A Network Approach to Define Modularity of Components in Complex Products
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Eppinger_A network.pdf
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Author(s)
Sosa, Manuel E.
Eppinger, Steven D.
Rowles, Craig M.
Date Issued
November 2007
Journal
Journal of Mechanical Design
Publisher
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Citation
Sosa, Manuel E., Steven D. Eppinger, and Craig M. Rowles. “A Network Approach to Define Modularity of Components in Complex Products.” Journal of Mechanical Design 129, no. 11 (2007): 1118.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Modularity has been defined at the product and system levels. However, little effort has gone into defining and quantifying modularity at the component level. We consider complex products as a network of components that share technical interfaces (or connections) in order to function as a whole and define component modularity based on the lack of connectivity among them. Building upon previous work in graph theory and social network analysis, we define three measures of component modularity based on the notion of centrality. Our measures consider how components share direct interfaces with adjacent components, how design interfaces may propagate to nonadjacent components in the product, and how components may act as bridges among other components through their interfaces. We calculate and interpret all three measures of component modularity by studying the product architecture of a large commercial aircraft engine. We illustrate the use of these measures to test the impact of modularity on component redesign. Our results show that the relationship between component modularity and component redesign depends on the type of interfaces connecting product components. We also discuss directions for future work.
MIT Department
Sloan School of Management
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1115/1.2771182
