalog of Software Product Lines

This pages lists examples of real software product lines. These examples, which cover diverse domains, show the kind of improvements your organization can achieve using a product line approach.

-Description


Fish farm feed control and management software
+Cited Improvements



Reduction of code size by more than 70%.
Uniform look and feel.
Common technological platform and code style.
Easier reuse, maintenance and integration 




Reference

Frank van der Linden, Klaus Schmid, & Eelco Rommes. Software Product Lines in Action, Springer, 2007, Ch. 8.
-Description


Design and development of communication systems that search, identify, and capture signals. Sensor development, data collection and decision support, analysis and design of information retrieval and visualization technique
+Cited Improvements



  Shorter development schedules
  Lower development and upgrade costs
  Lower total ownership costs
  Support for an incremental development model
  Shared technology costs
  Best-in-class COTS/government off-the-shelf (GOTS) components
  Continuous technology insertion



Reference

John Bergey, Sholom Cohen, Lawrence Jones, & Dennis Smith. Software Product Lines: Experiences from the Sixth DoD Software Product Line Workshop
-Description


Gas turbines, train control, Semantic Graphics Framework
+Cited Improvement


Shorter development time, higher code quality, cost savings


Reference

Klaus Pohl, Günter Böckle, & Frank van der Linden. Software Product Line Engineering, Springer 2005, ch. 21.

C. Ganz & M. Layes. "Modular Turbine Control Software: A Control Software Architecture for the ABB Gas Turbine Family," Proceedings of the Second Intl. ESPRIT ARES Workshop, Springer LCNS 1429, 1998, pp. 32-38.

A. Rösel. "Experiences with the Evolution of an Application Family Architecture," Proceedings of the Second Intl. ESPRIT ARES Workshop, Springer LCNS 1429, 1998, pp. 39-48.

W. Eixelsberger & H. Beckman. "The TCS Experience with the Recovery of Family Architecture," M. Jazayeri, A. Ran, & Frank van der Linden (eds.), Software Architecture for Product Families - Principles and Practice, Addison Wesley 2000, pp. 209-231.

P. Stoll, L. Bass, E. Golden, & and B. John., "Supporting Usability in Product Line Architectures," Proceedings SPLC 2009, San Francisco, August 2009.
-Description


Computer printer servers, storage servers, network camera and scanner servers.
+Reference

Jan Bosch. Design & Use of Software Architectures, Addison Wesley, 2000.
-Description


Bold Stroke Avionics
Boeing is a member of the Product Line Hall of Fame.
+Cited Improvements



Improved affordability, quality, and system timeliness

References

David C. Sharp. "Reducing Avionics Software Cost Through Component Based Product Line Development," Patrick Donohoe (ed.) Proceedings SPLC1, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000.

Bryan S. Doerr & David C. Sharp. "Freeing Product Line Architectures from Execution Dependencies," Patrick Donohoe (ed.) Proceedings SPLC1, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000.

David C. Sharp. "Avionics Product line Software Architecture Flow Policies," Gateway to the New Millennium. 18th Digital Avionics Systems Conference. Proceedings, 1999, pt. 2, 9.C.4/8 pp. vol.2 ISBN: 0 7803 5749 3.

M. Schulte. "Model-Based Integration of Reusable Component-Based Avionics Systems - A Case Study," Proceedings, Eighth IEEE International Symposium on Object-Oriented Real-Time Distributed Computing, 2005, 62-71 ISBN: 0 7695 2356 0.

Timothy J. Popp. "Software Architecture Development for Product Line Software," AIAA/IEEE Digital Avionics Systems Conference, October 1999.

Klaus Pohl, Günter Böckle, & Frank van der Linden. Software Product Line Engineering, Springer 2005, ch. 21.

David C. Sharp. "Object Oriented Real-Time Computing for Reusable Avionics Software," Proceedings, ISORC 2001.

Don Winter. "Modular, Reusable Flight Software for Production Aircraft," 15th AIAA/IEEE Digital Avionics Systems Conference, p. 40106, 1996.

David C. Sharp. "Reducing Avionics Software Cost through Component Based Product Line Development," Software Technology Conference, 1998.
-Description


ShipSystem 2000 naval command and control
CelsiusTech is a member of the Product Line Hall of Fame.
+Cited Improvement

Improved time to delivery, productivity, cost.

References

Len Bass, Paul Clements, & Rick Kazman. Software Architecture in Practice, 2nd edition, Addison Wesley, 2003, Chapter 15.

Lisa Brownsword & Paul Clements. A Case Study in Successful Product Line Development (CMU/SEI-96-TR-016).

Klaus Pohl, Günter Böckle, & Frank van der Linden. Software Product Line Engineering, Springer 2005, ch. 21.
-Description


Diesel engine controls 
Cummins is a member of the Product Line Hall of Fame.
+Cited Improvements



Greatly reduced time to market (~1 year vs. ~1 week).
Ability to quickly and effectively enter new markets.
Increased productivity.
Higher quality.
Higher responsiveness to customer needs.

References 

J. C. Dager. "Cummins' Experience in Developing a Software Product Line Architecture for Real-time Embedded Diesel Engine Controls," Patrick Donohoe (ed.) Proceedings SPLC1, Kluwer, 2000. Page: 23-46. ISBN: 0792379403.

Paul Clements & Linda Northrop. Software Product Lines: Practices and Patterns, Addison Wesley, 2001.

Klaus Pohl, Günter Böckle, & Frank van der Linden. Software Product Line Engineering, Springer 2005, ch. 21.
-Description


Frequency converters
+Cited Improvements



Simplified product production
Rapid introduction of new features; greater development efficiency


References 

H. Jepsen, J. Dall, & D. Beuche. "Minimally Invasive Migration to Software Product Line," Proceeding, SPLC 2007, Kyoto, September 2007, IEEE Computer Society.

H. Jepsen & D. Beuche. "Running a Software Product Line – Standing Still Is Going Backwards,"
  Proceedings SPLC 2009, San Francisco, August 2009.
-Description


Financial global transaction and settlement
+Cited Improvement

$4M/year cost savings



Reference

David Faust & Chris Verhoef. "Software Product Line Migration and Deployment," Software - Practice and Experience 33, 1 0, Aug. 2003, 933-55.
-Description


Internet payment gateway infrastructure products
+Cited Improvements



Quality and predictability, development efficiency.
Defect fixes only developed once.
More rapid improvements in product quality.
Configuration control branching reduced, productivity increased.
Customers upgraded to new major versions more efficiently.
New functionality added across whole family


Reference

M. Staples & D. Hill. "Experiences Adopting Software Product Line Development Without a Product Line Architecture," Proceedings. 11th Asia-Pacific Software Engineering Conference, 2004, 176-83 ISBN: 0 7695 2245 9.
-Description


Software products and customized solutions for transportation industries
+Cited Improvements



Reduction of service needs.
Elimination of administrative tasks.
Uniform look and feel.
Easier reuse, maintenance and integration.


Reference

Frank van der Linden, Klaus Schmid, & Eelco Rommes. Software Product Lines in Action, Springer, 2007, Ch. 10.
-Description


Medical imaging workstations
+Cited Improvements



Improved cost, time to market, productivity
Developing and deploying a system in a week


Reference

Liang Liang, Zhiqiang Hu, & Xiangyun Wang. "An Open Architecture for Medical Image Workstation," Progress in Biomedical Optics and Imaging - Proceedings of SPIE, v 5748, Medical Imaging 2005 - PACS and Imaging Informatics, 2005, p. 470-479, ISSN: 1605-7422.
-Description


OSE real-time operating system for telecom and automotive applications and Element middleware
+Reference

J. Andersson & J. Bosch. "Development and Use of Dynamic Product-Line Architectures," IEE Proceedings-Software 152, 1, 7 Feb. 2005, pp. 15-28 ISSN: 1462-5970.
-Description


AXE family of Telecommunications Switches 
 
Ericsson is a member of the Product Line Hall of Fame.
+Cited Improvement

Adaptability to change and evolution.
-Description


Telecom network nodes providing packet data services for mobile networks
+Cited Improvement

Significantly lower number of defects and code modifications



Reference
  


Parastoo Mohagheghi & Reidar Conradi. "An Empirical Investigation of Software Reuse Benefits in a Large Telecom Product," ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology 17, 3, 2008.
-Description


DPE systems for packet based mobile communication
+Reference

J. Andersson & J. Bosch. "Development and Use of Dynamic Product-Line Architectures," IEE Proceedings-Software, 152, 1, 7 Feb. 2005, pp. 15-28 ISSN: 1462-5970, IEE, UK.
-Description


Avionics software for multi-role NH90 helicopter
+Cited Improvement
    
Ability to cope with high number of software variants and technology (platform) variations 




Reference
  
F. Dordowsky & W. Hipp. "Adopting Software Product Line Principles to Manage Software Variants in a Complex Avionics System," Proceedings SPLC 2009, San Francisco, August 2009

-Description


Software for engines, transmissions, and controllers 
 
General Motors Powertrain is a member of the Product Line Hall of Fame.
+Cited Improvements



Supporting product variation
Reduced time to market
Eliminating redundant resources



Reference


Cheryl Williams. "Algorithms, Algorithm Modeling, Software, and Software Architecture." Viewgraph
presentation,

www.eecs.umich.edu/courses/eecs486

/win03/notes/GMVisit.pdf
-Description


Firmware for computer peripherals 
 
Hewlett Packard is a member of the Product Line Hall of Fame.
+Cited Improvements 


Products built with 1/4 of the staff, in 1/3 of the time, and with 1/25 the number of bugs of earlier products.
Complexity up 10x, number of products up 10x, time to market decreased by factor of 2.


References 


Peter Toft, Derek Coleman, & Joni Ohta. "A Cooperative Model for Cross-Divisional Product Development for a Software Product Line,'" Patrick Donohoe (ed.) Proceedings SPLC1, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000.
Klaus Pohl, Günter Böckle, & Frank van der Linden. Software Product Line Engineering, Springer 2005, ch. 21.
Mebane, H., Ohta, J. "Dynamic Complexity and the Owen Firmware Product Line Program," Proceeding, SPLC 2007, Kyoto, September 2007, IEEE Computer Society.
-Description


      Clinical    analyzer product line, plus product lines across various divisions
+Reference
 
      Y. Takebe, N. Fukaya, M. Chikahisa, T. Hanawa, & O. and Shirai. "Experiences with    Software Product Line Engineering in Product Development Oriented    Organization," Proceedings SPLC    2009, San Francisco, August 2009.
Van der Linden, F.., Schmid, K., Rommes, E. Software Product Lines in Action, Springer-Verlag, 2007.
Yoshimura, K., Shimabukuro, J, Atarashi, Y., Koizumi, S., Watanabe, S., Funakoshi, K. "Key Activities for Introducing Software Product Lines into Multiple Divisions: Experience at Hitachi, Proceedings SPLC 2011, Munich, pp. 261-266.
-Description


      Vacation    property rental
 
HomeAway is a member of the Product Line Hall of Fame.
+Cited Improvements


    
      Smaller    footprint
      Better performance
      Higher test coverage
      Improved quality
      Faster    time to market
      Lower cost maintenance 
    



    References


    Charles W. Krueger.    HomeAway: A Software Product Line Case Study, BigLever Technical Report    20070630, June 2007, BigLever Software, www.biglever.com


    Charles W.    Krueger, Dale Churchett, & Ross Buhrdorf. "HomeAway's Transition to    Software Product Line Practice: Engineering and Business Results in 60    Days," Proceedings, SPLC 2008,    Limerick, pp. 297-306.
-Description


Elevator control systems
+Cited Improvements 



Decreased complexity of software base; functions reduced by half
Reduced cost of making changes



Reference


Klaus Pohl, Günter Böckle, & Frank van der Linden. Software Product Line Engineering, Springer 2005, ch. 21.
-Description


RAID controller firmware product line for disk storage units 
 
LSI Logic - Engenio Storage Group is a member of the Product Line Hall of Fame.
+Cited Improvements 



Product variation
Rapid time to market



References


BigLever Software Case Study: Engenio (Report# 2005-06-14-1) 2005.


William Hetrick, Charles Krueger, & Joseph Moore. "Incremental Return on Incremental Investment: Engenio's Transition to Software Product Line Practice." OOPSLA Proceedings 2006. Portland, Oregon. October 2006.
-Description


5ESS telecommunications switch 
 
Lucent Technologies is a member of the Product Line Hall of Fame.
+Cited Improvements 



Productivity improved 3x-5x
High reliability and performance



References 


M. Ardis, N. Daley, D. Hoffman, H Siy, & D. Weiss. "Software Product Lines: A Case Study," Software - Practice and Experience 30, 7, June 2000, 825-47 ISSN: 0038-0644 CODEN: SPEXBL Publisher: Wiley, UK.


W. Howard, editor. "The 5ESS Switching System," AT&T Technical Journal 64, July-August, 1985, Special Issue on the 5ESS Switch.


Klaus Pohl, Günter Böckle, & Frank van der Linden. Software Product Line Engineering, Springer 2005, ch. 21.
-Description


Integrated sets of services for airline operations
+Reference


Chastek, G., Donohoe, P., McGregor, J., Muthig, D. "Engineering a Production Method for a Software Product Line," Proceedings SPLC 2011, Munich, pp. 277-286.
-Description


Stock market data and financial news management 
 
Market Maker Software AG is a member of the Product Line Hall of Fame.
+Cited Improvements 



Time to market improvement - systems installed in a few days.
Small development team able to support entire product line.
Reduction of time to market: 2-4.
Break-even: after about five products.
Reduction of maintenance costs: ~60%.
Reduced cost of quality (reliability in the field).



References


Paul Clements & Linda Northrop. Software Product Lines: Practices and Patterns, Addison Wesley, 2001.


Martin Verlage & Thomas Kiesgen. "Five Years of Product Line Engineering in a Small Company," 27th International Conference on Software Engineering (IEEE Cat. No. 05CH37673), 2005, 534-43. ISBN: 1-59593-963-2.


C. Gacek, P. Knauber, K. Schmid, & P. Clements. Successful Software Product Line Development in a Small Organization. A Case Study, Technical Report, Fraunhofer Institut for Experimental Software Engineering (IESE), 013.01/E, 2001.


Frank van der Linden, Klaus Schmid, & Eelco Rommes. Software Product Lines in Action, Springer, 2007, Ch. 11.


Klaus Pohl, Günter Böckle, & Frank van der Linden. Software Product Line Engineering, Springer 2005, ch. 21.
-Description


Metal processing
+Cited Improvements 



Reduction in development time
Reduction in product heterogeneity
Better controlled product evolution
Improved product understanding by stakeholders



Reference


D. Sellier, M. Manion, G. Benguria, & G. Urchegui. "Introducing Software Product Line Engineering for Metal Processing Lines in a Small to Medium Enterprise," Proceeding, SPLC 2007, Kyoto, September 2007, IEEE Computer Society.
-Description


    Core Flight    Software, 
      future flight software platform for NASA missions
+Reference


    D. Ganesan, M. Lindvall, C. Ackermann, D. McComas, & M. Bartholomew.    "Verifying Architectural Design Rules of the Flight Software Product    Line," Proceedings SPLC 2009, San Francisco, August 2009.
-Description


Interferometer product line
+Reference


G. C. Gannod, R. R. Lutz, & M. Cantu. "Embedded Software for a Space Interferometry System: Automated Analysis of a Software Product Line Architecture," Conference Proceedings of the 2001 IEEE International Performance, Computing, and Communications Conference (Cat. No.01CH37210), 2001, 145-50 ISBN: 0 7803 7001 5.
-Description


Mobile phones 
 
Nokia is a member of the Product Line Hall of Fame.
+Cited Improvements 



"Nokia Mobile Phones is the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, and they believe that software product line engineering has helped it to reach that position."
Unprecedented feature variation and product to market capability.



References 


A. Heie. "Global Software Product Lines and Infinite Diversity."


J. Kuusela. "Architectural evolution: Nokia Mobile Phone Case Study," Software Architecture. TC2 First Working IFIP Conference on Software Architecture (WICSA1), 1999, 471-8 ISBN: 0 7923 8453 9.


A. Maccari & C. Riva. "Architectural Evolution of Legacy Product Families," F. van der Linden (Ed.): Proceedings PFE-4 2001, LNCS 2290, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2002.


M. Jazayeri, A. Ran, & F. van der Linden. Software Architecture for Product Families. Addison Wesley, 2000. pp. 169-176.


Frank Van der Linden, Klaus Schmid, & Eelco Rommes. Software Product Lines in Action, Springer, 2007, Ch. 12.
-Description


Nokia: Mobile Browsers
+Cited Improvements 



"…increased efficiency through reuse as well as accelerated product implementation, lowered cost, and increased quality."
"We could not have developed four different products and six annual releases with our given resources without a product line."
Led to improved working conditions - less than 3% turnover, product line highly rated in Nokia's internal survey of working conditions.



Reference


Ari Jaaksi. "Developing Mobile Browsers in a Product Line," IEEE Software 19, 4, July/August, 2002, p 73-80. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computer Society.
-Description


Telecommunication network products for public, private, and cellular networks
+Cited Improvements



Improved management of very complex systems.
Improved visibility and reuse of available assets.
Improved ability to evaluate system level quality properties.
Improved decision-making based on fact.
Architectural trade-offs are more concrete.



References


M. Jazayeri, A. Ran, & F. van der Linden. Software Architecture for Product Families. Addison Wesley, 2000. p. 165 - 169.


Frank van der Linden, Klaus Schmid, & Eelco Rommes. Software Product Lines in Action, Springer, 2007, Ch. 13.
-Description


Digital loop carriers for telecommunications
+Cited Improvement 


Reduced cycle time by 45%.


Reference


D. Dikel, D. Kane, S. Ornburn, W. Loftus, & J. Wilson. "Applying Software Product Line Architecture," Computer 30, 8, Aug. 1997, 49-55. IEEE Computer Society.

-Description


Risk management software
+Cited Improvements


Reduced time for changes
Increased quality
User customization
Increased market share


Reference


Quilty, G., Cinneide, M. “Experiences with Software Product Line Development in Risk Management Software,” Proceedings SPLC 2011,  Munich, pp. 251-260.
-Description


Multi-discipline analysis software
+Cited Improvements



Time to market for at least one product improved by factor of ~2.5
Anecdotal improvements in quality, cost, integration speed, and customer satisfaction 



Reference


Paul Jensen. "Experiences with Product Line Development of Multi-Discipline Analysis Software at Overwatch Textron Systems," Proceedings, SPLC 2007, Kyoto, September 2007, IEEE Computer Society.
-Description


High-end televisions 
 
Philips is a member of the Product Line Hall of Fame.
+Cited Improvements 



Reduced faults during integration.
"Today, there are 20 different software releases per year, where each release serving 1-5 different product types. The product line supports three different hardware platforms.
"When we started, diversity was one of the top three issues on the agenda of architects. Now, diversity has disappeared as issue entirely."
A single product line of software for all of Philips' mid-range and high-end television products.
Able to produce the variability desired by marketing.
Software development not on critical path.
Variability no longer on architect's priority issue list.



References 


Tim Trew. "Enabling the Smooth Integration of Core Assets: Defining and Packaging Architectural Rules for a Family of Embedded Products," H. Obbink & K. Pohl (Eds.), Software Product Lines: 9th Intl. Conf, SPL 2005, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, v 3714 LNCS, 2005, p 137-149. ISSN: 0302-9743. Springer.


Rob van Ommering. Building Product Populations with Software Components, Dissertation, University of Groningen, 2004.


Rob van Ommering, Frank van der Linden, Jeff Kramer, & Jeff Magee. "The Koala Component Model," Ivica Crnkovic, Magnus Larsson (eds.), Building Reliable Component-Based Software Systems, Aretch House, 2002.


Frank van der Linden, Klaus Schmid, & Eelco Rommes. Software Product Lines in Action, Springer, 2007, Ch. 14.


Klaus Pohl, Günter Böckle, & Frank van der Linden. Software Product Line Engineering, Springer 2005, ch. 21.
-Description


PKI telecommunications switching system 
 
Philips is a member of the Product Line Hall of Fame.
+Cited Improvements



Improved time to market
Improved reuse



References 


Jan Gerben Wijnstra. "Critical Factors for a successful Platform-based Product Family Approach," Gary J. Chastek (ed.) Proceedings SPLC2, Springer LNCS 2379, (2002).


Frank van der Linden & Jürgen K. Müller. "Creating Architectures with Building Blocks," IEEE Software, Nov. 1995.


Frank van der Linden & Jürgen K. Müller. "Composing Product Families from Reusable Components," Bonnie Melhart, Jerzy Rozenblit (eds.), Proceedings 1995 International Symposium and Workshop on Systems Engineering of Computer Based Systems, IEEE, pp. 35 - 40 (1995).


Jürgen K. Müller. "Integrating Architectural Design Into The Development Process," Bonnie Melhart and Jerzy Rozenblit (eds.), Proceedings 1995 International Symposium and Workshop on Systems Engineering of Computer Based Systems, IEEE, pp. 114 - 121 (1995).


Jürgen K. Müller. "Feature-Oriented Software Structuring," Proceedings CompSAC'97, pp. 552-555, (1997).
-Description


Diagnostic imaging equipment


Philips is a member of the Product Line Hall of Fame.
+Cited Improvements 



Time to market, consistent and integrated behavior of applications.
2-4 times effort reduction.
Reduction to less than 50% time-to-market.
Product defect density to 50% of original rate.
Ease of feature propagation from one product to others.
Common look-and-feel.
Better product planning & use of roadmaps.



References 


B. J. Pronk. "Medical Product Line Architectures," Software Architecture. TC2 First Working IFIP Conference on Software Architecture (WICSA1), 1999, 357-67. ISBN: 0 7923 8453 9.


Frank van der Linden, Klaus Schmid, & Eelco Rommes. Software Product Lines in Action, Springer, 2007, Ch. 15.


Klaus Pohl, Günter Böckle, & Frank van der Linden. Software Product Line Engineering, Springer 2005, ch. 21.
-Description


Control Channel Toolkit, satellite ground control station software
+Cited Improvement


Improved cost, time to delivery, quality 


References


Paul Clements & Linda Northrop. Software Product Lines: Practices and Patterns, Addison Wesley, 2001.


Paul Clements, Sholom Cohen, Patrick Donohoe, & Linda Northrop. Control Channel Toolkit: A Software Product Line Case Study


Klaus Pohl, Günter Böckle, & Frank van der Linden. Software Product Line Engineering, Springer 2005, ch. 21.
-Description


Office appliances
+Cited Improvements 


References 


R. Kolb, D. Muthig, T. Patzke, & K. Yamauchi. "A Case Study in Refactoring a Legacy Component for Reuse in a Product Line," Proceedings of the 21st IEEE International Conference on Software Maintenance, 2005, 369-78.


R. Kolb, D. Muthig, T. Patzke, & K. Yamauchi. "Refactoring a Legacy Component for Reuse in a Software Product Line A Case Study," Journal of Software Maintenance and Evolution Research and Practice 18, 2, March-April 2006, 109-32. Wiley, UK.


R. Carbon, S. Adam, & T. Uchida.  "Towards a Product Line Approach for Office Devices – Facilitating  Customization of Office Devices at Ricoh Co.,"  Proceedings  SPLC 2009, San Francisco, August 2009.
-Description


Automotive gasoline systems 
 
Robert Bosch Corp. is a nominee in the Product Line Hall of Fame.
+Cited Improvements 



25% less memory consumption.
Reduction of calibration effort (-20%) and maintenance.
Reduction of the resource consumption: 20%-30%.
Product line definition reflecting market variance.



References 


M. Steger, C. Tischer, B. Boss, A. Muller, O. Pertler, W. Stolz, & S. Ferber. "Introducing PLA at Bosch Gasoline Systems: Experiences and Practices," Nord, R. (ed.), Proceedings SPLC3, Lecture Notes in Computer Science 0302-9743, vol. 3154. Springer, 2004. Page: 34-50. Boston. ISBN: 3540229183.


C. Tischer & A. Mueller. "Bosch Gasoline Systems: Engine Control Software Product Line." Viewgraph presentation,  http://www.sei.cmu.edu/splc2006/bosch_gs.pdf   


Frank van der Linden, Klaus Schmid, & Eelco Rommes. Software Product Lines in Action, Springer, 2007, Ch. 9.
-Description


Commercial flight control system avionics
+Reference


Stuart R. Faulk. "Product Line Requirements Specification (PRS): An Approach and Case Study," Proceedings Fifth IEEE International Symposium on Requirements Engineering, 2000, 48-55 ISBN: 0 7695 1125 2, IEEE Comput. Soc, Los Alamitos, CA, USA.
-Description


Common Army Avionics System (CAAS), avionics for U. S. Army helicopters
+Cited Improvements



Eliminating duplicative maintenance contract (saving $3-4M).
Expected to save $4M per year in integration cost.
Reduced cost to develop new fleet-wide functionality. - Reduced documentation cost.
Simplified training, reduced training costs ($1M per platform vs. $50K per platform).
Reduced flight test costs.
Reduced time to deployment (10 years vs. 5 years).
Reduced system development costs ($30-45M vs. $10-15M).
Shorter time to airworthiness certification.
Increased competitiveness.



References


Paul Clements & John Bergey. The U. S. Army's Common Avionics Architecture System (CAAS) Product Line: A Case Study


Mario Barbacci, Paul Clements, Anthony Lattanze, Linda Northrop, & William Wood. Using the Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method (ATAM) to Evaluate the Software Architecture for a Product Line of Avionics Systems: A Case Study
-Description


Aerospace engine monitoring systems
+Cited Improvements 


Reference


Ibrahim Habli, Tim Kelly, & Ian Hopkins. "Challenges of Establishing a Software Product Line for an Aerospace Engine Monitoring System," Proceedings, SPLC 2007, Kyoto, September 2007, IEEE Computer Society.


A. Nolan. "Building a Comprehensive  Software Product Line Cost Model," Proceedings  SPLC 2009, San Francisco, August 2009.
Nolan, A., Abrahão, S., Clements, P., Pickard, A. “Requirements Uncertainty in a Software Product Line,” Proceedings SPLC 2011, Munich, pp. 223-231.
-Description


Revenue acquisition management systems 
 
Salion, Inc. is a member of the Product Line Hall of Fame.
+Cited Improvements 



Time to market
Scalability of product portfolio



References


Paul Clements & Linda Northrop. Salion, Inc.: A Software Product Line Case Study


Ross Buhrdorf & Dale Churchett. Product Line Agility in the Face of Turbulence - The Salion Success Story.


Charles W. Krueger & Dale Churchett. "Eliciting Abstractions from a Software Product Line," in Proceedings of the OOPSLA 2002 PLEES International Workshop on Product Line Engineering. Seattle, Washington. November 2002, pages 43-48.


Ross Buhrdorf, Dale Churchett, & Charles W. Krueger. "Salion's Experience with a Reactive Software Product Line Approach," in Proceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Product Family Engineering. Siena, Italy. November 2003.


Klaus Pohl, Günter Böckle, & Frank van der Linden. Software Product Line Engineering, Springer 2005, ch. 21.
-Description


Safety and security systems
+Reference


Jan Bosch. Design & Use of Software Architectures, Addison Wesley, 2000.
-Description


Metals technologies: Sales support for electrode control systems for electric furnaces
+Cited Improvements


Improved customer satisfaction



References 
Vierhauser, M., Holl, G., Rabiser, R., Grünbacher, P., Lehofer, M., Stürmer, Uwe, “A Deployment Infrastructure for Product Line Models and Tools,” Proceedings SPLC 2011, Munich, pp. 287-294.
-Description


Software for viewing and quantifying radiological images
+Cited Improvements



Reduction of unplanned dependencies.
Resilience to unanticipated changes.
Reduction of Development Cycle Time: ~25%.



References 


Klaus Pohl, Günter Böckle, & Frank van der Linden. Software Product Line Engineering, Springer 2005, ch. 21.


R. W. Schwanke & R. R. Lutz. "Experience with the Architectural Design of a Modest Product Family," Software - Practice and Experience, 34, 13, 10 Nov. 2004, 1273-96. ISSN: 0038-0644 CODEN: SPEXBL. Wiley, UK.


Frank van der Linden, Klaus Schmid, & Eelco Rommes. Software Product Lines in Action, Springer, 2007, Ch. 16.
Barrtholdt, J., Becker, D. “Re-Engineering of a Hierarchical Product Line,“ Proceedings SPLC 2011, Munich, pp. 232-240.

Sinha, S., Dasch, T., Ruf, R. “Goverance and Cost Reduction through Multi-Tier Preventive Performance Tests in a Large-Scale Product Line Development,“  Proceedings SPLC 2011, Munich, pp. 295-302.
-Description


EPOC operating system
+Reference


Jan Bosch. Design & Use of Software Architectures, Addison Wesley, 2000.
-Description


Industrial supervisory control and business process management systems
+Cited Improvements



Server platform extended to other markets.
Introduction of run-time variability.
Improved reference process framework.
Centralised roadmaps for platforms.



Reference


Frank van der Linden, Klaus Schmid, & Eelco Rommes. Software Product Lines in Action, Springer, 2007, Ch. 17.
-Description


Climate, emission, and flue gass measurement devices
+Cited Improvements



Ability to develop more complex products addressing new market segments.
"…these products would not have been possible without product line engineering."
Increased developer satisfaction.
All projects on time and of high quality.



References


Ralf Carbon, Jens Knodel, & Dirk Muthig. "Providing Feedback from Application to Family Engineering-The Product Line Planning Game at the Testo AG," pp 180-192. 12th International Software Product Line Conference 2008. Limerick, Ireland, 8-12 September 2008.


R. Kolb, I. John, J. Knodel, D. Muthig, U. Haury, & G. Meier. "Experiences with Product Line Development of Embedded Systems at Testo AG," 10th International Software Product Line Conference, 2006, 10 pp. ISBN: 0 7695 2599 7.


Klaus Pohl, Günter Böckle, & Frank van der Linden. Software Product Line Engineering, Springer 2005, ch. 21.


Klaus Schmid, Isabel John, Ronny Kolb, & Gerald Meier. "Introducing the PuLSE Approach to an Embedded System Population at Testo AG," 27th International Conference on Software Engineering. ICSE'2005 (2005), 544-552.
-Description


      Product    line of embedded automotive navigation systems
+Cited Improvement


      Reduced time to    market



      Reference


    W. Slegers. "Building Automotive Product Lines around Managed Interfaces,"    Proceedings SPLC 2009, San Francisco,    August 2009.
-Description


Toshiba Software Factory: 
Electrical power generation, steel, traffic control, factory automation
+Cited Improvement


Increased productivity


Reference


Yoshihiro Matsumoto. "A Guide for Management and Financial Controls of Product Lines," Proceedings, SPLC 2007, Kyoto, September 2007, IEEE Computer Society.
-Description


Test range facilities
+Cited Improvements



Cost of new products at least 50% lower.
Development time reduced from years to months.
Staff resources reduced by up to 75%.
High customer satisfaction.
Increased competitiveness.



References 


Sholom Cohen, Ed Dunn, & Albert Soule. Successful Product Line Development and Sustainment: A DoD Case Study


Sholom Cohen, Dave Zubrow, & Ed Dunn. Case Study: A Measurement Program for Product Lines


Klaus Pohl, Günter Böckle, & Frank van der Linden. Software Product Line Engineering, Springer 2005, ch. 21.
-Description


Command and control simulator for Army fire support
+Cited Improvements 



Time to add a mission reduced from about one month to about 3 days.
Able to add, remove, replace missions independently of each other.
Reduced code complexity.



Reference


Don Batory, Clay Johnson, Bob MacDonald, & Dale von Heeder. "Achieving Extensibility through Product Lines and Domain-Specific Languages: A Case Study," ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology 11, 2, April 2002, 191-214. ACM, USA.
-Description


      Remote    monitoring and controlling devices
+Reference


      D. Pech, J. Knodel, R. Carbon, & C. Schitter. "Variability Management in Small    Development Organizations – Experiences and Lessons Learned from a Case    Study," Proceedings SPLC 2009,    San Francisco, August 2009.
-Description


Legal expert systems
+Cited Improvements 


Increased modifiability, testability, usability (through uniform behavior), and adaptability.


Reference


C. Fritsch & B. Renz. "Four Mechanisms for Adaptable Systems: A Meta-Level Approach to Building a Software Product Line," R. Nord (ed.), Proceedings SPLC3, Lecture Notes in Computer Science 0302-9743, vol. 3154. Springer, 2004. Page: 34-50. Boston. ISBN: 3540229183. Revised and extended in Software Process Improvement and Practice, v 10, n 2, April-June 2005, 103-24, ISSN: 1077-4866 CODEN: SPIPFL.  Wiley, UK.

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