A problem partitioning method for controlling an interaction and timing of a movement of components along a paper path in a printer or copier, said method being executed in a computer system, wherein the method comprises the steps of: receiving the definition of a system to be controlled, wherein said system includes a plurality of actuators receiving at least one hierarchical control structure definition including a plurality of structure parameters, wherein the hierarchical control structure includes a control module decomposed into at least one sub-module and at least one of the plurality of actuators, each of the control module and the corresponding sub-modules and actuators defining a control node of the hierarchical control structure; receiving problem definitions for the control nodes in said hierarchical control structure, characterized in that the problem definition including at least one constraint, and by receiving a structure evaluation function, said structure evaluation function being adapted to evaluate the validity of the hierarchical control structure based on the at least one constraint; and defining an instantiation of said hierarchical control structure comprising the steps of: decomposing said system into a plurality of hierarchical control structure instances, wherein each of said hierarchical control structure instances includes a plurality of control levels, wherein each of said control levels includes at least one control node; evaluating the performance of each of said hierarchical control structure instances with said structure evaluation function; selecting an optimal hierarchical control structure instance based on the evaluation result for controlling the interaction and timing of the movement of the components along the paper path; providing the selected hierarchical control structure instance to a control allocation module; and grouping actuators into modules according to the selected hierarchical control structure. receiving the definition of a system to be controlled, wherein said system includes a plurality of actuators receiving at least one hierarchical control structure definition including a plurality of structure parameters, wherein the hierarchical control structure includes a control module decomposed into at least one sub-module and at least one of the plurality of actuators, each of the control module and the corresponding sub-modules and actuators defining a control node of the hierarchical control structure; receiving problem definitions for the control nodes in said hierarchical control structure, characterized in that the problem definition including at least one constraint, and by receiving a structure evaluation function, said structure evaluation function being adapted to evaluate the validity of the hierarchical control structure based on the at least one constraint; and defining an instantiation of said hierarchical control structure comprising the steps of: decomposing said system into a plurality of hierarchical control structure instances, wherein each of said hierarchical control structure instances includes a plurality of control levels, wherein each of said control levels includes at least one control node; evaluating the performance of each of said hierarchical control structure instances with said structure evaluation function; selecting an optimal hierarchical control structure instance based on the evaluation result for controlling the interaction and timing of the movement of the components along the paper path; providing the selected hierarchical control structure instance to a control allocation module; and grouping actuators into modules according to the selected hierarchical control structure. decomposing said system into a plurality of hierarchical control structure instances, wherein each of said hierarchical control structure instances includes a plurality of control levels, wherein each of said control levels includes at least one control node; evaluating the performance of each of said hierarchical control structure instances with said structure evaluation function; selecting an optimal hierarchical control structure instance based on the evaluation result for controlling the interaction and timing of the movement of the components along the paper path; providing the selected hierarchical control structure instance to a control allocation module; and grouping actuators into modules according to the selected hierarchical control structure.