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1. Introduction
Modular product design, or modular design (MD), has been extensively discussed in the literature on technology and operations management (Frandsen, 2017; Kamrad et al., 2017; Vickery et al., 2016; Bennett, 2014; Danese and Filippini, 2013; Salvador, 2007; Jose and Tollenaere, 2005; Lau and Yam, 2005; Ramdas, 2003; Baldwin and Clark, 2000). MD is a product design approach that specifies and standardises the specifications of product components and interfaces in a product system (Ulrich, 1995). By disassembling and recombining the components, new products can be rapidly developed (Schilling, 2000). MD can cope with product complexity, reduce cycle times, enable mass customisation, accelerate product innovation and improve manufacturing performance if it is managed well (Patel and Jayaram, 2014; Jose and Tollenaere, 2005; Baldwin and Clark, 2000; Liao et al., 2010).
Examples of MD applications and successful cases are provided in the literature (Engel et al., 2017; Schäfer and Sorensen, 2010), and the management of MD has been investigated in empirical studies (Liao et al., 2010; Persson and Ahlstro, 2006). Although significant, the results are inconclusive in terms of how MD can be effectively managed (Kamrad et al., 2017; Bennett, 2014; Baldwin and Clark, 2000; Robertson and Ulrich, 1998). For example, Lau et al. (2011) argue that pursuing both modular and innovative products may be counterproductive, and the critical factors in creating MD have not been fully identified. Vos et al. (2018) find that MD and freedom in terms of design solutions must be aligned to ensure effective organisational learning and new product performance (NPP). In general, MD is important for successful product innovation as it helps motivate developers to create new products using a trial and error approach (Ulrich and Eppinger, 2000). It not only simplifies the complex product design process (Pil and Cohen, 2006) but also speeds up new product introductions by (re)combining different modules with a short lead-time (Baldwin and Clark, 2000). Others, however, suggest that the over-use of MD may reduce product innovation. If designers closely follow standardised specifications in modular architecture, it can lead to similar, commodity-like products being developed (Ulrich, 1995). The availability of too many modules can confuse developers and prevent them from creating new designs, thus leading to reduced product innovation...