This study investigates the barriers to integrating Design for Assembly (DFA) principles within modular product architectures established using the Modular Function Deployment (MFD) method -- a critical stage for deploying mass customization production while reducing costs. Despite the potential benefits of DFA, its application in modular architectures development remains underutilized, due to a mix of challenges. Through content analysis of qualitative data gathered from a focus group and interviews with industry experts and practitioners, we identified four major categories of such challenges, or barriers to adoption of DFA: technological, economic, regulatory, and organizational (TERO). Key challenges include compliance with regulatory requirements for data usage, intellectual property concerns, and limited availability of quantitative data in the initial stages of MFD. The findings reveal that multidisciplinary collaboration is essential to addressing these barriers, as it enhances informed decision making and eases the practical integration of DFA. By analyzing insights from both academic literature and industrial practice, this research develops a conceptual model that describes the main issues of applying DFA in MFD, providing a valuable guide for companies aiming to improve their modular products assembly process. Ultimately, this study provides groundwork to support industry practitioners in overcoming existing barriers, promoting more cost effective, high quality modular design processes with the inclusion of efficient assembly considerations.

翻译：本研究探讨了在采用模块化功能部署方法建立的模块化产品架构中整合面向装配设计原则所面临的障碍——这是实现大规模定制生产同时降低成本的关键阶段。尽管DFA具有潜在优势，但由于一系列挑战，其在模块化架构开发中的应用仍未得到充分利用。通过对焦点小组讨论及行业专家与实践者访谈所获定性数据进行内容分析，我们识别出四类主要挑战（即DFA采用障碍）：技术性、经济性、法规性和组织性障碍。关键挑战包括数据使用的法规合规要求、知识产权问题，以及MFD初始阶段定量数据的有限可用性。研究结果表明，多学科协作对于解决这些障碍至关重要，因其能提升决策的科学性并促进DFA的实际整合。通过综合分析学术文献与工业实践的洞见，本研究构建了一个描述DFA在MFD中应用核心问题的概念模型，为旨在改进模块化产品装配流程的企业提供了实用指南。最终，本研究为行业实践者克服现有障碍奠定了理论基础，推动在融入高效装配考量的前提下，发展更具成本效益和高质量的模块化设计流程。