Table 1 Types of products with different modules
From: Product Specification Analysis for Modular Product Design Using Big Sales Data
Type of product | Definition | Example | Included modules and interfaces | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Common module | Customized module | Personalized module | Adaptable interface | |||
Mass produced product | Product obtained through large-scale production for meeting standard requirements | Standardized bearings | Yes | No | No | No |
Mass customized product | Product designed and manufactured to meet customized requirements with approximate efforts of large-scale production | Electric vehicles that provide customized features for user selections | Yes | Yes | No | No |
Reconfigurable product | Product that can meet different requirements through rapid reconfigurations of components can be reconfigured to meet different requirements | Cameras can be reconfigured with different lenses to meet various photographing requirements | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
Upgradeable product | Product that can accommodate new requirements or technology advancement by upgrading or replacing components | Computers that can be upgraded by replacing their memory modules | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
Open architecture product | Product with a platform, such that add-on modules developed by different vendors can be connected to the platform through interfaces [7, 12] | Excavators that can be connected to different front execution devices provided by third-party vendors | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Adaptable product | Product that can be easily adapted in the operation stage to meet different requirements [6] | Blades of a wind turbine can be adapted to meet different operation conditions | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |