Materi 10:

Product Architecture

Muslimin, Dr. Eng.

muslimin@mesin.pnj.ac.id
Magister Terapan Rekayasa Teknologi Manufaktur
Jurusan Teknik Mesin – Politeknik Negeri Jakarta
2020
 Product Development Process
Concept System-Level Detail Testing and Production
Planning Development Design Design Refinement Ramp-Up

Platform Concept Decomposition

decision decision decision

Product architecture is determined early in the development process.

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 Outline
 Definition
 Modularity
 Steps for creating the architecture
 Related system level design issues

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Product Architecture: Definition

The arrangement of functional elements into physical

chunks which become the building blocks for the
product or family of products.
module
module

module
module

Product
module
module

module
module

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 Definition
– Product Architecture
Other terms for “Chunks”
 A “Chunk” is made up of a collection of components
that carry out various function / sub-functions of the
product
 Other terms for “chunks” or elements that make up a
chunk
 Sub-system
 Cluster
 Module
 Building blocks
 “Interfaces” connect these chunks together
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 Definition
– Product Architecture
 A scheme by which the functional elements
of the product are arranged (or assigned)
into physical building blocks (chunks) and
by which the blocks interact.

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 Product Development Process

 Product architecture is determined early in the

development process. This is not a linear, sequential
process.

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 Architecture Decisions

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Choosing the Product Architecture

Architecture decisions relate to product

planning and concept development decisions:
 Product Change (copier toner, camera lenses)
 Product Variety (computers, automobiles)
 Standardization (motors, bearings, fasteners)
 Performance (racing bikes, fighter planes)
 Manufacturing Cost (disk drives, razors)
 Project Management (team capacity, skills)
 System Engineering (decomposition, integration)

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 How Does Architecture Happen?
 Ulrich and Eppinger – “Chunks”
approach
 MIT – Design Structure Matrix
 Buede – decomposition,
 Physical mirrors functional structures.
 R. B. Stone - Dominant Flow
Heuristics.

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 Architectures: Challenge X
function Chunk

 Functions  physical
elements
 Arrangement physical
elements
 Several alternatives
 Modular vs. Integral
 Can be combination

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 Modular or Integral Architecture?
Apple
MacBook

Rollerblade
SAMSUNG In-Line Skates
Galaxy Z Fold4

Samsung Z Flip 4:
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Ford Explorer 12
Modular Product Architectures
 Chunks implement one or a few functions entirely.
 Interactions between chunks are well defined.
 Modular architecture has advantages in simplicity
and reusability for a product family or platform.

Swiss Army Knife Packaging Machine

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 Trailer Example:
Modular Architecture
protect cargo
box
from weather

connect to
hitch
vehicle

minimize
fairing
air drag

support
bed
cargo loads

suspend
springs
trailer structure

transfer loads
wheels
to road

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 Trailer Example:
Integral Architecture
protect cargo
upper half
from weather

connect to
lower half
vehicle

minimize
nose piece
air drag

cargo hanging support

straps cargo loads

spring slot suspend

covers trailer structure

transfer loads
wheels
to road

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Modular vs. Integral

 Modular  Integral

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 Example of Modularity

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Integral Product Architectures
 Functional elements are implemented by multiple chunks, or a
chunk may implement many functions.
 Interactions between chunks are poorly defined.
 Integral architecture generally increases performance and
reduces costs for any specific product model.

Compact Camera
TV
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 Ford Taurus
Integrated Control Panel

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 Discussion Question
 Is one type of product architecture (modular
vs. integral) better than the others?
 Performance
 Platforms
 Serviceability
 Interfaces
 Cost to manufacture
 Cost to develop

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 Steps to Establish the product Architecture
Design Process – Ulrich and Eppinger

1. Create a functional model or a schematic

of the product.
2. Cluster the elements on the schematic
3. Create a rough geometric layout to achieve
the types of product variety
4. Identify interaction
 Fundamental
 Incidental.

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 Step 1: Functional or Schematic Diagram
 Create a schematic diagram
representing the (physical or functional)
elements of the product, using blocks,
arrows, and other notations.
 Flow of forces or energy
 Flow of material
 Flow of signal or data

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 Step 1: Functional or Schematic Diagram
(cont …)

 Physical and/or
Functional
 Connect elements
which have
fundamental
interactions
 Show “motions” &
“Flow”

Example: Rapid Prototyping

Machine using laser sintering

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 Step 2: Cluster elements of the schematic
 Factors for considering clustering
 Geometric integration and precision
 Function sharing
 Capability of vendors
 Similarity of design or production technology
 Localization of design (or part) change
 Accommodating variety
 Enabling standardization
 Portability of the interfaces

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 Step 2: Cluster elements of the schematic
(cont ..)

 Reason to Cluster
 Close geometric
relationship
 Function sharing
 Modular
 Desire to outsource

Example: Rapid Prototyping

Machine using laser sintering

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 Step 3: Creating a rough geometric layout

 A geometric system layout in

 2D or 3D drawings,
 2D or 3D graphics, or
 Physical models.

Example: Rapid Prototyping

Machine using laser sintering

Note: if you can’t make geometrical layout then go back and redefine
chunks and identify interaction
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Step 4: Identify interactions

 Forces consideration of geometric interfaces to

accommodate flows
 Illustrates possible problems caused by interactions
 Fundamental interactions
 Those which connect the building blocks, such as energy
flows, material flows, and data flows.
 Lines on schematic that connect chunks
 Usually a well understood property
 Incidental interactions
 Those that arise because of geometric arrangements of the
building blocks, such as thermal expansion or heat dissipation.
 Usually not shown on schematic.

 Higher order effects/interferences.

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Step 4: Identify interactions (cont ..)

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11/12/2022 29
 Product Architecture Example:
Hewlett-Packard DeskJet Printer

Part of a portfolio architecture and is composed of parts within a

product architecture
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 DeskJet Printer Schematic
Enclose
Printer Print
Cartridge
Provide
Structural Position Accept
Display
Support Cartridge User
Inputs Status
In X-Axis
Position
Store
Paper
Output Control
In Y-Axis
Printer
Store Supply
“Pick” DC
Blank
Paper Paper Power

Communicate
Command
with
Host Printer
Functional Flow of forces or energy
or Physical Flow of material
Elements Connect
Flow of signals or data to
Host

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 Cluster Elements into Chunks

Enclosure
Enclose
Printer Print
Cartridge
Provide User Interface Board
Structural Position Accept
Support Display
Cartridge User
Inputs Status
Chassis In X-Axis

Position
Store
Paper
Output In Y-Axis Control Power Cord
Printer and “Brick”
Store Supply
“Pick” DC
Blank
Paper Paper Power

Paper Tray Print

Mechanism Communicate
Command
with
Host Printer
Host Driver
Functional Connect Software
or Physical Chunks to
Elements Host
Logic Board
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Geometric Layout

logic
board user interface board

print
cartridge
paper tray
print
mechanism

chassis

enclosure

print cartridge
height
roller
paper
paper tray
chassis
logic board
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Incidental Interactions
Enclosure User Interface
Board

Styling

Thermal
Vibration Print Distortion Logic Host Driver
Paper Tray
Mechanism Board Software

RF
Thermal
RF Interference
Distortion
Shielding
Power Cord
Chassis
and “Brick”

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 Dominant Flow Heuristics
 Heuristic 1: “The set of sub-functions through
which a flow passes, from entry or initiation
of the flow in the system to exit from the
system or conversion of the flow within the
system, define a module.”

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 Generic Dominant Flow Illustration

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 Dominant Flow Example
 Fragment of the iced tea brewer FM

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 Branching Flow
 Heuristic 2: “Parallel function chains associated with
a flow that branches constitute modules. Each of the
modules interfaces with the remainder of the product
through the flow at branch.”

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 Generic Branching Flow Illustration

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 Branching Flow Example
 Fragment of the iced tea brewer FM

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 Conversion - Transmission Modules

 Heuristic 3: A conversion sub-function or a

conversion-transmission pair or proper chain of sub-
function constitutes a module

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 Conversion - Transmission Modules

 Fragment of the iced tea brewed FM

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 The Design Structure Matrix (DSM):
An Information Exchange Method

Interpretation:
 Task D requires information from
Task E, F, and L.
 Task B transfers information to
Task C, F, G, J, and K.

Note:
 Information flows are easier to
capture than work flows.
 Inputs are easier to capture than
outputs.

Donald V. Steward, Aug, IEEE Trans, on Eng. Mgmt, 1981

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 DSM (Partitioned, or Sequenced)

Clustering
Algorithms

Note:
Manipulated the matrix to emphasize features of the process flow. Sequential,
parallel and coupled tasks can be identified.

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 System Team Assignment
Based on Product Architecture
F G E D I A C B1 K1 J P N Q R B2 K2 O L M H S T U V
Crankshaft F F l l l l l l l l l l l l
Flywheel G l G l l
Team 1 l l
Connecting Rods E l E l l l l l l
Pistons D l l l D l l l l l l l l
l
Lub rication I l l l l I l l l l
Team 2 l l l l l
Engine Block A l l l
l l A l l l
l l l
l l l l
Camshaft/Valve Train C l l l l C l l l l l l
Cylinder Heads B1 l l l
l l B1 l l l l l
l
Intake Manifold K1 l l l
l K1 l Team 3 l l l l
Water Pump/Cooling J l l l l l l J l l l
l l l
l l l

Fuel System P l
P l l l l l l l l l l

Air Cleaner N l
N l l
l l l
l
Throttle Body Q l l l Q l l l l l l l
l l

EVAP R l l R l Team 4 l l

Cylinder Heads B2 l l l B2 l l l l l l l
l
Intake Manifold K2 Inte gration l l l l l l K2 l l l l l l l
A.I.R. O Team l l l l l l O l l l l l l
Exhaust L l l l l l
l l l L l l l l l l
E.G.R. M l l l l l l l lM l l
l l l
Accessory Drive H l l
l l
l l l l l l l
l l l l l H l l l l
Ignition S l l l l
l l l l l
l l
l l l l S l
l l l
E.C.M. T l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l
l l
T l l

Electrical System U l l l l l l l l l l l l l
l l
l l l
l U l
Engine Assembly V l l l l l l l l l l l l l
l l l l l l l l l V

Frequency of PDT Interactions

l Daily l Weekly Monthly
l

11/12/2022 From “Innovation at the Speed of Information”, S. Eppinger, HBR, January 2001. 45
 Modularity
 Modularity is a product development strategy in
which interfaces shared among components in a
given product architecture become specified and
standardized to allow fro greater substitutability of
components across product families.

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 Types of Modular Designs
 Slot
 Bus
 Sectional

 All retain a 1-to-1 mapping of functional to physical

elements

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 Example of Modularity

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Platform Architecture of
Motor cycle

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 Platforms and Modularity

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 Some Modularity Benefits
 Production of a great variety of end products from a
limited number of building blocks.
 Platform strategy permitting many product variants
based on a stable architecture
 Facilities changes to current and feature products.
 Simplifies parallel testing
 Serviceability
 Allows for parallel development of design teams.
 Allows for outsourching.

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 Some Modularity Limitations
 Cannot discriminate look alike product
 Increases the risk of competitors copying designs
 Generally increases unit cost (more components),
volume (size) or weight of the product.
 More interfaces are less reliable (why??)
 Depends on the capabilities of designers.

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 Impact of Modularity Decisions on Later
Design Process

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 Product Architecture Example:
Hewlett-Packard Deskjet Printer

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 Planning a Modular Product Line:
Commonality Table
Number of Family Student SOHO
Types (small office, home office)
Chunks

Print cartridge 2 “Manet” Cartridge “Picasso” Cartridge “Picasso” Cartridge

Print Mechanism 2 "Aurora" Series Narrow "Aurora" series "Aurora" series

Paper tray 2 Front-in Front-out Front-in Front-out Tall Front-in Front-out

Logic board 2 “Next gen” board “Next gen” board “Next gen” board
with parallel port

Enclosure 3 Home style Youth style “Soft office” style

Driver software 5 Version A-PC Version B-PC Version C

Version A-Mac Version B-Mac

Differentiation versus Commonality

Trade off product variety and production complexity
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 Planning a Modular Product Line:
Differentiation Table

Differentiation versus Commonality

Trade off product variety and production complexity

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 Supply Chain
Issues of
Postponing
differentiation

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 Examples of Postponing
Differentiation
 Paint in Hardware Store
 Cake in Grocery Store
 Your experiences ……………..

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 Product Configuration
 Satisfy customer demand by creating a
product composed of a number of predefined
components.
 Select and arrange parts to fit product and
operational constrains
 Requirements:
 Modularization
 Custom assembly operation
 Up-front engineering and testing

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 Fundamental Decisions
 Integral vs. modular architecture?
 What type of modularity?
 What types of interfaces?
 How to assign functions to chunks?
 How to assign chunks to teams?
 Which chunks to outsource?

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Product Architecture: Conclusions
 Architecture choices define the sub-systems
and modules of the product platform or
family.
 Architecture determines:
 ease of production variety
 feasibility of customer modification
 system-level production costs
 Key Concepts:
 modular vs. integral architecture
 clustering into chunks
 planning product families
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 Practical Concerns
 Planning is essential to achieve the
desired variety and product change
capability.
 Coordination is difficult, particularly across
teams, companies, or great distances.
 Special attention must be paid to handle
complex interactions between chunks
(system engineering methods).

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 Considerations at product
architecturing
 How will it affect the ability to offer
product variety?
 How will it affect the product cost?
 How will it affect the design lead time?
 How will it affect the development
process management?

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 Modular vs. integrated
architecture
 Modular
 Chunks implement one or a few functional elements in their
entirety (each functional element is implemented by exactly
one physical chunks)
 The interactions between chunks are well defined and are
generally fundamental to the primary functions of the
products.
 Integrated
 Functional elements of the product are implemented using
more than one chunk
 A single chunk implements many functions.
 The interaction between chunks are ill defined and may be
incidental to the primary functions of the products.

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 Factors affecting architecture
modularity
 Product changes
 Product variety
 Component standardization
 Product performance
 Manufacturability
 Product development management

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 Factors affecting architecture
modularity (product changes)
For modular architecture
 Allows to minimize the physical changes required to achieve a
functional change
Reasons for product changes
 upgrades
 add-ons
 adaptation (adapt to different operation environments)
 wear (e.g., razors, tires, bearings)
 consumption (for example, toner cartridges, battery in cameras)
 flexibility in use (for users to reconfigure to exhibit different capabilities)
 re-use in creating subsequent products

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Factors affecting architecture
modularity (product variety)
 The range of products (models)
concurrently available in the market
 Modular can vary without adding
tremendous complexity to the
manufacturing system.

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 Factors affecting architecture
modularity
 Component standardization
 Use the same components in multiple products
 Increase production volumes

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 Factors affecting architecture
modularity
 Product performance (for integrated design)
 Allow optimizing the performance for an individual
integrated architecture.
 Allow function sharing
 Implementing multiple functions using a single physical
element.
 Allow for redundancy to be eliminated through function
sharing and geometric nesting
 Thus could lower the manufacturing cost

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 Factors affecting architecture
modularity
 Manufacturability
 DFM can be performed on the chunk-level but
not across several chunks.
 For example, minimize the total number of part
counters.
 Thus, it is more applicable to an integrated
design.

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 Factors affecting architecture
modularity
 Product development management
 Better for modular architecture
 Each modular chunk is assigned to an
individual or a small group
 Known and relatively limited functional
interactions with other chunks.
 Not as easy for integrated architecture
 Detailed designs will require close coordination
among different groups.

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Differentiation Postponement
(delayed differentiation)
 The timing of differentiation in the supply
chain
 Modular components vs. final assembly for each
model in the inventory.
 Two principles
1. Differentiating elements must be concentrated in
one or a few chunks
2. The product and production process must be
designed so that the differentiating chunks can
be added to the product near the end of the
supply chain.

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Platform planning
 Trade-off decision between
 Differentiation plan
 Difference in product attributes from
customer’s viewpoint
 Commonality plan
 The components which the product versions
commonly share. Therefore, their physicals are
the same across the products in the platform.

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Guidelines for managing platform
trade-off
 Platform planning decision should be
informed by quantitative estimates of cost
and revenue implications.
 Iteration is beneficial.
 The nature of trade-off between
differentiation and commonality is not fixed.
 The product architecture dictates the nature of the trade-off.
 The team may consider alternative architectures to enhance
both differentiation and commonality.

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Related system-level design issues
 A recursive process
 Defining secondary systems
 Establishing the architecture of the chunks
 Creating detailed interface specifications

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 What is this?

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Nail Clippers?

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 The concepts of integral and modular
apply at several levels:

 system

 sub-system

 component

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Product Architecture =
Decomposition + Interactions
 Interactions within
chunks
 Interactions across
chunks

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 Establishing the Architecture
 To establish a modular architecture,
 Create a schematic of the product, and
 Cluster the elements of the schematic to
achieve the types of product variety
desired.

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Types of Modularity

Adapted from K. Ulrich,” The Role of Product Architecture

in the Manufacturing Firm”, Research Policy, 1995.
Swapping Modularity Sharing Modularity

Sectional Modularity Bus Modularity

Fabricate-to-Fit Modularity Mix Modularity

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Audio System Exercise:
Where are the Chunks?
LF RF
Speaker Speaker

Cellular AM/FM Antenna

Antenna Antenna Motor

Cellular Tuner Cas sette Front Display

Phone Controls
104.1 FM

Mi crophone Power CD Rear Rear

Am plifier Changer Controls Headpho nes

LR RR
Speaker Speaker

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