Platform and modularization strategies in practice: An exploratory study

Paper in proceeding, 2007

Existing research on platform and modularization strategies tends to focus on certain effects of the strategies on, for example, increased product variety and more frequent product launches. More seldom is the research focusing on product development lead time and cost. Current literature is also biased towards case-based research, with a particular emphasis on success stories. This paper investigates the usage and effects of platform and modularization strategies using data collected in a survey of 101 Swedish manufacturing companies. Results indicate a close relationship between companies’ usage of platform and modularization strategies. Regarding contextual factors, that may help to explain the usage of these strategies, an unexpected finding was that companies employing a modularization strategy tended to be smaller and have a narrower product range. Performance effects are foremost on product variety and not on product development lead time or cost.