Working Paper Series, Department of Industrial Economics & Strategy, Copenhagen Business School
No 01-6:
Modularity and Interface Management: The case of Schindler Elevators
Juliana Hsuan Mikkola
Abstract: Modularity refers to the scheme by which interfaces shared
among components in agiven product architecture are standardized and
specified to allow for greater reusability and commonality sharing of
components among product families. The management of innovation through
modular product architecture strategies is gaining increasing importance
for firms, not only in practice but also from a theoretical perspective. It
is argued that the degree of modularity inherent in a given product
architecture is sensitive and highly dependent upon the number of
components and the interface constraints shared among the components,
modules, sub-systems, and systems. This paper applies a mathematical model,
termed modularization function, for analyzing dynamics and the degree of
modularity of a given product architecture by taking into account the
following variables: number of components, number of interfaces,
new-to-the-firm component composition, and substitutability factor. The
application of the modularization function is illustrated with two elevator
systems from Schindler Lifts of Switzerland: traction and hydraulic
elevators. The comparative analysis of the elevators captures the
sensitivity and dynamics of product architecture modularity created by
three types of components (standard, neutral, and unique) and two types of
interfaces (fundamental and optional).
Keywords: Modularity, product architecture, interface management, elevator industry; (follow links to similar papers)
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