PLM Library · Paper
The role of product architecture in the manufacturing firm
- Author
- Karl T. Ulrich
- Publisher
- Research Policy, Vol. 24, pp. 419–440
- Year
- 1995
Summary
The foundational academic paper on product architecture: the arrangement of functional elements and the mapping from function to physical components, and the interfaces between them.
Ulrich defines modular versus integral architectures and shows how architecture relates to product variety, component standardization, product performance, manufacturability and the management of product development and change.
Our verdict
Recommended reading. The classic definition of product architecture and modularity — short, clear and still the reference point for platform, modularization and variant management discussions.
Who should read it
- —Product architects and platform strategists
- —Anyone working on modularization, variant management or product families
- —Readers who want the original concepts behind today's modularization methods
How it relates to your work
- —Its function-to-component mapping is the conceptual basis for product structuring in PLM and configurators.
- —Directly relevant to decisions about product variety, standardization and engineering change.
Keep in mind
- —A 1995 paper; later work has refined the concepts, but the fundamentals stand.
- —Behind the publisher's paywall; often accessible through university libraries.