TABLE OF CONTENTS We took apart our car and their car and found that our parts were as good as their parts, or better. But they have a better car and we don t understand how it happened.
Product architecture is about the relationships between the whole product, its parts and subassemblies, how those items are arranged in space, and how they work together to provide the product s functions. Product architecture is widely discussed and studied because it has such a strong influence on how the product is designed, manufactured, sold, used, upgraded, repaired, and recycled. It is therefore not surprising that it is also widely debated, and no single acceptable definition has emerged that captures all of its influences and nuances.
In this chapter, we will discuss product architecture in general, to show how it influences the product and to show how architecture issues interact with assembly. We will find that, while architecture affects different phases of the product s life, the decisions, once made, are implemented during assembly, affect assembly, or provide or limit the degree to which users and other downstream players assemble or disassemble the product. Product architecture is therefore a major force in assembly in the large.
Product architecture links many technical and nontechnical issues in product design and production, so much so that different constituencies in the product development process may want the product to have radically different architectures. Sorting out the implications for different architectural choices before they are made is extremely important. Among the issues...
