Eliminating or minimizing the harmful impacts of product complexity by managing product configurations and data with a single source of truth has become a critical competitive differentiator.
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.
Learn how industry leaders are using PLM for product configuration management.
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.