Configuration is the customization of a product to meet the needs of those who must use it. For example, if you were purchasing a new car you will be able to choose the color of the vehicle, the trim package, audio and video options, towing packages, etc. If you are buying a computer then the amount of RAM, the type of video card, the size of the hard drive are all choices you will make. If you are ordering a turbine, your choices will reflect the output desired, the conditions specific to it placement, and the machinery which the turbine will drive. These incorporation and automation of the possible choices for manufacture is what is called configuration.
Configurator is software that, based on rules and methods, allows the customer to choose and customize a product or system according to her or his requirements. Their choices are expressed in the software as options. Depending on the features available and chosen by the customer, the configurator will take the customer’s choices and build the list of componentry, the cost, the sizing, the drawing, the three-dimensional virtual model, and create a product ready for manufacturing.
Manufacturers need constantly improve their products’ value proposition. Preparing better, more accurate technical offers, integrating the sales and design process, automating the design of customized machines and systems to minimize non-productive effort, and drastically reducing quote to market times, all increase the manufacturer’s perceived value in the marketplace.
The numerous combinations between the components of a product and / or its accessories will generate a bill of materials with the possibility that bill of materials is different each time. configurators, on the other hand, allows you to control the parameters surrounding the design of the actual order and its’ order entry process, therefore only orders for products that are viable and its’ BOM will move on to the manufacturing floor.
In general, the configurator produces value when: