Have anybody some experince with modularization, especially how to measure it? Which tools have you used and what was the gain of it?

Have anybody some experince with modularization, especially how to measure it? Which tools have you used and what was the gain of it?

Modularization of what?

In relation to products and product development (Modular vs. Integral design)!

I am not familiar with modularization of services, but maybe somebody else knows?

I believe it is most common within the electric and automobile industry!

In relation to products and product development (Modular vs. Integral design)!

I am not familiar with modularization of services, but maybe somebody else knows?

I believe it is most common within the electric and automobile industry!

I would have to guess that the key measurable for modularization is the reduction of unique parts within the assemblies.

I am not familiar with modularization of services... What type of services?

I am not familiar with modularization of services, but maybe somebody else knows?


You might look at the process flow of the overall service system, and reduce any overlapping of process flows. One example might be several departments doing their own prints changed to one drafting department.

Not saying it is an improvement in that example, but it would modularize that service...

I would have to guess that the key measurable for modularization is the reduction of unique parts within the assemblies.

Well, the type of components are some of the variables, for the tool that I know for measuring modularization, but practically, I think that the problem is how to determine what is a Unique part (and to what extent?), which criteria to use?

You might look at the process flow of the overall service system, and reduce any overlapping of process flows. One example might be several departments doing their own prints changed to one drafting department.

Not saying it is an improvement in that example, but it would modularize that service...

Process flow is different from products/materials, as it implicates people and thier emotions, habits, culture and so! Please don't mix it up :)

With products I mean hardware!

(BTW: I just remind myself, that actually the software industry have used modularization as a concept, but I am not sure how they used it).

Process flow is different from products/materials, as it implicates people and thier emotions, habits, culture and so! Please don't mix it up :)

With products I mean hardware!

Cool - I revert back to: I would have to guess that the key measurable for modularization is the reduction of the number of unique parts within the assemblies.

Have anybody some experince with modularization, especially how to measure it? Which tools have you used and what was the gain of it?
"Modular" is a software term. Not all that long ago (or so it seems) a programmer would be put in a closet and he (always a he) would be let out when he was finished. This became known as an integral approach. When something went wrong (it always did) the would throw the programmer in the closet until he fixed it. He was the only that could fix or change or understand the program.

Software managers started looking at the ways to speed things up. They looked at how "things" were designed. For example an engine design team would be divided up into several other teams. One team might design the starter. Software managers would call this the "starter module".

Nice thing about software is it doesn't wear out. A modue could be used for several different programs. If you look at Windows System folders, you may see files with dll extensions. These are probably modules (data link libraries).

So how do you measure all this? Software folks count function points. People that design real stuff would might count the number of different engines the same starter. I have not seen this documented. I have seen service parts that could replace several other parts. The number of part numbers that could be replaced with the newly designed part would be a measure.