Applying independence axiom and design structure matrix to product module division

Modular design is one of the most active areas of engineering design to mass customization. An integrated module division method based on the combination of axiomatic design and design structure matrix (DSM) was proposed. Firstly, the independence axiom of axiomatic design is applied to zigzagging mapping between the functional domain and physical domain according to the customer needs. Secondly, the design matrix (DM) is transformed into DSM to obtain the design information flow at early stage of the design. Then the modularity of product is built by clustering algorithm so as to attain the minimum interactions between modules. Finally, the method is applied to the crane and its product modules are constructed to improve the design efficiency and reduce the design cost.