Product modularity can be considered as a product design strategy. It provides many benefits for companies that adapt it. However, there is little empirical evidence to support such an expectation. This study aims to measure the effects of product modularity on the efficiency and productivity of the product engineering area of a bus manufacturer. To reach the proposed objective, a longitudinal case study was conducted on the product engineering department of a company covering a period of three consecutive years. We used Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) combined with Mann–Whitney U test and Malmquist index. The results show an increase of 18.40% in the efficiency indexes of the company’s products engineering. In addition, positive changes can be observed, that is, there was a 63.50% increase in Total Factor Productivity Index (TFPI). The improvements are attributed to the implementation of product modularity in the organization under study. In this sense, the main contribution of this paper to the field is to present the increment of productivity with the insertion of the product modularity in the product engineering in a bus manufacturing company. Thus, product modularity can be considered a technology that increases the Total Factor Productivity Index (TPFI) of the companies that use it.

中文翻译：

---

产品模块化对生产力的影响：使用数据包络分析和 Malmquist 指数的分析

产品模块化可以被视为一种产品设计策略。它为适应它的公司提供了许多好处。然而，几乎没有经验证据支持这种预期。本研究旨在衡量产品模块化对巴士制造商产品工程领域效率和生产力的影响。为实现拟议目标，对一家公司的产品工程部门进行了连续三年的纵向案例研究。我们使用数据包络分析 (DEA) 结合 Mann-Whitney U 检验和 Malmquist 指数。结果表明，公司产品工程的效率指标提高了18.40%。此外，还可以观察到积极的变化，即全要素生产率指数 (TFPI) 增加了 63.50%。这些改进归因于所研究组织中产品模块化的实施。从这个意义上说，本文对该领域的主要贡献是展示了在客车制造公司的产品工程中插入产品模块化后生产力的增加。因此，产品模块化可以被认为是一种提高使用它的公司的全要素生产率指数 (TPFI) 的技术。