UME1421:Product Design and

Development

Unit 2

PRODUCT ARCHITECTURE
 Unit – 2

Course Outcome

On Successful completion of Unit 2 students will be able

to Select a design concept and explain industrial design,
robust design and Taguchi design

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 Lecture Plan and Reference
Lecture Topic Pg No
Number

1 Introduction to Conceptual Design Refer Study Material

2 Concept Selection 117-140

3 Concept Generation 145-161

4 Concept testing 167-184

5 Product Architecture 185-208

6 Industrial Design 209-230

7 Robust Design 313-326

8 Case study on Robust Design Refer Study Material

9 Review of Unit - 2

Reference Text Book

Karl T Ulrich, Steven D Eppinger, Product Design & Development,
Tata McGrawhill, New Delhi 2003

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 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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 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 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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 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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 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

9
 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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 Types of Modular Architecture
• Modular architectures comprise three types: slot, bus,
and sectional
• Slot-modular architecture: Each of the interfaces between chunks in a
slot-modular architecture is of a different type from the others, so that the
various chunks in the product cannot be interchanged
• Bus-modular architecture: In a bus-modular architecture, there is a
common bus to which the other chunks connect via the same type of
interface. A common example of a chunk in a bus-modular architecture
would be an expansion card for a personal computer
• Sectional-modular architecture: In a sectional-modular architecture, all
interfaces are of the same type, but there is no single element to which all
the other chunks attach. The assembly is built up by connecting the chunks
to each other via identical inter- faces. Many piping systems adhere to a
sectional-modular architecture

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12
 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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 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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 Architecture Design Process

• create a schematic of the product

• cluster the elements of the schematic
• create a rough geometric layout
• identify the fundamental and incidental interactions.

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 Creating a product schematic
• A schematic is a diagram representing the team’s understanding of the
constituent elements of the product
• The schematic should reflect the team’s best understanding of the state
of the product, but it does not have to contain every imaginable detail,
such as “sense out-of-paper condition” or “shield radio frequency
emissions
• Create a schematic diagram representing the (physical or functional)
elements of the product, using blocks, arrows, and other notations. –
(Schematic for Printer in Next Slide)
– Flow of forces or energy
– Flow of material
– Flow of signal or data

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 DeskJet Printer Schematic
Enclose
Printer Print
Cartridge

Provide
Structural Accept
Support Position Display
Cartridge User
Inputs Status
In X-Axis

Position
Store
Paper
Output In Y-Axis Control
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 the elements of the schematic

• The challenge of step 2 is to assign each of

the elements of the schematic to a chunk.
• 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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 Cluster Elements into Chunks
Enclosure
Enclose
Printer Print
Cartridge

Provide User Interface Board

Structural Accept
Support Position 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
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Logic Board
 Creating a rough geometric layout

• A geometric system layout in

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

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 Geometric Layout
logic
board user interfa ce board

print
cartridge
paper tray
print
mechanism

chassis
enclosure

print cartridge
height
roller
paper
paper tray
27 chassis
logic board
 Identify the fundamental and incidental
interactions

• Fundamental interactions
– Those which connect the building blocks, such as energy flows,
material flows, and data flows.
• Incidental interactions
– Those that arise because of geometric arrangements of the building
blocks, such as thermal expansion or heat dissipation.

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 Incidental and Fundamental Interactions

Incidental Interactions

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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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 1. Differentiating elements must be concentrated in
one or a few chunks

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A desirable property of the product architecture is that it enables a company to offer two or more
products that are highly differentiated yet share a substantial fraction of their components. The
collection of assets, including component designs, shared by these products is called a product
platform. Planning the product platform involves managing a basic trade-off between
distinctiveness and commonality
Differentiation Plan
The differentiation plan explicitly represents the ways in which multiple versions of a product will
be different from the perspective of the customer and the market. By differentiating attributes, we
mean those characteris- tics of the product that are important to the customer and that are
intended to be different across the products
Differentiating SOHO (Small Office,
Attributes Family Student Home Office)

Black print quality “Near Laser” quality 300dpi “Laser” quality 600dpi “Laser” quality 600dpi

Color print quality “Near photo” quality Equivalent to DJ600 Equivalent to DJ600

Print speed 6 pages/minute 8 pages/minute 10 pages/minute

Footprint 360mm deep × 400mm wide 340mm deep × 360mm wide 400mm deep × 450mm wide

Paper storage 100 sheets 100 sheets 150 sheets

Style “Consumer” “Youth consumer” “Commercial”

Connectivity to computer USB and parallel port USB USB

Operating system Macintosh and Windows Macintosh and Windows Windows

compatibility

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Commonality Plan
The commonality plan explicitly represents the ways in which the different versions of the product
are the same physically . The plan consists of a matrix with rows representing the chunks of the
pro- duct. The third, fourth, and fifth columns correspond to the three different versions of the
product. The second column indicates the number of different types of each chunk that are
implied by the plan. The team fills each cell in the remaining columns with a label for each
different version of a chunk that will be used to make up the product. Unconstrained, most
manufacturing engineers would probably choose to use only one version of each chunk in all
variants of the product. Unfortunately, this strategy would result in products that are
undifferentiated.

Number SOHO (Small Office,

Chunks of Types Family Student Home Office)

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

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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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 Self Assessment Questions
• Define Product Architecture
• Define Chunk
• Compare Modular Architecture with Integrated Architecture
• Explain the types of Modular Architecture
• Explain the factors affecting Product Architecture Modularity
• Explain the process of establishing Architecture
• List the factors for considering Clustering

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