Development of a model describing the characteristics and effects of modular product structures for the evaluation of methodical approaches

• Applicant: Professor Dr.-Ing. Dieter Krause
• Subject Area: Engineering Design, Machine Elements, Product Development
• Term: from 2015 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 276691857

The goal of modular product structuring is to reduce the internal product and process variety by same quality and manageable risk, in order to save costs and time while maintaining the external variety on the market.A variety of methods is present in the state of research, which strengthen specific aspects of modularity, e.g. cross-product generational commonality, or modularity in general. At the same time, various effects of modularization have been investigated and described. However, the study and presentation of the interplay between modular product structures and their effects on the product development process have not yet been present in research. Such a generic impact model has been successfully developed in the last two years during the first phase of the DFG project. It divides modularity of a product structure into its properties and characteristics and combines them with its effects in the product life phases. The continuation is subject of the present research project. In order to achieve targeted effects in the product life phases by applying existing methods of modularization, the knowledge must be available as to which methods can trigger which effects. A classification does not exist to provide a specific mapping of methods to its achievements in the product development process.The aim of this research project is therefore to systematically analyse existing methods of modularization to link them with the impact model investigated in the first phase. This can lead to a comprehensive, generic model that provides new views which methods of modularization are influencing the product life phases, and which economic targets can be specifically improved. From this, comprehensive insights can be derived about the application of modularization methods, new methods can be specifically developed and evaluated using this generic model. Gaps can be furthermore identified where impacts are not yet influenced by specific methods. This results in a further need for research.In order to achieve these goals, the existing model of the first part of the project is validated in a broad-based study and then finalized. The study has already been developed in the first project. Based on this, the existing modularization methods are researched in the main part of the research project and analysed on their method steps for the modular design of product families. Subsequently, the existing methods are assigned to the properties and characteristics of modular product structures by means of their method steps, and the relationships between the use of the method, the modular product structure and the economic targets on the basis of the developed model are established. The further developed model of the project is to be discussed within an international workshop of the research community in the field of modular product structures and validated by external perspectives.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants