Modularization in the Automobile Production

Researcher: 

Prof. Schönsleben, K. Bunse, Philipp Gneiting, C. Schneider

Partners:

Research:

Daimler AG, Ulm

Industry:

Daimler AG

Funded by:

Daimler AG

Motivation:

Product complexity increases, while requirements regarding time-to-market and product price put additional pressure on the car manufacturers. Modularization of the product architecture can be seen as a promising remedy in this situation. Even though modularization is already well known and implemented in the automotive production, a structured method to quantify its effects on the production and on logistics is lacking.

Objectives:

The main objective is the support of strategic decisions by anticipating effects of modularization on the tactical as well as operational level of the production. This requires the identification and quantification of the effects of modularization on production and logistics.

Activities completed:

A classification of literature concerning the evaluation of modularity in production has been completed, as well as an analysis of relevant factors for modularity. Furthermore quantification approaches were developed and elaborated.

[image reference is broken]