Decisive economies and opportunity cost of modular product structure alternatives: An empirical case study

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Windheim ◽  
E. Greve ◽  
D. Krause
Keyword(s):  
Opportunity Cost ◽  
Product Structure ◽  
Modular Product

scholarly journals INITIAL INTEGRAL PRODUCT AND ASSEMBLY STRUCTURING: A CASE STUDY

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 2305-2314
Author(s):  
J. Küchenhof ◽  
D. Krause
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
New Product Development ◽  
New Product ◽  
Product Structure ◽  
Product Life ◽  
Existing Structures ◽  
Modular Product ◽  
Product And Process ◽  
Process Complexity

AbstractModular product structuring has been proven an effective way to satisfy a high sales variety with low internal product and process complexity but is usually carried out on existing structures. To support the modular new product development, this contribution shows the initial structuring of integrated product and assembly structures based on a variance-oriented product structure. With help of a perspective-based modularization approach, consolidating the product life phases of procurement, assembly and sales, modular product and process structures are developed within an industry case study.

HOME: House Of Modular Enhancement—a Tool for Modular Product Redesign

2002 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Sand ◽  
P. Gu ◽  
G. Watson
Keyword(s):  
Lead Time ◽  
Modular Design ◽  
Design Method ◽  
Product Architecture ◽  
Functional Requirements ◽  
Overall Design ◽  
System A ◽  
Modular Product ◽  
Design And Manufacturing

Product modularization aims to improve the overall design, manufacturing, operational, and post-retirement characteristics of products by designing or redesigning the product architectures. A successful modular product can assist the reconfiguration of products, while reducing the lead-time of design and manufacturing and improving the ability for upgrading, maintenance, customization and recycling. This paper presents a new modular design method called the House Of Modular Enhancement (HOME) for product redesign. Information from various aspects of the product design, including functional requirements, product architecture and life cycle requirements, is incorporated in the method to help ensure that a modularized product would achieve the objectives. The HOME method has been implemented in a software system. A case study will be presented to illustrate the HOME method and the software.

Modular product design for additive manufacturing of satellite components: maximising product value using genetic algorithms

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 331-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivia Borgue ◽  
Massimo Panarotto ◽  
Ola Isaksson
Keyword(s):  
Additive Manufacturing ◽  
Product Design ◽  
Design Concepts ◽  
Modular Product ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Function Modelling ◽  
Part Consolidation ◽  
Component Interface ◽  
Optimisation Algorithms

For space manufacturers, additive manufacturing promises to dramatically reduce weight and costs by means of integral designs achieved through part consolidation. However, integrated designs hinder the ability to change and service components over time – actually increasing costs – which is instead enabled by highly modular designs. Finding the optimal trade-off between integral and modular designs in additive manufacturing is of critical importance. In this article, a product modularisation methodology is proposed for supporting such trade-offs. The methodology is based on combining function modelling with optimisation algorithms. It evaluates product design concepts with respect to product adaptability, component interface costs, manufacturing costs and cost of post-processing activities. The developed product modularisation methodology is derived from data collected through a series of workshops with industrial practitioners from three different manufacturer companies of space products. The implementation of the methodology is demonstrated in a case study featuring the redesign of a satellite antenna.

Topological Characterization of an Evolving Product Structure Network: A Case Study of Generational Smartphone Products

2019 ◽  
Vol 141 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kijung Park ◽  
Gül E. Okudan Kremer
Keyword(s):  
Network Science ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Product Structure ◽  
Topological Characterization ◽  
Scale Free ◽  
Product Evolution ◽  
Free Network ◽  
Universal Properties

Products evolve over time to satisfy new customer needs, technologies, and markets. The evolution process of products necessarily involves changes in a product structure that might be characterized by inherent evolving properties. Although product evolution has been discussed from various perspectives, the underlying properties of an evolving product structure have not been sufficiently explored from an analytical view. Various empirical and theoretical studies in network science show that real networks representing different types of complex systems are not randomly structured but are characterized by certain properties regardless of their origins. Focusing on the topological universality of real networks, this study aims to reveal the inherent evolving properties of a product structure based on a network science approach through a case study of generational smartphone models. First, the product structure of each generational product is represented as a product structure network. Then, topological characteristics and patterns in each network are analyzed by network measures and motifs. The results show that the product structure networks may follow the universal properties observed in other real networks; the product structure grows as a scale-free network with common building blocks. The findings from this study suggest that the identified properties can be used as a basis to understand and formulate product evolution to obtain design benefits from topological robustness and modularity.

A Modular Product Design Method to Improve Product Social Sustainability Performance

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junfeng Ma ◽  
Gül E. Okudan Kremer
Keyword(s):  
Product Design ◽  
Clustering Algorithm ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Design Method ◽  
Social Sustainability ◽  
Social Responsibilities ◽  
Labor Time ◽  
Modular Product ◽  
Potential Synergy

Sustainability has been the emphasis of intense discussion over recent decades, but mostly focused on addressing critical aspects of environmental issues. An increasing awareness of social responsibilities and ever-shifting customer requirements have led manufacturers to consider social sustainability during the design phase in tandem with addressing environmental concerns; thus, design for social sustainability has evolved as a new product design direction. Modular product design (MPD), has been widely used in both academia and industry because of its significant benefits in design engineering. Because of the potential synergy, investigating design for social sustainability in association with MPD holds promise as a field of investigation. In this paper, we introduce a novel MPD approach that uses the elements of key component specification and product impact on social sustainability. The key components carry core technologies or have the highest sustainability effects in a product (i.e., the most costly or environmentally polluting parts). Product competitiveness strongly relies on a few key components that should be a focal point during product development. However, to the best of our knowledge, key components have not been well addressed in modular product design. In this paper, we employ labor time as an indicator to measure social sustainability. A heuristic-based clustering algorithm with labor time optimization is developed to categorize components into modules. A coffee-maker case study is conducted to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed methodology.

Modular Product Configuration: An Automatic Tool for Eliciting Design Knowledge From Parametric CAD Models

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Raffaeli ◽  
Paolo Cicconi ◽  
Maura Mengoni ◽  
Michele Germani
Keyword(s):  
Product Configuration ◽  
Industrial Practice ◽  
Modular Product ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Cad Models ◽  
Configuration System ◽  
Automatic Tool ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Short Time

The offer of tailored products is a key factor to satisfy specific customer needs in the current competitive market. Modular products can easily support customization in a short time. Design process, in this case, can be regarded as a configuration task where solution is achieved through the combination of modules in overall product architecture. In this scenario efficient configuration design tools are evermore important. Although many tools have been already proposed in literature, they need further investigation to be applicable in real industrial practice, because of the high efforts required to implement system and the lack of flexibility in products updating. This work describes an approach to overcome drawbacks and to introduce a product independent configuration system which can be useful in designing recurrent product modules. To manage configuration from the designer perspective, the approach is based on Configurable Virtual Prototypes (CVP). In particular, the definition of geometrical models is analyzed providing a tool for eliciting and reusing knowledge introduced by parametric template CAD models. Semantic rules are used to recognize parts parameterization and assembly mating constraints. The approach is exemplified through a case study.

ORGANISING FOR MODULARITY IN DYNAMIC MARKETS

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (02) ◽  
pp. 1250010 ◽  
Author(s):  
MAXIMILIAN HANS PASCHE ◽  
MAGNUS PERSSON
Keyword(s):  
Product Variety ◽  
Causal Link ◽  
Product Structure ◽  
Product Architecture ◽  
Strategic Flexibility ◽  
Organisational Structure ◽  
Dynamic Markets ◽  
Modular Product ◽  
Organisational Factors ◽  
Over Time

Facing constantly increasing product variety and changing customer demands, many companies have adopted a product modularisation strategy to increase strategic flexibility. Despite the dominant view that product modularisation directly increases strategic flexibility, it is argued here that the causal link between product modularisation and strategic flexibility is mediated by specific complementary organisational factors which enable firms with a modular product structure to develop strategic flexibility. Moreover, the interrelationship between product architecture and organisational structure is regarded as reciprocal. That is, product architecture and organisational structure are considered to co-evolve and mutually influence each other. The purpose of this paper is to elucidate how firms applying a modularisation strategy organise in order to increase the strategic flexibility, and how the organisational structure is interrelated with the product architecture, especially the ability to maintain a modular product architecture over time. Two International automotive companies, both of them implemented a modularisation strategy in the mid-1990s, have been studied. From the cases it can be concluded that the alignment of product and organisational architecture, decision-making structures, and the management of knowledge affect a firm's ability to evolve its products and maintain a modular product structure over time.

2108 A Modular Product Design Method Considering Defense from Leakage of Synthetic Functions : A Case Study on a Paper Handling Equipment

2009 ◽  
Vol 2009.19 (0) ◽  
pp. 259-261
Author(s):  
Akihiro Hirao ◽  
Tsuyoshi Koga ◽  
Takashi Niwa ◽  
Kazuya Oizumi ◽  
Kazuhiro Aoyama
Keyword(s):  
Product Design ◽  
Design Method ◽  
Modular Product

scholarly journals Charging for Scarce Rail Capacity in Britain: A Case Study

2008 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Johnson ◽  
Chris Nash
Keyword(s):  
Opportunity Cost ◽  
East Coast ◽  
Demand Forecasting ◽  
Main Line ◽  
Forecasting Model ◽  
Passenger Demand ◽  
Demand Forecasting Model ◽  
The Way

The aim of this paper is to examine the feasibility of identifying an appropriate rail scarcity charge which would make operators pay for their use of rail capacity in line with the opportunity cost of the use of these slots and to give some idea of the likely effects of such charges. The way in which we do this is to use a passenger demand forecasting model, PRAISE, to consider a situation on the East Coast Main Line which is characterized by scarce capacity and a degree of competition.

scholarly journals A Fuzzy Method for Propagating Functional Architecture Constraints to Physical Architecture

2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Bonjour ◽  
Samuel Deniaud ◽  
Maryvonne Dulmet ◽  
Ghassen Harmel
Keyword(s):  
New Product Development ◽  
Domain Architecture ◽  
New Product ◽  
Product Architecture ◽  
Industrial Case Study ◽  
Modular Product ◽  
Early Design Stages ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Engineering Projects

Modular product design has received great attention for about 10 years, but few works have proposed tools to either jointly design the functional and physical architectures or propagate the impact of evolutions from one domain to another. In this paper, we present a new method supporting the product architecture design. In new product development situations or in re-engineering projects, system architects could use this method in the early design stages to predetermine cohesive modules and integrative elements and to simulate a domain architecture by propagating architecture choices from another domain. To illustrate our approach, we present an industrial case study concerning the design of a new automobile powertrain.

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