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The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of product modularity on four aspects of competitive performance: cost, quality, flexibility, and cycle time.

Constructs were created from a comprehensive survey of the automotive sector. Regression is used to ascertain the relationship between the constructs of product modularity and performance with three different integration strategies as mediators.

Modularity positively and directly influences each aspect of competitive performance for each integration strategy tested. Indirect effects were found for each integration strategy for cost and flexibility; and for manufacturing integration and cycle time.

A product modularity strategy enables simultaneous improvements on multiple dimensions of competitive performance.

This research is the first to empirically validate the effects of product modularity on competitive performance. Furthermore, it provides insight into the exact nature of product modularity's influence on competitive performance.

The paper aims to deal with the benefits and challenges of 3D integration of electronics and mechanics as well as the special requirements in designing a system.

Three‐dimensional integration technology has been enabled by innovations in thermoplastic printed circuit board (PCB) materials and novel system integration. Furthermore, the integration of electronics and mechanics helps manage product creation, as design phases must be integrated and teamwork well organized. A multidisciplinary approach is another must in marketing technology, because any decision to incorporate an integrative technology in a product must be based on an understanding of the many forms of expertise involved in creating a product.

With a unique copper pattern for each 3D shape, inconvenient distortions can be controlled, as dedicated copper patterns enable designers to make efficient use of formable multilayer structures and advance an extra step in freedom of design. Findings are based on a working demonstrator.

Even if 3D multilayer design now lacks dedicated tools, software is likely to evolve to include all necessary functions.

Forming a multilayer PCB enables designers to free their imagination and to take advantage of numerous possibilities, including even futuristic shapes.

Three‐dimensional integration offers great potential for product design, although by definition and in terms of production technology 3D integration is an incremental change.

The development of innovative procurement instruments can be costly and risky. To capitalize on successful innovative instruments, it is essential that these are reused. However, reuse can be problematic in project-based public client organizations. This paper aims to apply the ambidexterity concept of integration mechanisms to examine how such reuse can be facilitated.

An initial framework is developed to conceptualize and contextualize the ambidexterity integration mechanism for the procurement function of a multi-project public client. Concluding that, in this situation, an organizational procedure is an appropriate interpretation of the integration mechanism, a design science project is carried out to develop and implement a procedure in a real-life setting.

Reconstructed reuse patterns confirm the need to have an actionable integration mechanism implemented. Integration, in the sense of drawing benefits from successful one-off innovative procurement instruments, may fail unnoticed if not organized and deliberately managed. The procedure developed in the design science project demonstrates how such integration can be achieved.

Although research on ambidexterity has grown exponentially in the past decade, it is yet to be applied in the field of public procurement. Furthermore, the application of design science research is novel in this field of literature. The paper illustrates how both can help solve a relevant organizational problem.

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of the preliminary design and optimization of the air-intake system and the engine nacelle. The work was conducted as part of an integration process of a turboprop engine in a small aircraft in a tractor configuration.

The preliminary design process was performed using a parametric, interactive design approach. The parametric model of the aircraft was developed using the PARADES™ in-house software. The model assumed a high level of freedom concerning shaping all the components of aircraft important from the point of view of the engine integration. Additionally, the software was used to control the fulfillment of design constraints and to analyze selected geometrical properties. Based on the developed parametric model, the preliminary design was conducted using the interactive design and optimization methodology. Several concepts of the engine integration were investigated in the process. All components of the aircraft propulsion system were designed simultaneously to ensure their compliance with each other.

The concepts of the engine integration were modified according to changes in the design and technological constraints in the preliminary design process. For the most promising configurations, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) computations were conducted using commercial Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes solver FLUENT™ (ANSYS). The simulations tested the flow around the nacelle and inside the air-delivery system which consists of the air-intake duct, the foreign-particles separator and the auxiliary ducts delivering air to the cooling and air-conditioning systems. The effect of the working propeller was modeled using the Virtual Blade Model implemented in the FLUENT code. The flow inside the air-intake system was analyzed from the point of view of minimization of pressure losses in the air-intake duct, the quality of air stream delivered to the engine compressor and the effectiveness of the foreign particles separator.

Based on results of the CFD analyses, the final concept of the turboprop engine integration has been chosen.

The presented results of preliminary design process are valuable to achieve the final goal in the ongoing project.

In this chapter, the authors theorize organizational integration by extending, elaborating, and combining various theoretical perspectives, such as structural contingency theory, organization economics, and organizational culture. The aim of this study is to provide the foundation for a holistic theory of integration that examines the different relevant facets of integration and a comprehensive set of tools – integrative devices – by which integration can be sought by those who design the organization. To this end, the authors examine the integration challenge that arises from various types of subunit interdependence – pooled, sequential, and reciprocal – and theorize which configurations of integrative devices are more likely to be effective in a given task environment. The authors close by discussing directions for future research on organizational integration.

Recent construction literature has been focusing more on integrative contracting approaches such as integrated project delivery (IPD). However, conceptual studies on integration in IPD literature are scattered and fragmented, that is, most of the studies only focused on the segmented dimension of integration. A systemic understanding of the concepts of integration in IPD project-based context is still lacking. To fill this gap, this paper analyzes two aspects of integration (dimensions and directions) in IPD literature and explores their extent in construction projects.

Grounded theory review and focus group discussion approaches were employed to perform a thorough conceptual review of the literature, frame the research into the theory and increase the fundamental understanding of the concept of integration in IPD literature.

In this study, IPD integrating techniques were identified and their integration dimensions and directions were discussed. Results show that integration in the project-based environment of IPD is a multidimensional construct. Based on organizational, contractual and operational characteristics of IPD projects, twenty-four integration mechanisms were identified and framed into seven clusters. The integration directions over project life-cycle were demonstrated in three contexts: (1) an on-site construction project, delivered traditionally, (2) an on-site construction project, delivered with IPD and (3) an off-site construction project, delivered with IPD.

This paper gathers the segments of integration into a comprehensive overview, which can help researchers and practitioners explore elements of IPD project success more precisely. A theoretical framework of integration clusters is developed, based on IPD literature. The impact of IPD on on-site versus off-site construction is illustrated from an integration direction perspective. Finally, future areas of studies for researchers and practitioners about the concept of integration in an IPD context are discussed. This paper provides a point of departure for future theoretical and empirical explorations.

The purpose of this article is to introduce a framework for internet supported inter‐organizational product development, which enables companies to efficiently configure their development processes according to their needs.

Three ideal types of partner integration are identified and specific design guidelines for each type are proposed. Current approaches for product development collaboration are analysed. Based on their shortcomings the main approach of this paper evolves. Additionally the main results of interviews with experts are used to develop and introduce a framework which has been tested partially in the shipbuilding industry.

The paper identifies three types of partner integration and proposes specific design guidelines.

The framework introduced in this paper provides guidance for future research in the area of product development collaboration.

The framework further supports managers in designing efficient and effective inter‐organizational product development collaboration by choosing the appropriate level of partner integration.

The paper presents a practical and usable framework for internet supported inter‐organizational product development collaboration. The main focus is on designing the partnership interaction.

Companies are increasingly adopting technologies that can promote integration between functions and tasks. The implementation of these technologies has largely concerned the tasks of installation and the technical integration of the system. However, insufficient attention appears to have been directed towards organizational and managerial integration issues. Argues, based on empirical data from 15 UK engineering companies, that effective implementation of integrating technology requires a better understanding of issues concerning the integration of functions/tasks involved. Focuses on the issues and problems concerning managers involved with improving engineering/production integration, and proposes alternative organizational and technical mechanisms for implementing such integration. Reviews these mechanisms by reference to the engineering case companies.

Explores strategic and structural contingencies surrounding customer‐supplier partnerships, in a global sample of 218 firms from the engineering sector. Collaborative practice is analysed along two dimensions, namely operations integration and co‐design. The former concerns the management of logistics (physical and information flows), and the latter refers to suppliers’ involvement in the customers’ product development process. In particular, it was found that the degree of vertical integration, the level of innovation effort and the kind of improvement priorities clearly influence the adoption of partnerships, more than other classical contingencies relating to country, industries and firms’ size. Also, it was apparent that such strategic factors affect operations integration and co‐design practice differently.

Better integration of project processes has often been identified as the key issue regarding construction performance improvement. In some countries lean construction has become well‐established, although there appears to be considerable diversity in the interpretation of the concept. Lean construction initially focused on production aspects, but gradually design issues have started to receive more attention and integrating construction design and production processes from a lean perspective are beginning to be addressed. The purpose of this paper is to identify some of the practical challenges underlying the implementation of approaches promoted as “lean” and compare this with published research/theory.

Following an extensive review of the literature, a multiple case‐strategy approach was used to explore the practical application of lean approaches to design and construction integration in an organisational setting. Summaries of the case studies, one from the USA and two from Denmark, help to highlight a number of pertinent issues facing practitioners and researchers.

Findings suggest that it is possible to identify a number of aspects that (in theory as well as in practice) both influence and, to various extents, limit the applicability of the lean philosophy to construction. Findings also help to emphasise the importance of a number of interdependent factors for achieving better integration, namely: value identification/specification; an appropriate project delivery framework; structuring and planning of delivery processes; transparency; management and leadership; learning; and the importance of local context.

The findings provide an original contribution to the integration of design and construction activities from a lean perspective. The findings are generic and could be practically applied in a variety of contexts.