Title: The architectural attributes of components and the transaction patterns of detail design drawings: a case study on China's motorcycle industry

Authors: Ge Dongsheng

Addresses: Manufacturing Management Research Center, University of Tokyo, 8F, Hongo No.1 Building, 3-34-3 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan

Abstract: During the reverse engineering-based product development process prevalent in China|s motorcycle industry, diverse patterns for the same components have been observed in the dyadic transactions of the same components between an individual assembler A and its supplier. The explanation of this phenomenon makes us turn to the perspective of product architecture. We propose that the architectural attributes of the components differ under the alternative transaction patterns – Drawing-supplied system, Drawing-approved system and Purchased parts system. When various patterns are present for the transactions of same components, this correlation reveals the architectural competition between two reverse engineering-based product development strategies – the assembler-led top-down one and the supplier-led bottom-up one that is defined as ||localised modularisation||.

Keywords: transaction patterns; detail design drawings; reverse engineering; product development; architectural attributes; architectural competition; localised modularisation; strategic coordination; motorcycle industry; China; product architecture; make-or-buy; component design.

DOI: 10.1504/IJATM.2005.006879

International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management, 2005 Vol.5 No.1, pp.46 - 70

Published online: 20 Apr 2005 *

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