Regenerative Product Modality  

RPM: A user centered design philosophy paired with a business marketing strategy which enables the next generation of products to thrive as a circular economy.

by Christian Delise

January 2021

While we may feel as though we are getting better at forecasting it, the future is extremely unpredictable and full of problems to solve. We can, however, make one reliable assumption: Our ability to adapt to changing environments is growing in complexity- for both ecological preservation as well as financial sustainability. Fortunately, there are answers which lie in the very environmental systems we are aiming to protect.  

Businesses and brands are challenged by the need to shift to changing market trends yet simultaneously retain strong year over year growth. It is possible for us to better design our products and our business models to be adaptable to whatever volatility may come- from overstock to supply chain shortages.

Regenerative Product Modality is a design and engineering philosophy paired with a business marketing ethos for creating a circular ecosystem of product lines. Whatever the product, there are systematic approaches novel to each one that allows it to evolve over time. Nature has historically survived and thrived during turmoil by altering its design system to regenerate new components and features which can be more easily repaired or replaced. Currently our products are stuck in time as they serve a singular purpose only for the foreseeable future. We need to instead build things for the infinite possibilities of the future, and develop alternative monetization models which support the longevity of each unit made.

It's a growing consensus that the best philosophy for creating solutions is by being adaptable to the unforeseen. Being adaptable implies that instead of predicting outcomes you design for a variety of them. How do you do that for physical products, though? With a combination of modular design principles, an active ecosystem which swaps out old parts and keeps the core thus using less resources and the supplemental business model user experience model that allows the customer to participate in this sustainable regenerative design. Regenerative Product Modality is the ability to update the business case and the design philosophy which allows users to actively participate in the sustainability of the products they buy since the products themselves have greater longevity and thus a lower overall impact as they require less resources to continuously produce them.  RPM answers multiple issues- giving consumers longer term value in the investment of their products and giving brands more customer retention and dynamic flexibility in their manufacturing and distribution strategy. 

Regardless of where you sit on the environmental topic, there are certain facts that are impossible to ignore. The creation of man made products at scale can have very negative effects on the stability of our natural environment as well as the social systems which support manufacturing. Nature, in all of its wonder, is both the victim and the solution to this worldwide problem of damaging industrial practices. The universe has left certain instructions for us within its own design on how to improve these systems. The examples are both micro and macro in scale. Mutational processes within the design of our cells, allow for modular assemblies to interchange with new solutions as they grow. These adaptations are essential to the longevity of our biology. Nature builds in modules, and she improves by seamlessly and continuously interchanging and updating these modules.

The Unknown Limits to Growth

In 1972 the Club of Rome, an academic organization formed to project and address major challenges faced by humanity, published a book titled “The Limits to Growth.” The study, funded in large part by the Volkswagen Group, ran computer calculations based on future resource models which projected the various impacts of material consumption and unchecked population growth. Among many conclusions was that around the year 2000, the world would run out of resources and large swaths of the population would face starvation and death. The only solution was for society to consume less and throttle back on industrial progress. This grim outlook laid the foundation for the modern environmental movement and was further fueled by turn of the century global warming predictions, which claimed we would run out of oil and fresh water before the year 2020. Obviously these scenarios are unreliable to predict at best, especially when limited variables acre calculated into the equation. What the book failed to factor in it’s projections was the ingenuity of technological advancements and improved efficiencies of infrastructures which have allowed our industries to not only sustain but thrive in the face of resource challenges.

For much of the twentieth century, discovering materials and processes which would accelerate production and distribution of technology was the main priority. The goal of scaling to high volume helped grow nations and deliver upward mobility for billions. The issues which face us are not ones of technological abilities, but proper distribution of them. “The future is here, it’s just not evenly distributed.” This quote by sci-fi write William Gibson accurately describes the current condition we find ourselves in. As a species, we always prove to evolve the efficiencies of our technology, however, as a consumer driven society the issue we face is enabling everyone to embrace them more easily.

Now, as the world faces growing environmental and economical concerns, most industries find a paradoxical situation where their existence is dependent on business models driven by planned obsolescence in the market. When faced with rising material costs and carbon taxes, producing more goods for less cost is not sustainable, regardless of the rate of demand or the ethical drivers of the companies involved.

How will industries adapt in a world which demands more to be made from less?

Evolutionary multimodal optimization is a type of optimization method that is inspired by the process of natural evolution. It is used to find the best solution to a problem by simulating the process of natural selection. Imagine that you are trying to find the best route to take to get to a particular destination. You could try out different routes and see which one gets you there the fastest. This is similar to how evolutionary multimodal optimization works.

In the case of natural evolution, the "fittest" individuals are the ones that are most successful at reproducing and passing on their genes to the next generation. In the case of evolutionary multimodal optimization, the "fittest" solution is the one that is most successful at solving the problem at hand. To find the best solution, the optimization algorithm begins by generating a population of possible solutions. It then evaluates each solution to see how well it performs. The "fittest" solutions are selected and combined to create a new generation of solutions. This process is repeated until the best solution is found. Overall, evolutionary multimodal optimization is a powerful tool for finding the best solution to a problem, and it is often used in fields such as engineering, computer science, and economics.

The answers to evolving our most complex systems are all around us.

It's important to analyze that nature aspect especially since it's the very thing we're trying to coexist with. Therein lies the code for systems thinking which could solve a lot of our problems. The idea of taking inspiration from nature is familiar to both designers and engineers, whether in the aesthetic or functional sense. Beyond functioning as a natural object, we must look closer at the systems designs within nature to get a wider perspective on longevity and sustainability.

  At a cellular level, we can see examples of modular regenerative design principles in organisms such as plants and animals. All living organisms are made up of modular units called cells, which can perform a variety of functions such as photosynthesis- the literal rearrangement of its’ structure to perform new tasks. This ability to regenerate is made possible by the modular design of their bodies, as each part is able to function independently and contribute to the overall health of the organism.

  A more proximate mammalian case study is that of North American Wolves. While migrating in smaller packs of family, the Grey Wolf can drastically alter its diet based on the given environment it is inhabiting at the time. Mainly known to be carnivorous, the packs can shift to an herbivore, or omnivore diet, changing the chemical make-up of their stomachs in order to process plant protein with maximum efficiency. This type of adaptation is metaphorical to our world in the sense that we are also becoming more flexible in terms of the dietary composition of our energy consumption from being largely based on the burning of fossil fuels to a more dynamic use of  electronic battery storage systems.  

Evolutionary multimodal optimization can be seen as a way to optimize the design of these modular systems. Just as natural evolution leads to the development of the fittest organisms, evolutionary multimodal optimization can be used to find the best combination of modular units for a particular product or system. This allows for the creation of highly efficient and effective designs that are able to solve problems in the most effective way possible.

Similarly, in modular product design, the items we produce are designed using small, interchangeable units that can be easily combined to create a larger system. This allows for greater flexibility and adaptability, as the units can be easily modified or replaced as needed. In both cases, the use of modular design and regenerative principles allows for more efficient and effective problem-solving, as it allows for the development of complex systems that are able to adapt and change over time.

Computational Modality Methodology.

  Computation modality is another proven systematic approach used in artificial intelligence applications tasked with calculating the best possible outcomes of certain experiments.  The algorithms basically use evolutionary principles to run a series of scenarios and judge the fittest possible solution over time, factoring a variety of variables. We can extrapolate these principles into a formula that illustrates how an active modular evolutionary multimodal system of products can be more efficient than a traditional system with fixed components.

In the case of an active modular evolutionary multimodal system, the useful life of the product can be extended by replacing or upgrading individual components as needed, rather than replacing the entire product. This can be more efficient in terms of resource input, as it requires fewer raw materials and energy to produce and dispose of individual components compared to producing and disposing of an entire product. On the other hand, in a traditional system with fixed components, the useful life of the product is limited by the lifespan of the individual components. When one of these components fails or becomes obsolete, the entire product must be replaced. This requires more resource input, as it involves the production and disposal of a new product.

Efficiency = (Useful Life of Product) / (Total Resource Input)

To demonstrate this concept, let's consider a simple example. Imagine that a traditional product has a useful life of 10 years, and requires a total of 100 units of resources to produce and dispose of. This would give an efficiency of 10/100 = 0.1. Now, let's consider an active modular evolutionary multimodal system that has a useful life of 15 years and requires a total of 120 units of resources to produce and dispose of. This would give an efficiency of 15/120 = 0.125. In this example, the active modular evolutionary multimodal system is more efficient, as it has a longer useful life and requires fewer total resources to produce and dispose of. This is because the modular system allows for the replacement or upgrade of individual components as needed, rather than requiring the replacement of the entire product.

 A modular and updatable design greatly improves the longevity of the core elements which are the most environmentally impactful in manufacturing.

  When we look at the most resource intensive product manufacturing operations, they typically involve extensive use of exotic materials, natural resources, and labor-intensive manpower. In the Transportation Industries : Aerospace, Infrastructure, and Automotive, the advantages of modular design have been employed for decades- manufacturing standardized frames, chassis and modules which are standardized parts of a greater system require less variation in development and tooling costs. However, the final products are meant to be locked in place throughout the life of the product with disassembly only anticipated for rare edge cases of repair ability. In order to take greater advantage of modular systems at scale, it is possible to shift design requirements which transition from static assembly to active- planning for the modules to be disassembled and reused multiple times throughout the product life cycle. The initial capital investment needed for such a change is high, however the cost advantages long term more than recuperate and return over time. This means that the positive effects of employing active modularity are cumulative in nature. 

CASE STUDY 1

When conceptualizing how to innovate with their new Android series, Google's project ARA was a modular phone concept where you could update individual components as they were release: battery, screen, camera, and processor all sat on chassis holding the main hard drive. The project never went beyond a few over bulky prototypes and was stalled by the lack of profit margin and riskiness of the business model when compared to the ease of producing android phones the traditional fashion. There are billions of personal computer devices in the world, and we do see some businesses allowing jailbroken units to be repaired, even Apple has a refurbishment program. 

CASE STUDY 2

Let’s look at something on the extreme other end of the spectrum. In the case of rocket ships- building and launching single use modules was standard practice in the industry for decades- this methodology made public sector space delivery a cost prohibitive enterprise. The design and application of reusable rockets was a challenging feat to say the least. However, the technological value in sorting out the computational capacity and flight dynamics to allow for a rocket to return to the launch pad were more than worth the cost to develop such advanced technology. The cost savings of the SpaceX business model has drastically lowered the capital cost of launching payloads into space by factors of billions of dollars.

CASE STUDY 3

In the automotive sector, the idea to modulate across different platforms and body styles is nothing new. However as a static system, the benefits have been mostly limited to manufacturing. The effective benefits of an active modular system, such as RPM, would be the customer’s access to a variety of platforms over the life of the vehicle. An appropriate case study for early adoption of this philosophy was an application for the Porsche 911. As a brand which prides itself on longevity, with more than 70% of cars ever produced still on the road, the idea of an infinitely updatable model makes a lot of sense. It’s also a brand torn between analogue internal combustion and being on the cutting edge of electric performance.

Given Porsche’s recent breakthroughs with e-fuels, a carbon neutral petrol alternative which makes internal combustion engines viable for much longer, the idea of a customer choosing one platform and later retrofitting to another later in life is more appealing, and downright cool.

So, the principles are sound and the theory works, why is it not adapted everywhere?

The main hurdle for wide scale implementation of RPM is a matter of convincing those in charge of major manufacturing. We need to present a case for those who look at the numbers and the risks involved in order to ascertain where the production is most resource intensive and of most value to the consumer over time.

The initial capital investment costs of making a system updatable and reusable will be recouped in the advantages in flexibility born from operating more efficiently long term.

Despite many industries still relying on revenue from high turnover product use cycles, the demand for products with more longevity and updatability is increasing. The world’s needs are growing, while the negative impacts of production are exponentially grave. The solution to improving the sustainability of many high impact products is contingent on rethinking the way they are manufactured, used, and reused. Improvements in running efficiencies are limited by the accessibility of the technology of the day.

The companies which will survive this extreme volatility of changing needs will be the ones with the most adaptable product lines. Simultaneously in this transition- they will need to prove that they are lowering the CO2 and raw material impacts in their production lines. The scale of these issues is overwhelming, but the consequences of not changing are worse. Changing the habits of a variety of cultures across the planet to encourage more synchronicity of these systems is proving to be the ultimate challenge in generations. This is not only a question of environmental sustainability but one of economic, social, and freedom of movement for all.  

The benefits of Regenerative Product Modality are clear: An active modular design model for manufacturing, marketing, and distributing products that promotes updatability. This unique business model ultimately advances the sustainability of a product portfolio by offsetting the impacts incurred by a rapidly evolving technological market and improving adaptation to changing demands. RPM provides new revenue opportunities which sustain the costs required to manage the system, while also defining a brand philosophy which instills long term customer buy in.

RPM is a way of rethinking how we manufacture and distribute and care for the things we use which require resources. It's imperative that manufacturers continue to care for the use of products after they have been sold longer term if they are going to claim to be socially environmentally and even financially sustainable. Every single one of us can relate to a product which we believe failed too quickly and was unable to be fixed without replacement period this growing sentiment will ultimately force change widespread.

The world will always demand new machines, as populations grow and needs change. However, a shift in priorities is driving a rethinking for how those machines will be made and sold. The consumer public is tired of wasting costs and time on products which cycle out into the landfill- they will continue to demand long lasting, sustainable products and they will invest in companies which believe in delivering the latest technology, while reducing the turnover. If we apply RPM and build machines which improve as they age- they will not only serve us for longer but also the well-being of our planet earth- the Grand Design in which we call home.