IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/syseng/v6y2003i3p195-209.html

Analysis and improvement of product modularization methods: Their ability to deal with complex products

Author

Listed:
  • Tobias K.P. Holmqvist
  • Magnus L. Persson

Abstract

In recent years, product modularization has attracted increasing interest among both practitioners and academics. To facilitate the decision‐making and management of modularization in the manufacturing industry, tools and methods are needed. The purpose of this paper is to identify existing modularization methods and analyze them regarding their ability to deal with different degrees of product complexity, where complexity has several aspects: many variants, mix of different technologies, and having different solutions for one and the same function. A literature survey results in six different methods for modularization. The results of the analysis show that the modularization methods are useful for products with simple product architecture; i.e., one function is allocated to one physical module. However, concerning higher degrees of product complexity, several functions allocated to several physical modules, or large physical variation of the variants, the methods seem insufficient. Therefore, to make the methods suitable for complex products, areas for further development are suggested and discussed. ©2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Syst Eng 6: 195–209, 2003

Suggested Citation

  • Tobias K.P. Holmqvist & Magnus L. Persson, 2003. "Analysis and improvement of product modularization methods: Their ability to deal with complex products," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 6(3), pages 195-209.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:syseng:v:6:y:2003:i:3:p:195-209
    DOI: 10.1002/sys.10046
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/sys.10046
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/sys.10046?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pimmler, Thomas U. (Thomas Udo) & Eppinger, Steven D., 1994. "Integration analysis of product decompositions," Working papers 3690-94., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    2. Kusunoki, Takeru, 1992. "The Dilemma of Technological Leadership : A Conceptual Framework," Hitotsubashi Journal of commerce and management, Hitotsubashi University, vol. 27(1), pages 63-79, November.
    3. V. Krishnan & Karl T. Ulrich, 2001. "Product Development Decisions: A Review of the Literature," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 47(1), pages 1-21, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yupeng Li & Zhaotong Wang & Xiaoyu Zhong & Fan Zou, 2019. "Identification of influential function modules within complex products and systems based on weighted and directed complex networks," Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, Springer, vol. 30(6), pages 2375-2390, August.
    2. Jie Hou & Meili Zhang & Kaodui Li & Zeyu Xing, 2025. "How to choose an organization pattern in the innovation of the complex product systems: findings from fsQCA," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-10, December.
    3. Shenghua Zheng & Haijie Chen, 2025. "Informatization, Digitalization, and Intellectualization: Which Integration Mode Will Determine the Development of Strategic Emerging Industries?," SAGE Open, , vol. 15(2), pages 21582440251, June.
    4. Ali A. Yassine & Luke A. Wissmann, 2007. "The Implications of Product Architecture on the Firm," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 10(2), pages 118-137, June.
    5. Federico Rossi & Sabrina Arfelli & S. Jack Hu & Tullio Antonio Maria Tolio & Theodor Freiheit, 2019. "A systematic methodology for the modularization of manufacturing systems during early design," Flexible Services and Manufacturing Journal, Springer, vol. 31(4), pages 945-988, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Manuel E. Sosa & Steven D. Eppinger & Craig M. Rowles, 2004. "The Misalignment of Product Architecture and Organizational Structure in Complex Product Development," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(12), pages 1674-1689, December.
    2. Hazhir Rahmandad & Nelson Repenning, 2016. "Capability erosion dynamics," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(4), pages 649-672, April.
    3. Bookhagen, Andrea & Sperber, Sonja, 2017. "Kundenintegration in den Entwicklungsprozess von Produktinnovationen durch Crowdsourcing," PraxisWissen - German Journal of Marketing, AfM – Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Marketing, vol. 2(01/2017), pages 21-37.
    4. Wallace J. Hopp & Xiaowei Xu, 2005. "Product Line Selection and Pricing with Modularity in Design," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 7(3), pages 172-187, August.
    5. Barry L. Bayus, 2013. "Crowdsourcing New Product Ideas over Time: An Analysis of the Dell IdeaStorm Community," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(1), pages 226-244, June.
    6. Galbreath, Jeremy, 2017. "Drivers Of Environmental Sustainability In Wine Firms: The Role And Effect Of Women In Leadership," Working Papers 253851, American Association of Wine Economists.
    7. Alan MacCormack & John Rusnak & Carliss Y. Baldwin, 2006. "Exploring the Structure of Complex Software Designs: An Empirical Study of Open Source and Proprietary Code," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(7), pages 1015-1030, July.
    8. Nguyen Trong Luan & Doan Nguyen Duy Hau & Nguyen Thi Anh Thu, 2022. "The Influence of Green Product Development Performance to Enhance Enterprise Effectiveness and Innovation," Economies, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-21, May.
    9. Schriber, Svante & Löwstedt, Jan, 2015. "Tangible resources and the development of organizational capabilities," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 54-68.
    10. Caniato, Federico & Caridi, Maria & Moretto, Antonella & Sianesi, Andrea & Spina, Gianluca, 2014. "Integrating international fashion retail into new product development," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(PB), pages 294-306.
    11. Zeki Ayağ, 2016. "An integrated approach to concept evaluation in a new product development," Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, Springer, vol. 27(5), pages 991-1005, October.
    12. Marzieh Aghileh & Anabela Tereso & Filipe Alvelos & Maria Odete Monteiro Lopes, 2025. "Compressing and Decompressing Activities in Multi-Project Scheduling Under Uncertainty and Resource Flexibility," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-32, September.
    13. Tian Heong Chan & Yonghoon G. Lee & HeeJung Jung, 2021. "Anchored Differentiation: The Role of Temporal Distance in the Comparison and Evaluation of New Product Designs," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(6), pages 1523-1541, November.
    14. Lévesque, Moren & Joglekar, Nitin & Davies, Jane, 2012. "A comparison of revenue growth at recent-IPO and established firms: The influence of SG&A, R&D and COGS," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 47-61.
    15. Omkar Palsule-Desai & Vikrant Vaze & Gang Li & Srinagesh Gavirneni, 2021. "Service Delivery Strategies for Alleviating Pandemic Suffering While Maintaining Profitability," Service Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(4), pages 205-226, December.
    16. Berchicci, L. & Tucci, C.L., 2008. "Market Feedback and Team Commitment in Radical Product Innovation Process," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2008-069-ORG, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    17. Henning Skirde & Wolfgang Kersten & Meike Schröder, 2016. "Measuring the Cost Effects of Modular Product Architectures — A Conceptual Approach," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 13(04), pages 1-23, August.
    18. Eric Stevens & Ronald Boucher, 2020. "Designing Co-Creation Platforms: The Case of Configurators Toolkits," Post-Print hal-02872485, HAL.
    19. L. G. Pee, 2016. "Customer co-creation in B2C e-commerce: does it lead to better new products?," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 217-243, June.
    20. Tseng, Fang-Mei & Chiang, Lan-Lung (Luke), 2016. "Why does customer co-creation improve new travel product performance?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(6), pages 2309-2317.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:syseng:v:6:y:2003:i:3:p:195-209. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)1520-6858 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.