Establishing assembly-oriented modular product architectures through Design for Assembly enhanced Modular Function Deployment

Modular product design has become a strategic enabler for companies seeking to balance product variety, operational efficiency, and market responsiveness, making the alignment between modular architecture and manufacturing considerations increasingly critical. Modular Function Deployment (MFD) is a widely adopted method for defining modular product architectures, yet it lacks systematic support for assembly considerations during early concept and system-level development. This limitation increases the risk of delayed production ramp-up and lifecycle inefficiencies. This paper proposes a set of enhancements to MFD that integrate Design for Assembly (DFA) logic into architectural synthesis. The extended method introduces structured heuristics, assembly-oriented module drivers, a coded interface taxonomy, and quantitative metrics for assessing assembly feasibility and automation readiness. These additions preserve compatibility with standard MFD workflows while enriching decision-making with traceable, production-informed reasoning. An illustrative case study involving a handheld leaf blower demonstrates the method's usability and effectiveness. The redesigned architecture shows reduced assembly effort, simplified interfaces, and increased automation potential. By supporting early-stage evaluation of architectural alternatives through an assembly lens, the method enables faster transition to efficient volume production and provides a foundation for continuous improvement throughout the product lifecycle.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  arXiv.org

• Publication date

  2025-10-13

• Fields of study

  Computer Science, Engineering

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.48550/arXiv.2510.11089arXiv 2510.11089
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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