22/11/2024. Why modular design is important for a green future
Companies in low-volume/high-mix markets must find a better balance between innovation, cost-efficiency, and sustainability as the business world changes quickly. Focussing on sustainability can feel like a luxury you can’t afford if your business isn’t set up modularly. You already have a lot on your plate trying to meet goals and stay on budget for projects.
Here’s where modular design shines through.
Switching to a modular product layout makes operations more efficient and lets you focus on designing products that will last. We’ve seen this power directly at Modular5.
This article discusses how the 9R framework can help modularisation be more sustainable: reduce, reuse, repair, refurbish, remanufacture, recycle, recover, rethink, and refuse.
What Modular Design Has to Do with Circularity ♺️
What Does Modular Design Mean?
In modular design, complicated goods are broken down into standard building blocks that can be used in different designs. This is similar to how LEGO® blocks are used in construction: each piece is made separately but fits together perfectly, and there are only a few types of bricks.
This method works especially well in markets with a low demand for a few products per year. Because each customer wants their machine to do different things, most companies create a new design for each customer.
In a modular product portfolio, orders are fulfilled by rearranging pre-made parts in a modular way instead of making entirely new solutions.
How does modular design help the environment?
Modularisation not only makes designing and making products easier, but it also sets the stage for managing a product’s entire existence in a circular manner.
How to do it:
1. Better Reuse
Standardised units can be used in different product lines, cutting waste and production costs.
2. Better repair and maintenance
Modular goods make changing or improving individual parts easy without redoing the whole system. This reduces downtime and repair costs while making products last longer.
3. It is easy to fix up and make again
Used modules can be fixed up to look new or used for different purposes, adding a lot of value to current assets.
4. More likely to be recycled
Modular goods are easier to disassemble, so materials can be separated and recycled more effectively.
5. Pay attention to sustainability metrics
Most importantly, implementing a modular architecture allows your engineers to optimise the design with sustainability in mind. The reuse of the designs makes the effort worth it.
If your product is built in modules, you can look at each individually and see how it affects the 9Rs of sustainability. This organised method helps you rethink and improve all parts of your design to make it circular.
How We Work Together with Universities
We at Modular5 know that sustainability isn’t just a word; it’s a goal that can be achieved. This is why we’re working with universities to create a plan to make modular product design more environmentally friendly. We’re also developing methods together, like a dashboard, that will enable your designers to compare different design concepts and select the most promising option for detailed design.
This way, we aim to help industrial companies meet their sustainability goals while cutting costs using modularisation strategies based on academic study and real-world experience.
Just why modular design is good for business
Why should businesses in the industrial sector use modular design?
If you work in manufacturing, especially in low-volume/high-mix markets, modularisation has many benefits that go beyond sustainability:
- Modular Design Can Help You Make More Money: Because development cycles are shorter, you can get goods to market faster and stay ahead of the competition.
- Cut down on planning costs: standardisation makes planning and building easier, which lowers costs.
- Make manufacturing more productive: modular parts make production methods more efficient, which leads to more output.
- Less expensive fixes and maintenance: When repairs are easier, your customers pay less, lowering their total cost of ownership.
Modular design isn’t just a technical choice in a competitive market; it’s a strategic necessity!
What Does Modular Design Have to Do With the 9Rs?
Let us look more closely at how modularisation fits in with the 9R-model for circularity:
Smarter product design, manufacturing
Eliminating parts, equipment, or modules is the most effective reduction of their environmental impact.
R1—Rethink:
Rethinking the solution, e.g., using a product more intensively. Often, a new solution eliminates parts or even entire modules (R0 – Refuse).
R2 – Reduce:
Increasing the efficiency of the product or its parts reduces the use of resources.
Extend the lifespan of the product and its parts
R3 – Reuse:
Reusing a discarded product that is still in good condition in its original function.
Modularity enables the reuse of modules if one module is replaced or renewed with upgraded functions. In a non-modular world, the entire machine would likely be discarded.
R4 – Repair:
Maintaining and repairing a product to keep it operational.
R5 – Refurbish:
To extend the useful life of an old product, restore it and introduce new, updated functions.
Use parts or equipment from a discarded product to create a new product with the same function.
R7 – Repurpose:
Use parts or equipment from a discarded product to create a new product with a different function.
Useful application of materials
R8 – Recycle:
Process materials into raw materials for new products. This can involve upcycling to a higher grade, recycling to the same grade, or downcycling to a lower material quality.
R9 – Recover:
Incineration of materials to generate energy.
The lower the R-number, the greater the effect on circularity and, therefore, the greater the impact on reducing the product’s environmental impact.
A product’s design is critical in a company’s sustainability efforts, hence the struggle of the low-volume/high-mix market. These OEMs barely have the resources to design, make and deliver a compliant product on time and within their budget.
Modularisation saves time and resources by transitioning from Engineering each product to order (ETO) to configuring each product (CTO). These resources can be repurposed to improve the products’ designs, including optimising their environmental impact.
The figure below shows how the 9R-model and the phases in the Modular5® framework fit seamlessly together.
🎯Key takeaways
Here are the key takeaways from this article:
- Modular construction is vital to being environmentally friendly for companies operating in low-volume/high-mix markets. It simplifies product design, making advancing in the circular economy easier.
- The 9Rs structure combined with Modular5’s framework shows the way forward. Use it to examine and improve each module’s efficiency.
- Tracking the lifecycle effect of each module with tools like the sustainability dashboard we’re making.
- Reducing products’ environmental impact starts when the design process begins. The earlier ecological impact is considered and optimised, the greater the gains.
- Make choices based on data using a circularity impact calculator to improve sustainability.
- Lower your customers’ total cost of ownership by efficiently and effectively maintaining, repairing and upgrading their equipment.
- Being eco-friendly is good for business. It improves your brand’s image, drives efficiency, lowers costs, and gets you the first-mover advantage.
Are you ready to change your business?
Modular5 is an expert in designing modular products that help businesses like yours do well in low volumes and high-mix markets. Our team of experts in product modularisation is here to help you whether you want to cut down on planning costs, boost sales with modular design, or make manufacturing more efficient.
Watch the video to learn more about how modular design helps with circularity, and contact us right away to discuss how we can help you reach your sustainability goals!
We are committed to making you the undisputed champion in your market.