This paper defines open-architecture products (OAPs), a new class of products comprising a fixed platform and modules that can be added and swapped. Customers can adapt OAPs to their needs by integrating modules into the platform. Manufacturers will produce these platforms, while new small companies and customers will develop the modules, thus increasing employment and causing the economy to flourish. At the same time OAPs will provide consumers with the product they desire. Challenges include developing new OAP design software for non-professional designers and new assembly systems to facilitate economical assembly of a large number of product variants. In summary, mass individualization shifts the product design focus from a single manufacturer to the individual buyer and multiple companies that invent and offer modules. Mass individualization requires the buyers to be involved in the design of their products. While the trend of the mass individualization paradigm may be pointed at a "market-of-one," the number of market-of-one products is huge because globalization provides a huge number of customers. More specifically, a mass of products exists, with each produced for a different customer. Hence, this paradigm includes a combination of mass production and individualism. We anticipate that manufacturing enterprises will introduce many consumer products with open-platform hardware that will facilitate the integration of mechanical and electro-mechanical modules. Examples of such products include automobiles, appliances, wheelchairs, toys, rehabilitation equipment and hospital beds, as well as machine tools and other manufacturing equipment. The interior of automobiles may be central to mass individualization. Today, the interior design of ordinary automobiles is not commonly personalized, even though automobile manufacturers are gradually opening up their products for consumer participation in developing applications. Car manufacturers design cars, including the interior, without any customer involvement, although customers are given many options to select from. All these options are well designed to fit a specific automobile. The new paradigm introduced in this paper will dramatically change the way automobile interiors are designed.


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    Title :

    Open-architecture products


    Contributors:
    Koren, Y. (author) / Hu, S.J. (author) / Gu, Peihua (author) / Shpitalni, M. (author)

    Published in:

    CIRP Annals ; 62 , 2


    Publication date :

    2013


    Size :

    11 Seiten, 18 Bilder, 70 Quellen




    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Print


    Language :

    English




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