Toward a product system modularity construct: Literature review and reconceptualization

Product modularity has been discussed in engineering and management literature for over forty years. During this time span, definitions and views on the meaning of product modularity proliferated to the extent that it is difficult to understand the essential traits of the concept. While definitional ambiguity is often a byproduct of academic debate, it hinders the advancement of scientific knowledge as well. This paper aims to move a step forward toward a more precise definition of product modularity, by articulating a product system modularity construct in the domain of tangible, assembled artifacts. More precisely, the paper constitutively defines product modularity in terms of component separability and component combinability. An indirect operational definition for product modularity is then proposed by operationalizing component separability and component combinability. The proposed definition is finally related to other definitional perspectives synthesized by a literature review: component commonality, function binding, interface standardization, and loose coupling. In this way, the nomological network of the product modularity construct is laid out. Construct validation activities are left to further research.