1. INTRODUCTION
Today, companies experience a number of challenges that change the business conditions.
Firstly, the focus on customer needs leads to customized products, which means companies
have to manage a greater variety of products. Secondly, competition enforces companies to
strive for efficiency in the business chain: to reduce costs, increase quality and reduce response
time. Finally, technology is evolving fast, engineering tasks are huge and complex, implying
that companies have to cope with greater complexities and constantly changing environments.
Modularization is often mentioned as a means for handling these seemingly conflicting
demands - and frequently in connection with the manufacturing concept of mass customization.
The idea is that a broad variety of products can be produced by combining a limited number of
modules. In this way modularity balances standardization and rationalization with
customization and flexibility. Furthermore, better structuring and handling of tasks and
knowledge are often mentioned as advantages.
However, there seems to be some confusion about what the term module really covers. In
some part of literature, modules are defined as physical (mechanical) building blocks; while
others refer to them as non-physical objects like software. Some focus on structure and others
on functionality. Many deal with the advantages modularity may provide, but very few have
been concerned with describing and defining the core phenomenon itself.
However, it seems reasonable to assume that in order to obtain all the highly praised
advantages of modularity, it is necessary to understand and describe the phenomenon. This
allows the creation of guidelines for good modular design. Such a basic understanding is not
found today, which may be the reason why relatively few companies have used the concept
over the years, despite the fact that the idea has been known for a long time. The purpose of
this paper is to understand, describe, and define the phenomenon using the historical evolution
as a starting point.
2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND EVOLUTION
Modularity has recently got a lot of attention, but the concept is not new at all. Back in time
the module was well known, even though the term was used in another meaning. In the
beginning of the 20th century industrial building blocks were introduced in architecture, which
has influenced the understanding of the concept. Today it seems as if the concept is changing
again. In the following some of the most important trends are described.
2.1.Ancient Time
Originally, the term module comes from ancient time, where the Latin word modulus were a
measure of length. It was described already by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (Vitruve), who worked
under the Roman emperor Augustus. He wrote in his ‘Ten books on Architecture’ (De
architectura libri decem) about laws on proportions and symmetry in temples and columns. The
module was a standard measure ensuring the right proportions. [Routi , ‘98]