How to model the product in engineering effectively?
In this blog-post we'll continue the series how to design the configurable product from Engineering point of view.
The only right answer is to create configurable or modular product!
First of all, when creating configurable product, you need to analyse the following:
- What are the customer needs?
- Can we create a technical solution and what it takes?
- Are there new enabling technologies to consider?
- Have we analysed competitors offering?
- Should we create a modular product that is brings reusable configurable components?
- Who are the sales users e.g., internal sales persons, resellers, customers?
Based on these questions sales and engineering must come to a common conclusion what the product features are and what are the allowed feature values and what are the feature value combinations. These features are known also as customer questions.
In our solution, VariSuite, these customer questions, or features, are modelled as parameters.
To succeed with sophisticated Product Management, these parameters needs to be managed globally, which means these parameters can be used in multiple products or product families and modules or components.
Parameters needs to be managed also so, that they have different status or lifecycle. The status will manage parameter usage in current products and ensure that it will retire when some parameters are no longer needed in the offering or they’ve replaced by another one.
Parameters can vary, they can be value lists, ranges, single or multi-valued variables.
When adding parameters to product model, parameter values can be refined, this means that parameter values can be limited from global parameter values in desired specific product.
The constraints are added between allowed parameter combinations for example: with Forestry Trailer product: the payload value is requiring and/or limiting the necessary breaking power, and vice versa.
Coming in the next blog-posts – where we’re opening the way how Variantum guides our customers and partners towards easier Configurable Products:
- How to model the product in engineering
- How to create sales model with prices and UI in sales
- How to fulfil manufacturing needs
- How to fulfil service needs
- How to make product process streamlined from sales to manufacturing and to service
If you’re looking for help with modularizing or parametrizing your product family, do not hesitate to contact us.
