China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Gaps in employability research
Published in John Aliu, Clinton Aigbavboa, Wellington Thwala, A 21st Century Employability Skills Improvement Framework for the Construction Industry, 2021
John Aliu, Clinton Aigbavboa, Wellington Thwala
According to Hermann et al. (2016), modularity refers to the capability of systems to be flexible and adaptable to significant changes and external inputs by the replacement or advancement of individual modules. Qin et al. (2016) suggest that modularity also facilitates the simulation of several manufacturing practices and processes such as production engineering and planning, product design, and production services as interconnections between them provide a certain level of interchangeability (Du Plessis, 2017).
Modularization of integrated photovoltaic-fuel cell system for remote distributed power systems
Published in Paulo Jorge da Silva Bartolo, Fernando Moreira da Silva, Shaden Jaradat, Helena Bartolo, Industry 4.0 – Shaping The Future of The Digital World, 2020
C. Ogbonnaya, A. Turan, C. Abeykoon
Modularizing the system also allows for collaboration between companies that specializes in specific components. In addition, viewing the manufacturing strategy from the inherent modularity also means that global supply chain can support the manufacturing of the system as it does not matter which part of the world each of the modules are manufactured as long as the supply chain is efficient enough to support just-in-time processes that meet customers’ needs.
Concepts and Types of Modularity
Published in Fabio Sartori Piran, Daniel Pacheco Lacerda, Luis Felipe Riehs Camargo, Analysis and Management of Productivity and Efficiency in Production Systems for Goods and Services, 2020
Flávio I. Kubota, Paulo A. Cauchick-Miguel
In this type of modularity, the consumer is the one who defines some configurations of the product, characterizing a certain capacity of customization that can facilitate the use of the product by the consumers (Pandremenos et al., 2009). In addition, modularity of use can be used strategically to achieve differentiation, customization and an increase in the variety of products, as well as other advantages from an environmental and cost-reduction perspective (Kubota & Cauchick Miguel, 2013).
Aligning supply chain complexity with product demand and design characteristics
Published in International Journal of Logistics Research and Applications, 2022
Prem Chhetri, Amirreza Hashemi, Kwok Hung Lau, Ming K. Lim
Some researchers (Howard and Squire 2007; Jacobs, Vickery, and Droge 2007; Swink, Narasimhan, and Wang 2007; Lau et al. 2010) argue that product modularity is a key enabler of outsourcing. Modularity can be leveraged to satisfy customer needs in different markets, thus impacting on the supply chain configuration choices (Kumar and Chatterjee 2013). As product modularity can increase outsourcing and offshore manufacturing, it wields an important influence on integration strategies. Build-to-order strategies, for instance, are enabled by product modularity to complement outsourcing decisions. Chiu and Okudan (2014) observe that increased modularity is critical for design and integration of supply chain, due to its effect on assembly sequence and selection of components and suppliers. In other words, product modularity is related to supply chain complexity.
Composite performance metric for product flow configuration selection of reconfigurable manufacturing system (RMS)
Published in International Journal of Production Research, 2021
Prince Pal Singh, Jatinder Madan, Harwinder Singh
RMS has six core characteristics, namely modularity, integrability, customisation, convertibility, scalability and diagnosability. Modularity is the ability to design a system by modular components. These modular components can be added/removed/re-adjusted to prepare alternate configurations or systems. Integrability is the ability to quickly and accurately integrate modules to the system using reconfigurable hardware and software interfaces. Customisation is the ability to design a flexible system that can produce all the parts of a family. Convertibility is the ability to change functionality of an existing system to meet new production requirements. Scalability is the ability to quickly alter production capacity by adding/removing/re-adjusting modular components to the system. Diagnosability is the ability to easily diagnose root causes of product defects (Koren et al. 1999). Koren (2010) summarised that customisation, convertibility and scalability are primary characteristics of RMS, whereas modularity, integrability and diagnosability are secondary characteristics. For a distinctive RMS, some of these characteristics may be considered but not necessarily all of them (Khanna and Kumar 2019). In RMS, the characteristics of modularity, convertibility, and scalability are complementary to each other. Thus, the capacity and functionality of RMS is adjusted by reconfigurable machines (Saliba et al. 2019).
Possibilities for user-centric and participatory design in modular health care facilities
Published in Intelligent Buildings International, 2020
Marjaana Lahtinen, Pia Sirola, Antti Peltokorpi, Leena Aalto, Riikka Kyrö, Heidi Salonen, Virpi Ruohomäki, Kari Reijula
Modular facility innovations could be one solution to the abovementioned pressures. In modular facilities, a building is structured into self-contained modules with a standardized interface with another part of a building (Peltokorpi et al. 2017). In an optimal situation, each module is designed for a specific user-centric function (Salvador 2007) enabling a healing and supportive environment. Simultaneously, loose coupling between modules (Bask et al. 2011) supports flexibility if modules can be added and removed according to the actual demand of the functions they provide. Modularity enables better use of standard solutions in design, prefabrication in construction, and adaptability and replaceability in the use phase. Modular facilities and their development, however, face the challenge of combining customized, user-centric design for special customer needs and solutions with the rapid design and delivery of the facilities. The need to relocate and renovate or modify according to changing customer needs poses further challenges to customized solutions.