Product modularity and assembly systems: An automotive case study

Designing modular products offers a number of advantages. However, modularity may be challenging in terms of production and assembly. In this paper, the influence of product design modularity on assembly systems is investigated. A modular design from the automotive industry is presented and compared with a traditional design. The influence of modularity on the assembly system is discussed including attributes such as production rate, investment cost and productʹs delivery delay.