In an effort to encourage improved repairability for computers, chip maker Intel has provided its thoughts on incorporating modular design into electronics to comply with right-to-repair policy.
“Modular PC architecture is an innovative approach that addresses this requirement of end-of-life extension with the flexibility to upgrade and repair their systems with ease,” Intel wrote in a recent blog post. The authors included Gurpreet Sandhu, vice president of Intel’s Platform Engineering Group; Reshma PP, director of system design for the Platform Engineering Group; and Roberta Zouain, sustainability product strategy and marketing manager.
Modular PC design would help extend product life and reduce e-scrap with upgradable systems and repairable or replaceable components, streamline manufacturing design and manage costs by reusing modules, and enable easier product SKU management and faster time to market, the authors wrote.
To help product engineers in the many varied sectors of technology devise an approach, the authors broke down modular design into three levels: factory, field and user. Which approach to use depends on the manufacturer’s product positioning, market dynamics and costs, the blog authors wrote.
An example of factory modularity is a vehicle manufacturer providing several engine choices for one model of car. Modularity at this level enables flexibility and high levels of design reuse, and decreases costs and carbon footprint, and provides scalability, the authors wrote.
In contrast, field modularity allows for changes outside the factory setup, but may still require skilled labor or specialized tools. Vehicle tires and wheelsets are among current examples of field modularity, as many cars allow for different sizes and types. In this case, the dealer makes the changes to a vehicle that was manufactured with a standard setup.
And finally, user modularity allows consumers to change product settings or components themselves – for example, wi-fi dongles, and upgradable memory and storage. These changes do not require dealer or manufacturer intervention, the authors wrote.
