On Modular Products Development

Quite a few investigations have been carried out on modularity in product development. However, the presence of various perspectives, representations, and different problems hamper a holistic comprehension of modular products development (MPD) or modularity. This article is developed to give a deeper understanding of MPD. An evolutionary history of modularity, consisting of five stages, is introduced. The relationships among the benefits of modularity, such as cost-reduction, diversity, and innovation ability are then discussed in detail along with their relationships to related research issues. The implementation aspect of MPD is explained in three tiers: central, mediate, and peripheral. It shows that former theories and methods can hardly meet the needs of MPD application in real practice, and that metrics and measurement cannot take into account the degree of modularity, and cost-reduction becomes unclear and more complex. Based on this, a new powerful approach with 15 convenient steps for MPD is presented and compared with former reported research results. Also, recommendations for future research have been suggested.