Ch. 8 - Product Architecture and Product Design

Characteristics of integration

- either one chunk carries several functions - or one function is spread among several chunks

Decomposing System: 3 Distinct Types of Flows

1. Mass Flows 2. Energy Flows 3. Information flows (info cannot flow without flow of energy)

2 extremes in types of product architecture:

1. Modular 2. Integrated

Modular architecture advantages

1. much easier to maintain, repair, or upgrade 2. typically easy to assemble and disassemble.. interfaces between modules are typically well defined 3. enable platform portfolios

Functional decomposition.... What do we want to know?

1. whats the 'highest level' functional description of this device? 2. what are the inputs and outputs to this system? (mass, energy, information) 3. What sequence of operations do you perform to use the product?

Ulrich and Eppinger's Map

Mission Statement Concept development system level design detail design testing & refinement Production Ramp-Up Product Launch

Map of the design process

Ulrich and eppinger's

Advantages to modular architecture

able to offer a very extensive product portfolio with a minimum of parts -- this is a classic "platform architecture" modular, top-level design requires almost no variation among components themselves only the length of the connection pins

'frame function'

almost always highly integrated

every product has an _____ but doesn't mean that every _____ was explicitly _______

architecture architecutre designed

integrated designs very often require that the components are....

assembled in ways that disable or prevent disassembly ex. use of adhesives or welding

Level of more detail

chunk could be a single part in a sub assembly

Top level

chunk could include several smaller sub-assemblies

_____ depends on the level of the system you're working with

chunking

many ways to break things into ____

chunks

problems arise when....

chunks are inadvertently connected and cause unintentional problems ex. vibrations could be transmitted through frame of camera and impact image

functional hierarchy

classic 'engineering' method of creating a product architecture is to begin by decomposing the system into this

component-level constraints =========

integration components that perform the 'frame function' are almost always highly integrated

it is much better to begin with a(n) ____ while giving _____

intentional design of the architecture from the beginning giving full consideration for future options

Connections among chunks can either be ___ or _____

intentional or incidental

product architecture

is a strategy for distributing the functions of a product onto sub-assemblies and components, and then mapping the connections amongst these components

Integrated architecture

is one in which many functions are mapped onto a single chunk, or one function is mapped across many chunks

Modular architecture

is one in which there's a one-to-one mapping of functions onto chunks (components/assemblies/sub-systems)

overall architecture of a product is....

key to its ultimate success

chunking depends on the _____

level of system you're working in

chunking depends on the _______

level of system you're working with

by spreading functionality across components designers can...

minimize mass or volume while maintaining the extremely high performance requirements of the design

Modular architecture disadvantages

not so obvious often only appear under extreme circumstances primary: often have larger part counts than integrated designs modular sub components can have frames that add weight and volume rarely encounter a modular architecture in high performance setting

there are some situations that demand _____ and other times when _____

one and not the other one is preferred for 'downstream' reasons

highly modular

one chunk = one function

one chunk = one function is a bit extreme....

one chunk might have one primary function... with related supporting functions built into the same module

integrated

one function, many chunks or many functions, one chunk

modular

one function, one chunk

highly integrated

one-to-many many- to- one

Highly modular

one-to-one

swiss army knife architecture

overall highly modular, with well defined functions per chunk and minimal connections among components

chunks

physical components of a system are categorized into sub-systems

when doing system decomposition it is always a good idea to think about...

possible unplanned connections that might occur

as designers the natural questions for us to ask is...

"why do we sometimes go with integrated architectures and other times with modular?"

many architectures emerge ________ and then become a ______ that limits subsequent improvements or adaptations

'after the fact' legacy

apple iMac

integrating the computer into the display

architecture of the products reflects the _______

design constraints

product architecture requires the creation of a _______ of the entire device/product, most often in _______

detailed functional description several layers

functional hierarchy can be interpreted ______ depending on your viewpoint or relationship to the product... so there are _____

different ways many right answers when decomposing a system

if designing entire car, the _______ could be a chunk

engine

highly integrated designs arise naturally in products that are preforming in ______

extreme situations

information cannot flow without a corresponding ______

flow of energy

designing just car door the ________ is a chunk

handle assembly

timing applications that must not fail =======

high integration ex. camera pic three functions integrated into a single component

design situation that demand ___________ invariably lead to high levels of integration

high performance per unit mass or volume

when is it important to maximize functionality while minimizing the number, mass, or volume of physical components?

high performance, low mass extremely high performance per unit mass extremely high performance per unit volume

laptop

highly integrated difficult to disassemble

constraints have a major influence on _______ intentional or not

product architecture

Architectures affect _____

product portfolios

Preventing disassembly is necessary to extract the highest benefit from integration, but can lead to...

real problems in recycling and re-use later on

designing the architecture early can....

save a lot of time and expense

swiss army knife: multiple function chunks

screw driving can opener screw driving bottle opening wire stripping

swiss army knife: single function chunks

shearing cutting holding in place tweezing piercing cork pulling carrying probing

highly integration swiss army knife

single piece of steel card with many pieces cut out of it (see image)

a product can be considered modular even if it has _____

some integrated components or assemblies

architecture itself constrains ______

subsequent decisions in - design -manufacturing

Important Functional decomposition of product graph

top level second level third level info mass energy all recorded * take a look at graph

desktop

very modular overall with highly integrated components

under what set of constraints would we as designers want to spread functions over more than one component or chunk? .... aka ....

when is it important to maximize functionality while minimizing the number, mass, or volume of physical components?