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From Complexity to Configurable Advantage

Build Lasting Capabilities to Repeatedly Win in the Market

Discover How Explore the Benefits

Lead the Next Wave in Consumer & Commercial Appliances — Navigating Change With Confidence

Consumer and commercial appliance manufacturers face sustained cost pressure, growing product variety, rising expectations for smart technologies, tightening sustainability requirements, and ongoing supply chain uncertainty. Together, these forces increase complexity and make it harder to balance efficiency, innovation, and reliable execution. By structuring products around modular, configurable architectures, organizations can reduce complexity, improve reuse, and adapt more effectively to changing market and regulatory demands—creating a stronger foundation for competitiveness over time.

Industry Drivers and Opportunities:

home appliances Achieving Enduring Competitive Advantage in Durable Goods Companies

Win on Cost and Variety

Margin pressure and expanding portfolios challenge traditional product models. Modular architectures enable controlled variety, higher reuse, and scalable differentiation—allowing businesses to compete on cost while offering broader, market-relevant portfolios.

5

Scale Smart Innovation

Smart features and digital expectations are becoming standard across appliances. Modular product structures make it possible to integrate, reuse, and upgrade smart technologies quickly—accelerating innovation while keeping complexity and risk under control.

3

Lead With Sustainable Products

Sustainability and regulatory pressure are reshaping buying decisions and market access. By embedding compliance and sustainability into modular product designs, manufacturers can move faster across markets, reduce redesign cycles, and turn sustainability into a differentiator.

4

Build a Resilient Supply Chain

Supply disruptions and regionalization expose the limits of rigid product designs. Modular architectures increase sourcing flexibility, enable faster supplier switches, and improve resilience—helping businesses maintain delivery performance and scale with confidence.

From ETO to CTO — a practical manufacturer’s guide

Learn how manufacturers reduce lead times, improve predictability, and scale without adding complexity

Download Manufacturer´s Guide

Change Creates Opportunity — Are You Ready to Capture It?

At Modular Management, we empower businesses to turn change into opportunity. 

We specialize in modularity and configuration, embedding adaptability and resilience into every corner of your business — from strategy and products to processes and people. By simplifying complexity and building flexible systems of strategic building blocks, we enable your business to scale, innovate, and thrive.

Your Goals, Our Starting Point

We begin by understanding your priorities — the goals you want to achieve and the challenges that matter most. From there, we identify high-impact opportunities that deliver quick wins and set the stage for sustainable growth.

Modularization: The Foundation for Configurability

Our approach starts with modularization, creating structured product architectures that make configurability possible. This foundation unlocks flexibility, accelerates speed to market, and drives cost efficiency — transforming complexity into scalable, customer-focused solutions.

Smart Configuration Where it Matters With PALMA

To manage and execute these configurations, we use PALMA, our purpose-built Product Configuration Platform. PALMA unifies data, applies smart configuration rules, and ensures governance — making your product strategy future-ready and digitally enabled.

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Business Composability GIF

 

What You Can Achieve with Us:

Reduce Complexity Without Sacrificing Customer Choice

Streamline your portfolio with configurable product architectures that reduce complexity and cost while maintaining customer choice.

The Payoff

Lower complexity and inventory costs
Streamlined operations and supply chain
Maintain customer choice without excess SKUs

Capture the Full Value of Modularity

Turn modular platforms into scalable architectures supported by smart digital tools, standardized interfaces, shared data models, and clear decision rights.

The Payoff

Higher reuse across product lines
Lower development and lifecycle costs
Faster customization at scale

Move from Project Delays to Market Leadership

Shift from custom projects to a configure to order approach that accelerates delivery, standardizes core modules, reduces rework, and improves predictability.

The Payoff

Cut engineering effort by up to 70%
Reduce project risk and change requests
Scale variants without adding complexity

Launch Faster With Configurable Platforms

Replace one-off development with configurable platforms that speed up launches and simplify change. Standardized core modules reduce rework, improve predictability, and accelerate Time to Market.

The Payoff

Shorter Time to Market
Competitive advantage in dynamic markets
Quick response to customer needs
Whirlpool Case Story:

Scaling Multi-Brand Strategy Without Added Complexity

Whirpool

Whirlpool, a global leader in home appliances, had a clear multi-brand strategy for microwave ovens but struggled to execute it profitably. High product complexity, low flexibility, and intense low-cost competition made it difficult to differentiate brands, scale efficiently, and improve margins — while time-to-market pressure continued to increase.

The Challenge

Product variety was expensive and slow to develop. Platforms and parts proliferated, design changes were hard to assess, and short product life cycles made it difficult to refresh portfolios quickly without driving up cost and complexity.

 

The Solution

Modular Management and Whirlpool partnered to establish:

  • A modular product architecture translating brand and market strategy into product structure

  • Clear modular decomposition using Modular Function Deployment®

  • Reusable modules enabling configuration across brands and markets

  • Governance, workshops, and quality reviews to ensure modular discipline in development

  • Design principles enabling faster change impact analysis and concurrent engineering

Outcomes

35% reduction in unique parts
 
 25% fewer parts per product
 
 20% reduction in parts costs
 
 40% fewer platforms
 
 10% material cost reduction
 

 Insights to Help You Navigate Complexity

Achieving Enduring Competitive Advantage in Durable Goods Companies

In the rapidly evolving landscape of the durable goods industry, the ability to adapt and innovate is more critical than ever. The post-pandemic world has presented us with unique challenges and unpre...

Read More

Harnessing Brand and Product Strategies for Post-Merger Success

Imagine you’re a CEO or a corporate business unit leader who has just orchestrated a major merger or acquisition. The excitement of creating a larger, more powerful entity is palpable, but so are the ...

Read More

Complexity Scorecard for Optimized Product Assortment

This Complexity Scorecard helps you evaluate whether your current approach truly optimizes your product architecture or simply reduces numbers without addressing root causes.

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Trusted by Industry Leaders Worldwide

Wärtsilä 200x100
Metso 200x100
Mabe 200x100
Permobil 200x100
Uhlmann 200x100
Valmet 200x100
Alfa Laval 200x100
Oilon 200x100
Körber 200x100
Volvo Trucks 200x100
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Electrolux

Talk to Our Experts

Luther Johnson

Luther Johnson

President Modular Management North America

Email
LinkedIn

EK

Erik Kärnekull

Manager

Edward Rinaldi

Edward Rinaldi

Director of Sales 

A conversation is the best place to start

Tell us what you’re working on — we’ll take it from there.

What We Offer in the Consumer and Commercial Appliance Industry

Modular Management, through its platform PALMA, offers a range of solutions tailored to support appliance manufacturers in overcoming industry obstacles, driving growth, and staying ahead of the competition.

Benefits of Modular Architecture

Modular architecture offers a strategic advantage by accelerating product development, lowering costs, increasing flexibility, enhancing product variety, improving sustainability, and enabling the seamless integration of new technologies. These benefits help companies stay competitive and responsive to market demands.

Accelerated Product Development

Reduce product development time by implementing modular design principles that enable faster prototyping and easier customization.

Cost Reduction

Lower production costs and streamline operations by standardizing components and reducing part numbers.

 

Increased Flexibility

Quickly adapt to regulatory changes and evolving consumer demands with a flexible, modular product system.

Enhanced Product Assortment

A modular approach expands product lines by combining modules to meet diverse market needs. This strategy enables mass customization, delivering tailored solutions efficiently and cost-effectively.

Sustainability

Design products with modular components that are easier to upgrade, repair, and recycle, supporting sustainability goals.

Integrated New Technologies

Integrate new technologies faster with modular design principles that make it easy to add smart features, IoT, and AI without extensive redesigns

Customer Success

Whirlpool’s Transformation through Modular Product Architecture

Whirlpool, one of the world’s larger appliance manufacturers, partnered with Modular Management to tackle the growing complexity across its vast product portfolio. Facing challenges from global competition and internal inefficiencies, Whirlpool implemented a Modular Product Architecture strategy, starting with microwave ovens and eventually expanding across all product lines. Over an eight-year engagement, this transformation led to a 40% reduction in part numbers, a 25% decrease in product development time, and over $1 billion in added shareholder value. This strategic shift allowed Whirlpool to maintain its market leadership while significantly improving profitability.

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Customer Success

Whirlpool’s Transformation through Modular Product Architecture

Cost and Revenue Impact
With brand strategies driving market volumes and price premiums, the cost side results were significant:

 35%  reduction in unique parts
 25% fewer parts per product
 20% reduction in parts costs
 40% fewer platforms
 10% material cost reductions. 

Although harder to identify causality, quantifiable market impacts were also considered remarkable, including significant brand price premiums that even exceeded the cost side results.

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Customer Success

Husqvarna’s Modular Product Architecture Transformation

Cut Time To Market by 50%
To overcome challenges like acquisitions, regional product variations, and low-cost competition, Husqvarna needed to rationalize part numbers, lower costs, and globalize product design. Partnering with Modular Management, Husqvarna implemented a modular design strategy for two leading electric string trimmer brands, achieving annual sales of over 500,000 units.

Results Achieved with Modular Design:
50% faster time to market for new SKUs.
25% reduction in manufacturing costs.
50% fewer resources needed to develop new products.
Significant increase in EBIT margin, even amidst fierce competition.
Reduced inventory levels across the supply chain while maintaining low service call rates.

Business Value Delivered:
Developed a profitable entry-level product.
Freed up resources for more new product development.
Successfully entered new markets with unique product variants.

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Customer Success

Husqvarna’s Modular Product Architecture Transformation

Cut Time To Market by 50%
To overcome challenges like acquisitions, regional product variations, and low-cost competition, Husqvarna needed to rationalize part numbers, lower costs, and globalize product design. Partnering with Modular Management, Husqvarna implemented a modular design strategy for two leading electric string trimmer brands, achieving annual sales of over 500,000 units.

Results Achieved with Modular Design:
50% faster time to market for new SKUs.
25% reduction in manufacturing costs.
50% fewer resources needed to develop new products.
Significant increase in EBIT margin, even amidst fierce competition.
Reduced inventory levels across the supply chain while maintaining low service call rates.

Business Value Delivered:
Developed a profitable entry-level product.
Freed up resources for more new product development.
Successfully entered new markets with unique product variants.

Read More
husqvarna-logo
Customer Success

Husqvarna’s Modular Product Architecture Transformation

Facing rising complexity and fierce competition, Husqvarna partnered with Modular Management to streamline their electric string trimmer product lines. By implementing a modular product architecture, Husqvarna was able to reduce part numbers by 40%, decrease manufacturing costs by up to 25%, and cut time-to-market for new SKUs by 50%. This strategic shift not only improved operational efficiency but also strengthened Husqvarna’s ability to compete in a challenging market, leading to significant gains in EBIT margins and market share.

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