Module-Based Manufacturing
Description
Jeff Handly (PORENA):
"In module based manufacturing final assembly is done by one local unit which is not owned by the brand, and the product goes straight from manufacturing to the customer. The other main difference is that the product always goes back to the factory. It is never scrapped. So products’ life time is far longer.
The other difference – and this is what gets some people – is that each product actually has more material in it. This is because there is more redundancy in each module used to make up the product."
Characteristics
Jeff Handly:
"* One local assembly shop; gives economies of scale for assembly and recycling, and closeness to the customer.
- Brand as design. Allows companies to concentrate on their particular Brand values and look and feel – using global competence to reach a pinnacle of excellence whilst giving them global reach.
- Standard modules; These modules actually allow for more variation and product variants, which are often endless.
- Return to local shop. The benefit is no scrap, 100% recycling, a long lifetime which is energy effective, and no mass transport of goods.
- Long product lifetime. This reduces the overall ecological footprint of the use of the product over its full lifetime."
Discussion
How is it achieved
Jeff Handly:
"The question became: how do you provide people with good quality products, ones that can be updated as well, without many manufacturing and transport steps and waste creation?
The first thing to do is eliminate the last step … the retail trade. Getting your goods straight from manufacturing eliminates transport, warehousing, retail space, etc. It also makes sure you manufacture exactly what the customer wants … no unwanted products sitting on the shelf.
The next step to eliminate was scrapping. Components – and we are talking everything from furniture to TVs – all have different life times and uses. For example: when people scrapped their VCRs for DVDs 80% of the components were similar. So this was solved by designing products for update. You just took the product back to the manufacturer to get it updated, upgraded, mended, whatever.
This ties together with the third step, dematerializing of brands. The brand as we knew it evolved into being a pure design company – and I don’t mean just physical design, but technical as well. The dematerialized company provided manufacturing instructions to an assembly company, which was local. Consumers ordered their product, and the assembly shop put it together based on designs by the brand. The components were mostly standard with a small percentage of custom parts.
This paved the way for the fourth step: eliminating the shipping of finished goods. All that is shipped is modules to be put together locally. The assembly is carried out in the same organization that takes care of service and upgrading. .So you would find at least one assembly and service shop at each town.
So how much more effective is module based manufacturing?
We estimate there is a 30% reduction in energy intensity in the whole system, without counting the average lifetime of the product is extended from 2 to 12 or even 20."