Modularization of parts — a fairly recent trend in product development — facilitates part definitions in a standardized, machine-readable form, so that we can define a part based on its input(s), output(s), features, and geometric information. Standardizing part definitions will enable manufacturing companies to more easily identify part suppliers in global, virtual environments. This standard representation of parts also facilitates modular product design during parametric design. We will show that this problem of modular product design can be formulated as an AI Planning problem, and we propose a solution framework to support modular product design. Using part specification information for personal computers, we demonstrate the proposed framework and discuss its implications for global manufacturing.
