Modular function deployment: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 05:28, 7 June 2010

Latest revision as of 23:15, 26 August 2025

(37 intermediate revisions by 26 users not shown)

Line 1:

'''Modular Function Deployment''' (MFD) is a method for creating modular product architectures, based on research performed at [[KTH Royal Institute of Technology]] in the 1990s.<ref>Gunnar Erixon: "Modular Function Deployment – A Method for Product Modularisation", Ph.D. Thesis [http://swepub.kb.se/bib/swepub:oai:DiVA.org:kth-2619?tab2=abs&language=en], The Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, 1998. TRITA-MSM R-98-1, ISSN 1104-2141, ISRN KTH/MSM/R-98/1-SE.</ref> As a result of said research, the company Modular Management was registered in 1996, offering consultancy services centered on the MFD method.<ref>{{Cite web|title=About - Modular Management|url=https://www.modularmanagement.com/about|access-date=2021-02-16|website=www.modularmanagement.com|language=en}}</ref>

'''Modular Function Deployment (MFD)''' is a systematic method and procedure for company-supportive product modularisation. It consists of five major steps. It starts with [[Quality Function Deployment]] (QFD) analysis to establish customer requirements and to identify important design requirements with a special emphasis on modularity. The functional requirements on the product are analysed and technical solutions are selected. This is followed by systematic generation and selection of modular concepts, in which the Module Indication Matrix (MIM) is used to identify possible modules by examining the interrelationships between ”module drivers” and technical solutions. MIM also provides a mechanism for investigating opportunities of integrating multiple functions into single modules. The expected effects of the redesign can be estimated and an evaluation can be carried out for each modular concept. The Module Indication Matrix is then re-used to identify opportunities for further improvements to the single modules.

With a modular product architecture, companies can offer a wide range of products and services without increasing complexity, since modules and module variants, like blocks of [[LEGO]], can be configured in many different ways. The MFD method ensures that each module has functional, strategic and customer-centric value and can be combined with other modules through standardized interfaces.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last1=Ericsson|first1=Anna|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M-SPpezS7WkC&q=lego&pg=PP12|title=Controlling Design Variants: Modular Product Platforms|last2=Erixon|first2=Gunnar|date=1999|publisher=Society of Manufacturing Engineers|isbn=978-0-87263-514-2|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Lehtonen|first=Timo|url=https://trepo.tuni.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/114367/lehtonen713.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|title=Designing Modular Product Architecture in the New Product Development|publisher=Tampere University of Technology|year=2007|isbn=978-952-15-1924-6|___location=Tampere}}</ref> A modular product architecture can enable [[mass customization]], where customers configure and order personalized—rather than ready-made—products and services.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mikkola|first=J. H.|date=February 2007|title=Management of Product Architecture Modularity for Mass Customization: Modeling and Theoretical Considerations|journal=IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management|volume=54|issue=1|pages=57–69|doi=10.1109/TEM.2006.889067|bibcode=2007ITEM...54...57M |s2cid=33577589|issn=1558-0040}}</ref>

==Five References Steps==

MFD consists of five steps and is often illustrated as a circle to emphasize that it is an iterative process.<ref name=":0" />

* Gunnar Erixon: "Modular Function Deployment - A Method for Product Modularisation", Ph.D. Thesis [http://users.du.se/~gex/paper/drabs.htm], The Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, 1998. TRITA-MSM R-98-1, ISSN 1104-2141, ISRN KTH/MSM/R-98/1-SE.

#Clarify Customer Needs

* Application of the Modular Function Deployment Tool on a pressure regulator, Gilles Clemen / Rotarex Automotive S.A., Lintgen/Luxembourg [http://www.fh-kl.de/~albert.meij/Zusammenfassung%20Gilles%20Clemen.pdf]

#Identify Functions and Solutions

#Propose Modules and Interfaces

#Define Variants and Configurations

#Confirm Architecture Feasibility

== References ==

{{engineering-stub}}

{{Reflist}}

* Gunnar Erixon: "Modular Function Deployment -– A Method for Product Modularisation", Ph.D. Thesis [http://users.du.se/~gex/paper/drabs.htm], The Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, 1998. TRITA-MSM R-98-1, ISSN 1104-2141, ISRN KTH/MSM/R-98/1-SE.

* [http://team.fh-kl.de/fileadmin/team/albert-meij/pdf/Zusammenfassung_Gilles_Clemen.pdf "Application of the Modular Function Deployment Tool on a pressure regulator"], Gilles Clemen / Rotarex Automotive S.A., Lintgen/Luxembourg [http://www.fh-kl.de/~albert.meij/Zusammenfassung%20Gilles%20Clemen.pdf]

==External links==

* [https://modularmanagement.com/mfd/ Modular Function Deployment]

[[Category:HolismModularity|Function deployment]]

[[Category:Product development]]

[[Category:Systems engineering]]