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Item type:Publication, Access status: without files , How to Use the Levers of Modularity Properly-Linking Modularization to Economic Targets(2022-07); ; ; ; Product developers are faced with the challenge of covering an ever-increasing external variety with as little internal variety as possible. Modular product architectures offer one way of resolving the challenge. They have an impact on all life phases and on economic targets. These effects are represented in the Impact Model of Modular Product Families. A large number of modularization methods can be found in the literature. The modularization methods consist of different activities: decomposition of product, analysis and revision of components, and reintegration to modules. Module drivers play a major role in reintegration, as they determine which components together form a module. It is not yet clear what effects different modularization methods involving different module drivers have on economic targets. For this reason, the module drivers are examined in their role as levers of modularity and integrated into the Impact Model via access points. By documenting the results in a specially developed uniform method step description and the Impact Model, we enable the selection of modularization methods with regard to their economic impact. The introduction is followed by the state of research. In Sec. 3, the research problem and the research approach are presented. In Sec. 4, the generic method step description is applied to seven modularization methods. Based thereon, the modularization methods are compared with each other with regard to their addressed economic objectives. In an explanatory example, the method selection made possible by this is presented. Finally, the results are discussed and an outlook is given.Publicationtype: Journal Article84 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Access status: without files , Impact of Modularity Decisions on a Firm's Economic Objectives(2020-04-01); ; ; ; Research in modularization of product families reveals numerous individual cause and effect impacts of modularity on the firm. While many modularization methods are present in the literature, an overall combined picture of the interrelations of modular product structures on the firm is yet missing. This makes the construction of an economic business case for modularity difficult. The aim of this work is to show a causal network of how modular product structures affect a firm's economics through modularity's impact on the firm's activities over its products lifecycle phases. Therefore we introduce a literature based impact model on the basis of three main cause and effect node types, being (1) modularity property causes leading to (2) product life phase effects, leading to (3) economic impacts. We show how modularization decisions on a product family structure can impact activities in the product life cycle differently and the resultant economic outcomes. The cause and effect model is a combined summary of the corpus of knowledge found in the literature, highlighting for example that modularity can have an initial negative delaying effect on the development time for a platform followed by a positive reduction in product variant development times, and can a positive impact on reduced manufacturing costs. For validation the model was evaluated by industrial experts against nine case studies of major product-family-wide design projects, marking effects that were experienced and observed in their modularization projects.Publicationtype: Journal Article425 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Access status: without files , Global Views on Modular Design Research: Linking Alternative Methods to Support Modular Product Family Concept Development(2016-07-01); ; ; ; Modular product platforms have been shown to provide substantial cost and time savings while still allowing companies to offer a variety of products. As a result, a multitude of product platform methods have been developed over the last decade within the design research community. However, comparison and integration of suitable methods is difficult since the methods have, for the most part, been developed in isolation from one another. In reviewing the literature in modularity and product platforms, we create a generic set of 13 platform design steps for developing a platform concept. We then examine a set of product platform concept development processes used at several different companies, and from this form a generic sequence of the steps. We then associate the various developed methods to the sequence, thereby enabling the chaining together of the various modular and platform design methods developed by the community.Publicationtype: Journal Article130