Abstract This work applies modular design concepts to designating beverage-container injection molds. This study aims to develop a method of controlling costs and time in relation to mold development, and also to improve product design. This investigation comprises two parts: functionality coding, and establishing a standard operation procedure, specifically designed for beverage-container injection mold design and manufacturing. First, the injection mold is divided into several modules, each with a specific function. Each module is further divided into several structural units possessing sub-function or sub-sub-function. Next, dimensions and specifications of each unit are standardized and a compatible interface is constructed linking relevant units. This work employs a cup-shaped beverage container to experimentally assess the performance of the modular design approach. The experimental results indicate that the modular design approach to manufacturing injection molds shortens development time by 36% and reduces costs by 19∼23% compared with the conventional approach.
Meanwhile, the information on modularity helps designers in diverse products design. Additionally, the
functionality code helps effectively manage and maintain products and molds.
Keywords Beverage container . Injection mold . Modular design . Product family

1 Introduction
Recently, growing market competition and increasingly diverse customer demand has forced competitors to increase the speed at which they deliver new products to the market. However, developing a mold for mass production requires considering numerous factors, including product geometry, dimensions, and accuracy, leading to long product development time. Introducing modular
design concepts into product design appears a key mean of facilitating product development, since it increases design flexibility and shortens delivery time [1¨C4]. Meanwhile, a high level of product modularity enhances product innovativeness, flexibility, and customer services [5]. Modularity is to subdivide a complex product into modules that can be independently created and then are easily used interchangeably [6, 7]. There are three general fields where modularity could be implemented including
modularity in design (MID), modularity in use (MIU), and modularity in production (MIP) [8]. MID involves standardizing basic structural units which perform specific functions, thus facilitating flexible assembly of various products [9, 10]. MID can reveal product structure, namely the relationship among different products. Related products are termed product family and include both basic and specific functions. Developing product families offers benefits in terms of multi-purpose design and thus reduces production costs [11, 12]. MIU is consumer-driven decomposition of a product with a view to satisfying the ease of use and individually. MIP enables the factory floor to precombine a large number of components into modules and these modules to be assembled off-line and then brought onto the main assembly line to be incorporated into a small and simple series of tasks.


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