Undirected graph model of product family architecture for mass customization

The reasonable model of product family architecture is a premise for effectively implementing product family design. Two kinds of vertexes are defined in product fundamental modules with graph theory. Based on the relationships between the defined vertexes, three kinds of constraints are defined, which include fundamental composing constraints, differentiation customizing constraints and differentiation matching constraints. On the basis of the above-defined, an undirected graph model of product family architecture is proposed, and then the relation matrix and the customization algorithm are developed. Finally, the proposed model and algorithm are validated by taking the wheel loader as an example. The results show that not only can the model rationally express customization of individual products and effectively filter redundancy information, but also the customization algorithm can improve the customization efficiency and reduce the customization work.