Concept for Product Modularization in the Context of Circular Economy

In the past decades industrialization increased productivity drastically and it became feasible to overproduce goods in order to lower production cost. This overproduction favored a linear form of value creation, in which raw materials are transformed into finished products. After the usage phase products are disposed, creating the demand for new products. However, resources are limited and considering not only economic but also ecological effects of this linear form of value creation, a fundamental change will be necessary in the future. One possible approach is a circular value creation, in which products, components and materials serve as the base for new value creation cycles after their use. The challenge is that due to their structure and architecture, current products make economically viable circular value creation difficult. New concepts and methodological approaches are necessary dealing with the question of how product architectures must be designed and modularized in order to realize circular economy in a feasible way. This paper evaluates the latest scientific approaches for the creation of circular products and deducts a concept for modularization in the context of circular economy, which helps applicants to design feasible product architectures and divide products into suitable modules from both an economic and a circular economy point of view.