Modular Design: Product Design Opportunities and a Case Analysis

Abstract

In recent decades, modular design has been fully developed due to its important role in the current industrial evolution. The numerous advantages offered by its application to product design has made companies from different sectors opt for its use to solve particular needs. Many authors have studied modular design from a theoretical viewpoint, but it is necessary to learn about its application by studying real cases that allow us to understand what the object of its application is, the different methods used to obtain modular products and the results obtained in each case. Accordingly, we can know modular design's most characteristic features and benefits, the business of its application, what its evolution has been, and what path it is currently on as part of the current industrial evolution. To do this, a case study research is carried out, which is divided into two parts. The first consists of a bibliographic review that focused on the main authors who studied modular design and documented real cases of its application, especially at the beginning of modular design in industry. The second focused on investigating the current cases that have not been previously documented, which shows how modular design is currently applied and how it evolves.

Analysis of Modular Design Applicable in Prosumer Scope. Guideline in the Creation of a New Modular Design Model

“…To define the applicability of modular design in the prosumer scope, a series of real cases and design methods were exposed. To search for cases, we started from two previous academic works developed in this line of research that collected cases of modular design [22] and prosumer users [3] separately, identifying those that had both in common. Since the resulting number of cases was not representative, the search was extended using keywords such as "customization" or "modular" in technology, industrial design and crowdfunding platforms, such as Kickstarter, Yanko Design, Xataka and Google.…”

An Iterative Conceptual Design Process for Modular Product Based on Sustainable Analysis and Creative Template Method

“…The dynamic market requires enterprises to continuously compress product development time and further expand the product diversity. Manufactures must pay more attention to the diversity and quickly launch new products that meet the individual requirements of users in order to increase market share and user satisfaction [5,6]. Therefore, the previous production mode of enterprises has been unable to adapt to the fierce market competition.…”

Adoption of Modular Design by Makers and Prosumers. A Survey

“…This work presents a survey that is part of a doctoral thesis whose objective is to develop a methodological model to design modular products focused on prosumer users, those who assume the role of producer and consumer getting involved in the design, manufacturing or assembly process of their own products (Toffler, 1980). Previous work carried out under this line of research shows that modular design has a series of intrinsic characteristics that provide benefits to products related to the needs of prosumers and makers, such as adaptability or customization (Asión-Suñer and López-Forniés, 2019). Nevertheless, no modular design method developed to date focuses on these users, so there are no previous studies that analyse the current and potential relationship of makers and prosumers with modular design.…”