Colloquia

Summary

Currently, we are living in society in which a lot of good products are disposed. Products with small errors are disposed and new products are bought. As an result the European union responds with new legislation for companies that focusses on waste reduction and circular economy concepts. PCV group is looking for a new pad based coffee appliance. Logically, this appliance should take into account the legislation. A need for a specific approach that supports these values should be incorporated to create the desired design output. 

A concept that supports longevity in design and supports maintenance aspects is modularity.  In this thesis project a framework is developed that includes modularity in design. In current research, multiple authors touched upon the concept of modularity. However, the practicality of these tools are up for debate. 

In the thesis the aim is to create a framework that is practical for engineering companies. In order to achieve this, a preliminary framework is created and tested in a case study. More importantly, the product development process of PCV is transformed to a product development process that takes into account modularity. 

In the first part of the thesis, research is done on the definition of modularity. Modularity can have multiple different definitions, it is important to distinguish the different definitions and define the definition used in this project. Furthermore, development processes that take into account modular design are researched, the PCV group development process is researched, and design for ‘X’ methodologies are investigated. Using the research a preliminary framework is created. 

In the second part of the thesis the case study is performed. In the case study a modular coffee machine is created using the preliminary framework. Using the case study, choices are made on what tools/ approaches are practical to be used to create a modular design. The result of the thesis is an design for a modular pad based coffee machine, together with a practical final framework.