An UML based approach for product architecture modelling in design for configuration process

Design for configuration provides an efficient and effective means to realize the product variety. This paper tackles the architecture modelling for product configuration using an UML (Unified Modelling Language) approach. The introduction of fuzziness to capture the subjective nature of the design for configuration permits to consider different using cases in the early conceptual design phase of the product. Furthermore, the building of multiple fuzzy models, that corresponds to the multiple views of a configurable product, permit to propose both the functional architecture and physical architecture to configure a product. It opens the path to the product behaviour simulation during the early phases of the product design and development. The application of the approach in a power system shows the potential of the fuzzy UML modelling.