Product Configuration
The complexity of engineering explodes as products become more complex, product cycle times become shorter, markets and production go global and customers demand more choices and customization. Companies need a solution that allows them to manage this complexity in a simple way, from idea to production. A solution that makes reuse and shared use possible and that eliminate the engineering cycles for products that never come on the market. Teamcenter® Product Configurator meets these needs and helps you manage greater complexity of product variability.
The advantages
- Maximize reuse and shared use and reduce the engineering effort
- Manage all aspects of product variability in one integrated configuration management solution and change management
- Create full visibility of the change on a product suite
Manage the complexity of a product
Product variability gives you the opportunity to offer the best products as a company, so that you meet market needs in terms of price and specific functions with a greater return on product development investments as a result. But this increased product variability also creates more complexity. The complexity of products is growing exponentially due to market demand, technical complexity, business strategy, product / process variety, consumer demand, financial constraints and competitive pressure. The Product Configurator plays a crucial role in managing the complexity of a product. With functions assigned to products, and rules to control and develop product compatibility with each other, you can grow product variants efficiently and effectively.
The functionalities
Separate the variability of the content
With Teamcenter® Product Configurator you separate the variability of the content, so that the autonomy required for configuration specialists and engineers works semi-dependent, but the close link where the 2 domains come together is not lost. You use defined functions in the Configurator to define other content, such as bills of materials and CAD designs. This separation allows you to apply variability and definitions of rules to multiple structures and across multiple domains, such as sales, design, engineering, production and service.
Use the library in the Configurator
The library in the Configurator offers one global definition of each product function. Based on market requirements, product planners add functions, manage them in the central library and arrange the release and consumption rules for those functions within a product family or between different product families. Planners assign functions for use in products and product lines, along with rules that regulate the use of functions. The Library makes quick summaries of which functions are used and makes grouping of functions possible, making design and production ever easier.
You assign subsets of functions from the library to product lines and focus on specific product models. This one source makes it easy to share functions and product rules across products to maximize investment in product development. You use product lines and groups of functions to generalize and simplify maintenance. All this information – characteristics, rules, product lines and product models – is presented in an easy-to-maintain matrix.
Check changes
Changes during product development are inevitable. With Teamcenter® Product Configurator, change control is easy, you review functions and you release them as products evolve. The introduction of functions or changes to functions are sorted by start and end date or unit. Set aging and remove functions in a controlled manner.
All this control ensures that any user who wants to configure a product can always get started with a validated configuration for that product. This information is presented to the end user via a guided configuration that shows as few functions as possible and only selects the permitted functions.
Take control of your product variants
The pressure for manufacturers is increasing: in order to meet customer expectations, they must offer a larger and more versatile range. The Teamcenter® Product Configurator responds to this. Manufacturers specialize a product based on specific needs. The “configure-to-order approach” is increasing more and more: standardized customer-specific solutions that bring product specialization closer to the customer. If you use traditional processes, configure-to-order causes a flood of duplicate data that leads to errors in product development. Teamcenter® Product Configurator provides a single backbone for managing product variability that ensures that all disciplines work from the same idea about product definition.
cards PLM Solutions: driven by digitalization
- Start from the core: in our opinion, a thorough intake process does not mean a one-size-fits-all. We take the time to really get to know you.
- Partnership: we continue to challenge you on the content. Whether it concerns a strategic, tactical or operational issue.
- Personal approach: every partner gets its own team of specialists from day one. They do everything to get the most out of your process.
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