Determining granularity of changeable manufacturing systems using changeable design structure matrix and cladistics

Changeable manufacturing systems offer a high level of adaptability and agility in response to product and market changes. They are characterized by modularity and scalability, which are derivatives of system granularity. Determining the best granularity level of a changeable system helps maximize its ability to change throughout its planned utilization horizon. A new model and two case studies are presented to show: (1) new changeability design structure matrix (CDSM) to express all planned system configurations, (2) cladistics analysis to hierarchically cluster CDSM into component modules, and (3) new granularity index (GI) to determine the best system granularity level which balances the merits of manufacturing system modularity with integration.