A Modular Design Approach to Improve Product Life Cycle Performance Based on the Optimization of a Closed-Loop Supply Chain

As environmental concerns have grown in recent years, the interest in product design for the life cycle (DFLC) has exhibited a parallel surge. Modular design has the potential to bring life cycle considerations into the product architecture decision-making process, yet most current modular design methods lack the capability for assessing module life cycle consequences in a supply chain. This paper proposes a method for product designers, called the architecture and supply chain evaluation method (ASCEM), to find a product modular architecture with both low life cycle costs and low energy consumption at the early design stages. ASCEM expands the assessment scope from the product's architecture to its supply chain network. This work analyzes the life cycle costs (LCCs) and energy consumption (LCEC) of two products designated within the European Union's directive on waste of electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) within a closed-loop supply chain to identify the most beneficial modular structure. In addition, data on 27 theoretical cases representing various products are analyzed to show the broader applicability of the proposed methodology. Our analysis shows that ASCEM can efficiently identify a good-quality modular structure having low LCC and LCEC in a closed-loop supply chain for both the two tested products and the hypothetical cases.

[1]  Steven J Skerlos,et al.  Multi-criteria decision-making for optimization of product disassembly under multiple situations. , 2003, Environmental science & technology.

[2]  David W. Rosen,et al.  Implications of Modularity on Product Design for the Life Cycle , 1998 .

[3]  Daniel A. McAdams,et al.  A Modular Design Approach to Support Sustainable Design , 2004 .

[4]  Shana Smith,et al.  Green product design through product modularization using atomic theory , 2010 .

[5]  Steven D. Eppinger,et al.  Integration analysis of product decompositions , 1994 .

[6]  Karl T. Ulrich,et al.  Fundamentals of Product Modularity , 1994 .

[7]  Kristin L. Wood,et al.  Functional Interdependence and Product Similarity Based on Customer Needs , 1999 .

[8]  Yasushi Umeda,et al.  Product modularity for life cycle design , 2008 .

[9]  Xueqing Qian,et al.  Design for Environment: An Environmentally Conscious Analysis Model for Modular Design , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Electronics Packaging Manufacturing.

[10]  Karl T. Ulrich,et al.  Product Design and Development , 1995 .

[11]  Kristin L. Wood,et al.  A heuristic method for identifying modules for product architectures , 2000 .

[12]  Geoffrey Boothroyd,et al.  Product design for manufacture and assembly , 1994, Comput. Aided Des..

[13]  Karl T. Ulrich,et al.  Assessing the Importance of Design Through Product Archaeology , 1998 .

[14]  Myer Kutz,et al.  Environmentally conscious mechanical design , 2007 .

[15]  Peihua Gu,et al.  HOME: House Of Modular Enhancement—a Tool for Modular Product Redesign , 2002, Concurr. Eng. Res. Appl..

[16]  Yoji Akao,et al.  Quality Function Deployment : Integrating Customer Requirements into Product Design , 1990 .

[17]  N. F. M. Roozenburg,et al.  Product design: Fundamentals and methods , 1996 .

[18]  Wang Hai-jun,et al.  Process analysis in the generation of product modularization based on fuzzy cluster , 2004, 8th International Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work in Design.

[19]  Katja Hölttä,et al.  Comparing Three Different Modularity Methods , 2003 .

[20]  S. G. Lee,et al.  A Multi-Objective Methodology for Evaluating Product End-of-Life Options and Disassembly , 2001 .

[21]  Steven Skiena,et al.  The Algorithm Design Manual , 2020, Texts in Computer Science.

[22]  John K. Gershenson,et al.  Product modularity: measures and design methods , 2004 .

[23]  L. N. Van Wassenhove,et al.  Concurrent product and closed-loop supply chain design with an application to refrigerators , 2003 .

[24]  Gunnar Erixon,et al.  Controlling Design Variants: Modular Product Platforms , 1999 .

[25]  John K. Gershenson,et al.  Comparison of Modular Measurement Methods Based on Consistency Analysis and Sensitivity Analysis , 2003 .

[26]  P. Gu,et al.  Product modularization for life cycle engineering , 1999 .

[27]  A. Kusiak,et al.  Efficient solving of the group technology problem , 1987 .

[28]  Y. Zhang,et al.  An Initial Study of Direct Relationships between Life-Cycle Modularity and Life-Cycle Cost , 2003, Concurr. Eng. Res. Appl..

[29]  Harrison Hyung Min Kim,et al.  Evaluating End-of-Life Recovery Profit by a Simultaneous Consideration of Product Design and Recovery Network Design , 2010 .

[30]  Hongchao Zhang,et al.  A multi-objective fuzzy graph approach for modular formulation considering end-of-life issues , 2008 .

[31]  Qingyan Yang,et al.  Product modular design incorporating life cycle issues - Group Genetic Algorithm (GGA) based method , 2011 .