What is product configuration management and why is it important?
Product configuration, often referred to as knowledge-based configuration, is the process by which parts and components are selected and arranged, to meet a given set of requirements. Customers in almost every discrete manufacturing industry increasingly expect products to cater to their specific needs and meet their specific requirements.
Manufacturers have many production strategies to address these varying degrees of customization. Assemble-to-stock and assemble-to-order (ATO) support fixed product features and can be pre-planned and ordered at high volumes. Configure-to-order (CTO) builds on top of that and adds variable features, while engineering-to-order (ETO) can start from either ATO or CTO and deliver order specific engineering.
Regardless of the go-to-market strategy (ATS/ATO, CTO, or ETO) product configuration can improve product and process quality and workflow efficiency, while helping companies deliver product diversity.
What are the benefits of product configuration and management?
For companies dealing with complex products and a platform, or variant-based go-to-market strategy, product configuration management drives better product development alignment, efficiency, and coordination across engineering, manufacturing, and service.
Implementing a connected digital thread with a robust product configuration management solution provides early visibility to change for all product stakeholders, better quality, more reliable compliance, and efficient concurrent manufacturing.
<p>For companies dealing with complex products and a platform, or variant-based go-to-market strategy, product configuration management drives better product development alignment, efficiency, and coordination across engineering, manufacturing, and service. </p> <p>Implementing a connected digital thread with a robust product configuration management solution provides early visibility to change for all product stakeholders, better quality, more reliable compliance, and efficient concurrent manufacturing. </p>
Better Design Reuse
Engineers can reduce duplicative work, minimize product portfolio complexity, and accelerate product delivery by leveraging options and choices, as well as parts classification for design reuse.
Governance and Traceability
Reduce risk and efficiently manage like products all under one overloaded structure. Track quality, compliance, and make changes across a family of product configurations more easily.
Swift Pricing
The cost of manufacturing a given configuration is derived more quickly based on new inputs and existing data so critical pricing information is available to the customer sooner, and orders can close faster.
Accurate Orders
With effective and well-integrated product configuration systems in place, order accuracy is reinforced, eliminating costly errors.
Engineering Efficiency
Thoroughly leveraging current product engineering data, while fluidly incorporating new or changed product configuration requirements, makes the best use of engineering resources. Variability is optimized, and costly rework is eliminated.
Customer Satisfaction
Based on reduced error rates, superior quality, more reliable pricing information, and faster time to market, satisfaction increases and the relationship between customer and manufacturing is strengthened.
Knowledge-based configuration case studies
Learn how industry leaders are using PLM for product configuration management.
Vestas: Offering configurable wind turbines
Hear how Vestas, a wind energy solutions leader, leverages PLM to effectively design, manufacture, and service highly customized and configured wind turbines.
Groupe Beneteau: Streamlining product development
Learn how Groupe Beneteau leverages Windchill to manage their product customizations and configurations to help streamline product development.
Polaris: Driving a connected enterprise with the digital thread
Learn how the powersports leader addresses the complexity of all its product options and variants with Windchill.
Volvo Group Tackles Product Complexity with Platform Architectures in Windchill
Volvo Group discusses how they have leveraged Windchill to help them tackle industry challenges with a modular approach to product development.
Volvo CE: Engineering for choice
Discover how Volvo Construction Equipment manages product configurations and complexity with concurrent design and manufacturing by first establishing a common product architecture.
Windchill: PTC’s PLM configuration management solution
Realize value quickly with standardized, out-of-the-box functionality. Leverage BOM management and configuration management capabilities using a single source of data with real-time information sharing.
Product configuration management FAQs
What are the challenges of managing configurations?
There are multiple challenges to managing configurations:
Lack of Alignment—Requiring manual, paper sign-offs on changes means inefficient execution of changes and no holistic product design.
Outdated Product Designs—The lack of ability to make coordinated changes can leave stakeholders unable to access current data.
Lack of Reuse—Duplicate work and slows down time to market.
Lack of Governance—Changes to a product’s configurations throughout its lifecycle aren't traceable.
What is product variant management?
Product variant management is a critical process that enables teams to manage complex variants and configurations at scale. Product diversity brings challenges to operational efficiency, complicating processes, introducing the potential for errors and adding development and quality-related costs. Rather than reconfiguring a new product every time an order is placed, variant management allows engineering to reuse predefined configurations (or variants) and to apply change management, quality workflows, and other processes to all like variants simultaneously.
What is the knowledge-based configuration process?
So-called knowledge-based configuration seeks to manage customization requirements more quickly and accurately for a particular customer. This is achieved by integrating learnings, experience, and knowledge from the product's previous use phases into the continuing configuration process, improving the accuracy and timeliness of BOM generation. Knowledge-based configuration is also a rich and well-proven application area for artificial intelligence, whereby a body of information can be searched for valid existing configurations that meet a given set of needs, using AI techniques.
How does effective product configuration management impact business?
When high-quality products are delivered faster, at lower cost, the customer's own business results are enhanced. CTO capabilities amplify these strengths. Effective product configuration management eliminates friction throughout the product lifecycle, ultimately strengthening the enterprise's reputation, its bottom line, and its brand.
Related resources
Understanding Configuration Management in Windchill
Dive into Windchill’s role in streamlining configuration processes, validating design choices, and ensuring consistent information sharing.
Dive into Windchill’s role in streamlining configuration processes, validating design choices, and ensuring consistent information sharing.
The Seven Building Blocks of the Digital Thread
Industry analyst Tech-Clarity shares how configuration management is critical to the creation of a successful digital thread.
Industry analyst Tech-Clarity shares how configuration management is critical to the creation of a successful digital thread.
Taking Your Modular Platforms to the Next Level With Dynamic Positioning
Explore how modular platforms, the next step beyond basic configuration management, speed up valuable time in engineering and manufacturing.
Explore how modular platforms, the next step beyond basic configuration management, speed up valuable time in engineering and manufacturing.