With rising market competition, organizations unceasingly strive to improve product offerings by adopting a modular product architecture. Modular product development (PD) is concerned with decisions to upgrade product modules that improve product value by enhancing one or several critical-to-value (CTV) attributes. CTV attributes are, in turn, controlled by the (technical) design decisions made at the module level. Here, an optimization model is presented to help PD managers choose the optimal subset of module upgrades from a large set of potential upgrades to maximize profits. The model is unique in considering the influences of the product architecture and product value on the selection of optimal modular upgrades. While some CTV attributes are discrete in nature, signifying the existence or absence of a product feature, others are continuous over a given range so that the level of desired improvement needs to be specified. The model can be used for both types (discrete and continuous) of attributes. The model is validated using a case study of a small-sized solar water-heating manufacturer. The case study demonstrates the complexity of modular PD decisions, regardless of the size of the investment project, and the effectiveness of the proposed model in the realization of potential profits.

中文翻译：

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优化模组升级决策，实现利润最大化

随着市场竞争的加剧，组织不断努力通过采用模块化产品架构来改进产品供应。模块化产品开发 (PD) 涉及升级产品模块的决策，这些模块通过增强一个或多个关键价值 (CTV) 属性来提高产品价值。反过来，CTV 属性由在模块级别做出的（技术）设计决策控制。在这里，提出了一个优化模型，以帮助 PD 经理从大量潜在升级中选择模块升级的最佳子集，以实现利润最大化。该模型在考虑产品架构和产品价值对优化模块化升级选择的影响方面是独一无二的。虽然一些 CTV 属性本质上是离散的，表示产品特征的存在或不存在，其他在给定范围内是连续的，因此需要指定所需的改进水平。该模型可用于两种类型（离散和连续）的属性。该模型通过一个小型太阳能热水器制造商的案例研究得到验证。案例研究证明了模块化 PD 决策的复杂性，无论投资项目的规模如何，以及拟议模型在实现潜在利润方面的有效性。