Adoption of modular architecture in product innovation: a preliminary literature analysis

Due to the benefits perceived by organizations in adopting modular architecture, this has been widely used for product innovation, especially in sectors where competition and competitiveness are more intense. In this sense, the objective of this work is to identify, based on a bibliography analysis, the benefits of using modular architecture as well as existing trade-offs with respect to the modular design. For this purpose, a systematic literature review was conducted to identify studies that investigated the relationship between the adoption of modular design and innovation performance. The paper presents the main benefits of using modular architecture in, for example, cost and production time; trade-offs of modular design that influence product innovation, such as intellectual property protection and the environmental impact of products; and opportunities for future research were identified, primarily associated with the need for empirical studies and to assess the restriction of the use of modularity. The importance of assessing the advantages and disadvantages of the use of modular design according to the organization’s strategies can be verified and it can be concluded that research aimed at verifying the environmental impacts of modular innovations plays an important role in the current context.