326 Carrier Corporation 14.4.2 area units Every area unit will be responsible for designing, engineering, and marketing a system of products and services as solutions to the needs of a given market segment. Initially, there will be three such segments in each area: residential systems, commercial systems, and industrial and institutional systems. As market-driven units, area units must understand the current and latent climate control problems faced by specific market segments and develop and offer solutions to those problems. Each unit will be responsible for system development in its specific segment.Systemdesignswillbeinformedbylocalrequirementsindiffer- entregions.Systemsolutionswillbedesignedonglobalplatformsdevel- oped by output units. These platforms provide modular designs that standardize chassis and components while allowing for variations to sat- isfy different local requirements. Each output unit will have top system engineers on their team for developing global platforms within which local products can be manufactured. Area units will develop the basic policies and approach for developing andmaintainingadistributionsystemtoserveallCarrierunits.Forexam- ple,areaunitswillbeexpectedtodeveloppoliciesforacquiringanddis- tributing complementary products intended to help increase the business at the dealership level. Implementation of policies will be the responsibil- ity of regional units. Additionally, area managers will be responsible for developing new markets, for liaison between regional units and output units, and for consolidation and administration at the area level. In general, area units will have no fixed assets. This will ensure that theyarenotpreoccupiedwithexistingfacilitiesandcurrentproducts.Their total focus should be on delivering the best solution to the customer. These products and services may or may not be provided by Carrier manufacturingunits.Thisconstantexaminationandre-evaluationofthe "make or buy" decisions will keep continuous competitive pressure on both the designers and the manufacturers (suppliers). There will be members of the parts unit in each area to manage the logis- tics, warehousing, and physical transportation systems at the area level. Figure 14.3providesanexampleofhowareaunitsmaybeorganized. 14.5 output units Output units will be responsible for the design and production of global endproducts.Suchproductsaresoldinmorethanonegeographicregion, haveahighlevelofcomplexity,andoffersignificanteconomiesofscale. Output unit managers will have worldwide responsibility for designing manufacturability, functionality, and serviceability, as well as lean produc- tion systems, delivery, and costs. Global products will be designed on a global platform concept, that is, a modular design that standardizes chassis and components while