Optimum Overall Product Modularity

Modularity in product architecture is beneficial to both product development and manufacturing. Several methods exist for clustering product components into modules all of which, with few exceptions, do not consider the hierarchical structure of the product. Products architecture consists of a number of hierarchical levels, which add a useful dimension to modularity analysis. Designing products architecture that maximizes modularity over all levels of the product structure (i.e. overall modularity) is the main objective of this work. Interactions between various product components are represented using a Design Structure Matrix (DSM). The product architecture is represented by product structure tree in the form of a binary rooted tree. A novel Mathematical Programming Model is developed to construct the corresponding product structure tree for a given product which ensures optimal modularity at all hierarchical levels, without prior knowledge of their number. The proposed optimal modular product architecture design method is demonstrated using a real product case study. Optimal overall modularity leads to better management of product changes and variety and more cost-effective product development and manufacturing.