Modular product architecture for sustainable flexible manufacturing in industry 4.0: The case of 3D printer and electric toothbrush

Authors

Tufail Habib
Muhammad Omair
Muhammad Salman Habib
Muhammad Zeeshan Zahir
Sikandar Bilal Khattak
Se-Jin Yook
Muhammad Aamir, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
Rehman Akhtar

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Title

Applied Sciences

Publisher

MDPI

School

School of Engineering

RAS ID

53025

Funders

Technology Innovation Program (or Industrial Strategic Technology Development Program-material part package type), 20015986, funded by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) / Republic of Korea and the Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar, Pakistan

Comments

Habib, T., Omair, M., Habib, M. S., Zahir, M. Z., Khattak, S. B., Yook, S. J., ... & Akhtar, R. (2023). Modular product architecture for sustainable flexible manufacturing in industry 4.0: The case of 3d printer and electric toothbrush. Sustainability, 15(2), Article 910. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15020910

Abstract

Integrating sustainability, a flexible manufacturing system, and Industry 4.0 resolves the issues of fluctuating market demand arising from customization requirements. Modular products allow flexibility to adapt to changing requirements and optimize resource utilization. In this study, a method was proposed and applied to two products, i.e., a 3D printer and an electric toothbrush featuring modular architecture, multiple product versions, and customization, to contribute to the development of sustainable flexible manufacturing systems. From the results of the two case studies nine modules were identified that contain specific functions and related interface information. From these modules, one platform was developed that comprises common entities used in all variants of the products. This platform was further extended to product families. From the modules, product architecture was developed that supports the product and process relationships. These relationships can be developed concurrently, enabling product features to be linked to the manufacturing setup. Thus, when a modular architecture is developed, the factory has to be reorganized accordingly, or reconfiguration is possible. Hence, the main aim of the research was to develop modular product architecture to identify product and process relationships for a sustainable flexible manufacturing system.

DOI

10.3390/su15020910

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.