Validating Module Heuristics on Large Scale Products

Decreasing time and costs is a major objective in many businesses today. Including modularity in the early design phases can effectively decrease time spent on and costs associated with a project. The task of identifying modules within a product early in the design process (when decisions are less expensive) is made less daunting by using the techniques of functional modeling and module heuristics. This paper discusses the results of the initial efforts to verify the module heuristics on large products (products with functional models consisting of more than 30 sub-functions) since the module heuristics were originally developed on small products. Observations on needed modifications to the functional modeling technique and original module heuristics are reported along with an investigation of using potential risk statements to formulate modules. This work finds the original module heuristics do apply to large products with modifications and combining of heuristics.