Development of market-oriented architectural standards by means of standardized vehicle layouts

Commercial vehicles serve a wide range of operational purposes so that a broad spectrum of conceptual configuration options, for example the number of axles or wheelbase and overhang, has to be offered to the customer. Resulting from the demanded range of configuration options, the installation space for chassis mounted parts varies extensively. This leads to a high variance in positioning for chassis mounted parts. In previous research, a generic package space decomposition and layout patterns of chassis mounted parts were introduced to reduce said complexity. However, a portfolio with layout patterns will only retain its stability as long as the portfolio does not undergo any major changes. Should internal or external causes lead to e.g. an alteration in the dimensions of just one component during the 15 to 20 year product life cycle, new layouts might need to be defined, adding to the variance. The main purpose of this paper is to methodically develop robust architectural standards in the form of standardized layouts regarding truck chassis components as an example for a complex technical system. The presented approach integrates customer- and company perspectives. Customer requirements are investigated retrospectively by means of a market basket analysis. The solution space is generated based on technical requirements. Market requirements and technical solution space are subsequently merged to generate standardized layouts.