Modularization

The automotive industry faces substantial challenges: a difficult market environment, increasingly complex technologies and shorter product life cycles characterize the industry. Modularization has been considered a promising remedy to help solving some of these demanding problems. Rewards of the application of modular systems are expected from various different sides. So far, however, its implications for production have rarely been discussed. This paper presents three production concepts for modular pro-ducts and their respective advantages and disadvantages. The integration of the production perspective allows more prudent strategic decisions regarding modularization.

The dynamism in industrial markets and the increasing competition due to globalization and technological equivalence forces companies of the capital goods sector to rethink their business models. In this context customer solutions are considered as trendsetting. However, the individual solution of a customer’s problem poses a major challenge in terms of transforming from a product-centric mindset to a supplier of customized solution. This article analyzes to what extend the concept of mass customization can give incentives in order to successfully create and provide customer solutions.

Today, most modern mechanical engineering products are strongly driven by information technology. Therefore, the degree of complexity increases, which can reduced by a consistent modularization of the product. This contribution describes which challenges arise especially for the modularization of mechatronic systems, how the product structuring can be conducted and how the product development process is affected.

Complexity of industrial enterprises increases. Responsible for this trend are external drivers like the individualisation of products, the fierce global competition and the speed of technological developments which lead to reduced product life and innovation cycles. Companies react to external complexity by building internal complexity, logistics as a cross functional unit is especially affected. For example, a great number of different customers demand a heterogenic product program which results in operating an increasing quantity of variants. Because of the growing internal complexity a lot of promising logistical solutions are not realised. This article shows an approach how to create an organisational framework - based on the formal principle “Modularisation” - which allows logistics to regain adaptability and mutability by reducing internal complexity.

At the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL) of the RWTH Aachen University, a consumer oriented conflict free and continuous configuration of the product architecture in terms of modular product program development has been developed. The Method is the result of a long year research activity in the field of complexity management and has already been repeatedly successfully applied in industry. Companies can reduce their inner complexity while simultaneously optimizing the fit with customer demands by applying the mentioned method. The described approach is demonstrated both methodically as well as with practical examples.

Today in mechanical engineering it is hardly possible to elude the demands for a variant-rich product spectrum. The resulting complexity can be reduced and controlled only by effective and efficient variant management. This article presents the product structuring as one of the central tasks of variant management in product development. The structuring determines the characteristics of the product just as the development process and has substantial influence on every process in the enterprise.

petition demand new strategies in the management of an increasing complexity. Modularization of complex systems is such a strategy, practical for products and processes. However, the planning of modular structures takes place at an early stage of product development and is associated with many risks. Because of this, changes in products and processes are inevitable. Therefore, the design of an alterable module structure and effective management of module changes is the focus of the following article.

Due to the increasing complexity of automation solutions for production and manufacturing industries, engineering costs have become a major cost factor of automation systems. The paper describes how engineering efforts can be systematically reduced.

The globalization of markets and the increasing connectivity of IT enhance the dynamic and complexity of worldwide competition. Logistics becomes and essential competitive differentiator. But small and medium sized enterprises (SME) have difficulties to implement innovative solutions. This article shows how service provider can increase the competitiveness by taking over logistics modules from SME.

The increasing complexity in products, structures and processes causes a creeping reduction of the efficiency of intra- and inter-organisational business pro-cesses. Since not all parts of complexity can be influenced by the managerial work, the controlling of the other parts by efficient processes is an important aspect. Business process modularisation allows identifying process parts with clearly defined interfaces, which mainly reduce the complexity of these pro-cesses.