A Network Approach To Define Modularity Of Components In Complex Products

Modularity has been defined at the product and system level, although little effort has gone into defining and quantifying it at the component level. Building upon previous work in graph theory and social network analysis, three measures of component modularity based on the notion of centrality are defined. The measures consider how components share direct interfaces with adjacent components, how design interfaces may propagate to non-adjacent components in the product, and how components may act as bridges with other components through their interfaces. The paper illustrates the use of these measures to test the impact of modularity on component redesign. The results show that the relationship between component modularity and component redesign depends on the type of interfaces connecting product components.