A sustainable modular product design approach with key components and uncertain end-of-life strategy consideration

Abstract

Today, sustainability emphasis is imperative for modern design and manufacturing enterprises; therefore, sustainability assessment has attracted increasing attention. In this study, we use cost, environmental impact, and labor time as indicators to measure a comprehensive set of sustainability dimensions: economic, environmental, and social sustainability. Similarly, modular product design (MPD), due to its benefits to design and manufacturing, has been widely accepted as a useful strategy. The need for customizing MPD for various sustainability purposes across a product's life cycle motivates this study. Our research goal is to develop a MPD approach to improve the product life cycle performance for dimensions of sustainability. We also concentrate on two current product design focused research gaps: (1) how to best handle key components and (2) taking into account life cycle uncertainty at the component or product end-of-life (EOL) stage. Key components represent core techniques and can have the highest sustainability impact. We specify key components and then develop three sustainable clustering algorithms to generate component modules based on the identified key components. For EOL uncertainty, we adopt fuzzy logic to assess 14 EOL characteristics and use modified transfer equations to convert fuzzy evaluations to designer's perception toward sustainability. Left-right defuzzification method is employed to estimate the probability of each EOL strategy and calculate the expected EOL sustainability values for each component. The Module Structure Sustainability Index (MSSI) advances toward optimizing sustainability in order to determine the best component modules. A coffee maker case study is used to illustrate the proposed methodology.

Design structure matrix‐based modularization approach for complex systems with multiple design constraints

“…Chung et al showed that optimized modular architecture can reduce the overall life cycle cost and other environmental impacts in supply chains, including the carbon footprint . Ma and Kremer introduced modular system design methods to improve the sustainability of the system throughout its total life cycle. Works by Asadi et al and Suh et al focused on modular system design to improve various aspects of the system flexibility.…”

“…Heat (H) 6,8,9,10,16,17,18,23,30,31,32 Specified components are heat-generating components and need to be assigned to separate modules if possible Maintenance (M) 1 day 1,19,33 Specified components require thorough inspection every 3, 5, or 6 years. Components that require daily maintenance are inspected every day.…”

Adaptable healthcare facilities through modular solutions

“…MPD principles may have potential to be implemented for example in rooms, units or technical systems while designing hospital retrofits. (Ulrich 1993;Ma and Kremer 2016). Ulrich (1993) described modularity as a form of product architecture, which comprises physical components that enable the function of the product.…”

“…De Blok et al (2014) studied the definition of interfaces, which has been found vague in service modularity by other researchers as well (Eissens- Van der Laan et al 2016;Ma and Kremer 2016). Interfaces play a key role in the value provided by modular products or services, as they prescribe how different components of the system mutually interact.…”

“…Innovative methods for simplifying complex processes can be approached through modular theories (Ulrich, 1993); modular product design (MPD) and service modularity theory. In modularity, the product or service consists of subassemblies (components) assembled from simple and small parts creating complete systems (Ma and Kremer, 2016). The compatibility between components, referred to as interfaces, is an essential part of modularity, both in products and services.…”