Knowledge-Based Decision Support for Concept Evaluation Using the Extended Impact Model of Modular Product Families

The design of modular product families enables a high external variety of products by a low internal variety of components and processes. This variety optimization leads to large economic savings along the entire value chain. However, when designing and selecting suitable modular product architecture concepts, often only direct costs are considered, and indirect costs as well as cross-cost center benefits are neglected. A lack of knowledge about the full savings potential often results in the selection of inferior solutions. Since available approaches do not adequately address this problem, this paper provides a new methodological support tool that ensures consideration of the full savings potentials in the evaluation of modular product architecture concepts. For this purpose, the visual knowledge base of the Impact Model of Modular Product Families (IMF) is used, extended and implemented in a model-based environment using SysML. The newly developed Sys-IMF is then applied to the product family example of electric medium-voltage motors. The support tool is dynamic, expandable and filterable and embedded in a methodical procedure for knowledge-based decision support. Sys-IMF supports decision makers in the early phase of interdisciplinary product development and enables the selection of the most suitable modular solution for the company.

The Effect of Product Modularity on Supplier Integration

This chapter seeks to identify the set of conditions under which the mirroring hypothesis holds, proposing that modular product architecture leads to organizational modularity (i.e., supplier disintegration). The contradictory results on the mirroring hypothesis in the extant literature call for a more holistic analysis of the issue. To this end, this chapter develops a multi-objective mathematical model, allowing for the simultaneous examination of potentially influential factors, including those claimed to be neglected by the mirroring hypothesis. The findings reveal that modular product architecture does not necessarily lead to supplier disintegration, but that its effect is contingent on a firm's priorities.

Music Recommender System Using ChatBot

In this era of technological advances, text-based music recommendations are much needed as they will help humans relieve stress with soothing music according to their moods. In this project, we have implemented a chatbot that recommends music based on the user's text tone. By analyzing the tone of the text expressed by the user, we can identify the mood. Once the mood is identified, the application will play songs in the form of a web page based on the user's choice as well as his current mood. In our proposed system, themain goal is to reliably determine a user's mood based on their text tone with an application that can be installed on the user's desktop. In today's world, human computer interaction (HCI) plays a crucial role, and the most popular concept in HCI is recognition of emotion from text. As part of this process, the frontal view of the user's text is used to determine the mood. The extraction of text tone from the user's text is anotherimportant aspect. We have used IBM Analyser to check the text tone of the user and to predict the mood based on the text of the user, and Last.FM API to recommend songs based on themood of the user. Keywords: Introduction, Product-Architecture, Tone Analyzer, Music Classification Based on Mood, Acoustic Analysis, Experiment, Future/Current Use, Importance, Background, Literature Survey, Methodology, Equations, Planning, Tools and Technology, Conclusion.

Formulating a Multi-Layered Framework for Automobile Architecture

Product architecture is defined as allocation of components to functions and their interfaces. But what makes this formulation insufficient for automobile architecture is their multi-layered allocation of components and the visual aspect of the architecture. This paper suggests, through an empirical study of two- wheeler models being manufactured by a prominent manufacturer, a multi-tiered framework along with a visual template for two- wheeler architecture which includes their visual schema as well. This paper investigates and demonstrates that this framework and template satisfy the requirements of product architecture by using examples from the domain of motorcycle design. Further, this paper investigates the utility of this framework for platforming strategy, innovation, adoption of new technology and standardization.

The Effect of Role-Based Product Representations on Individual and Team Coordination Practices: A Field Study of a Globally Distributed New Product Development Team

The investigation of the appealing indication that a modular product architecture is best associated to a loosely coupled organizational structure—that is, the mirroring hypothesis—has produced contradictory evidence, especially in the dynamic and ambiguous context of new product development. By integrating modularity theory and product-representation theories, we investigate how individual agency affects coordination in teams developing modular products. We conducted a field study of Flower-Net, a globally distributed team in a major IT company, engaged with the development of a modular software using agile practices. Our grounded model shows that, whereas top managers defined the product as modular and coordinated work accordingly, individuals developed different representations of the product’s architecture and conflicting individual coordination practices. We traced the individual development of product architecture representations back to the individual interpretations of organizational roles as more or less “segmented.” Conflicting individual practices, associated to different role-based product representations, were not addressed by the team—that developed a state of illusory concordance—and impaired the functioning of the team. This study contributes to the literature on modularity and the mirroring hypothesis by proposing individual role-based representations as an underexplored level of analysis for the matching between product and organizational modularity (Mirroring Hypothesis II). It also contributes to the debate on how representations affect team coordination, by detailing how role-based product representations can influence team members’ divergence and sustain illusory concordance.

Simulation of the business processes of the developing enterprise to create complex products with multi-level component architecture

The problem of research of business processes related to the organization and management of projects to create the new complex technical products in aerospace, shipbuilding, and other fields of mechanical engineering is stated and solved. The relevance of the study is related to the planning of a set of business processes, taking into account the architectural representation of the complex product being created. The study aims to develop a new method of synthesis of the multilevel complex of business processes to manage the creation of new technology, taking into account the multi-component representation of the complex product architecture. Much attention is paid to the complex product architecture, which is presented as a set of interconnected components. The following component types are outlined: components that can be reused; components that can be adapted to the requirements of the new product; innovative components. The types of components are studied in terms of the building of the set of business processes on their creation, taking into account the main indicators (costs, execution time, risks). Using the positive experience of past developments in the form of ready-to-use business processes helps to minimize the risks, and the new business solutions in their turn ensure the competitiveness of the complex product. The information base of positive past business processes in the form of precedents base is being built. The precedents base is used to find the close analogs of ready-to-use business processes. The set of business processes related to the management of complex product creation is formed. It has a multilevel representation that fully corresponds to the tree-like component architecture of the complex product. The method to synthesize the complexity of business processes that are planned to perform the tasks on the management of projects on creation of complex products for the developing enterprise is constructed. It is based on the “from top to bottom” system design principle. The optimization model to find the minimum costs, time, and risks in the process of business processes creation that takes into account the multilevel structure of the business process is built. The simulation event-based model in the form of a related agent set is used to study the successful execution of planned business processes related to the creation of the complex product. The results of this study should be used in the practice of creating innovative technical products that have a complex multi-level component architecture for the organization and planning of business processes related to development management. Mathematical methods used: systems analysis, precedent theory, lexicographic ordering, component design, integer optimization, simulation modeling.

Designing Robust Systems Using Bioinspired Product Architecture

This work analyzes the role of bioinspired product architecture in facilitating the development of robust engineering systems. Existing studies on bioinspired product architecture largely focus on inspiring biology-like function-sharing in engineering design. This work shows that the guidelines for bioinspired product architecture, originally developed for bioinspiration of function-sharing, may induce robustness to random failures in engineered systems. To quantify such an improvement, this study utilizes Functional Modeling to derive modular equivalents of biological systems. The application of the bioinspired product architecture guidelines is then modeled as a transition from the modular product architecture of the modular equivalents to the actual product architecture of the biological systems. The robustness of the systems to random failures is analyzed after the application of each guideline by modeling the systems as directed networks. A singular robustness metric is then introduced to quantify the degradation in the expected functionality of systems upon increasing severity of random disruptions. Our results show that a system with bioinspired product architecture exhibits a gradual degradation in expected functionality upon increasing the number of failed modules as compared to an equivalent system with a one-to-one mapping of functions to modules. The findings are validated by designing and analyzing a COVID-19 breathalyzer as a case study.