Elements of a product configuration model
As many products have become commodities, a need to differentiate them has arisen. The immediate response of manufacturers to this challenge has been to create variants of each product so that customers have more alternatives. This strategy has led to increased forecast challenges and to an increase in inventory cost and unsold products that have become obsolete.
The key to success in this situation is to carefully analyze the product portfolio and to look for patterns in product features and processes. The goal is to identify generic components that can be manufactured by the same equipment and used in all variants.
The Product configuration feature set includes a user interface (UI) that provides a visual overview of the product configuration model structure and offers a declarative constraint syntax that doesn't have to be compiled. Therefore, companies that want to support a configuration practice can get started more easily. As the following sections explain, a product designer no longer requires the support of a developer to build a product configuration model, test it, and release it to the sales organization.
Several approaches are available for building a product configuration model. One option is to follow a sequential flow by first creating all the reference data, such as product masters, distinct products, and operational resources, and then including them as components, bill of materials (BOM) lines, route operations, and other elements of the product configuration model. Alternatively, you can select a more iterative approach by first creating the model and then adding reference data as the need arises.
The following sections review the building blocks of a product configuration model.
Components
A product configuration model consists of one or more components that are tied together through subcomponent relationships. Components are defined once and can then be used many times in one or more product configuration models. The components are the main building blocks of a product configuration model, and nearly all information about the model is related to them.
Attributes
Each component has one or more attributes that identify its properties. The attributes are what users will choose during the configuration process. Attributes control inter-component and intra-component relationships through inclusion in constraints or calculations. Through conditions that are applied to BOM lines, the attributes can be used to determine which physical parts that the configured product will consist of. Additionally, an attribute can control the property of a BOM line through a mapping mechanism. Similar functionality exists for route operations regarding inclusion and property settings.
Expression constraints and table constraints
Constraints control the attribute values that you can select when you configure products for a sales order, sales quotation, purchase order, or production order. You can use expression constraints or table constraints, depending on how you prefer to build the constraints. See the next unit for more information.
User requirements
A user requirement has all the constituents of a subcomponent. The only difference is that a user requirement isn't bound to a product master. The practical effect of this difference is that any BOM lines or route operation that are defined in the context of a user requirement are collapsed into the parent component BOM structure or route. This behavior resembles the behavior of a phantom BOM.
User requirements can also include soft requirements for a product, especially where you are more familiar with the product than the customer. When you add a user requirement to a product configuration model, you must add attributes and BOM lines to the corresponding component to represent the user requirement.
You might have constraints that you want to use in multiple configuration models or have BOMs or operations that you want to use across several models. The BOM and route operations of user requirements are pulled into the parent item in a phantom BOM way. A phantom BOM is a BOM structure that is not an item. It represents the recipe of something that you do not intend to store as a unit.
Scenario
The USMF company offers services to customers. These services include how to set up a product with several components, maintenance and repair of products, and how to refine or increase the overall performance of a product. These types of services can be added as a user requirement to the product configuration model.
The Product designer at USMF must add a user requirement to the home entertainment system. This requirement will represent potential services that the company offers to increase customer satisfaction. Contoso Entertainment Systems offers installation services, maintenance and repair services, and other professional services.
They add the user requirement to the product configuration model, and then adds attributes for each of the three types of services so that you can select the services when you configure the product.
Finally, they add BOM lines for each of the three types of services.
When any of the services are selected during product configuration, the cost of the services will be included in the sales price of the home entertainment system.
BOM lines
BOM lines are included in the product configuration model to identify the manufacturing BOM for each component. A BOM line can reference an item or a service, and all item properties can be set to a fixed value or mapped to an attribute.
BOM lines are held together in a BOM structure that is created for the subcomponent and the item that is represented.
Conditions for BOM lines can be used in a product configuration model to include or exclude a specific BOM line when you configure a product. When the condition is true, the designated BOM line and corresponding item number are included in the configured product.
Route operations
Route operations are included in product configuration models to identify the manufacturing routes for the subcomponents. A production route in Supply Chain Management is composed of a sequence of steps or operations that define a manufacturing process. Similar to a production BOM, a route must be approved before it can be used, and it must also be selected as active. The approval and activation are completed by the system, so the user does not have to perform these manual steps.
An operation in a route is attached to a specific resource or the capabilities that the resource must own. This defines a person, machine, tool, or vendor who will perform the work.
A route can be defined and attached to more than one item exactly like an operation can be defined and attached to more than one route. A company can build up a library of operations that can be reused on many routes.
A route only contains operations and does not depend on BOM components.
Demo - Maintain a route for a product configuration model
Running this procedure requires that a product configuration model exists. This procedure uses the High end speaker model in the demo company USMF to walk you through the process.
Add a route operation
Go to Product information management > Products > Product configuration models.
In the list, find and select the desired record.
- Select the High end speaker model for this exercise.
In the list, select the link in the selected row.
Expand the Route operations section.
Select Add.
In the Name field, type a value.
In the Description field, type a value.
Select Save.
Enter route operation details
Select Route operation details.
In the Operation field, enter or select a value.
In the Oper. No. field, enter a number.
Operation numbers determine the route sequence.
Each property on a route operation can get a static value or be mapped to an attribute. Mapping to an attribute will result in the value being set as part of the configuration.
In the Route group field, enter or select a value.
- The route group determines essential behavior for costing, consumption, and setup.
Select the Setup tab.
Select the Times tab.
In the Process qty. field, enter a number.
- Determine how many will be processed during one operation.
In the Hours/time field, enter a number.
- Enter the time ratio.
Select the Set check box.
In the Run time field, enter a number.
- Determine the processing time for the quantity that you have specified.
Select the Resource requirements tab.
Select Add.
In the list, mark the selected row.
In the Requirement type field, select an option.
- Decide if you want to specify specific resources or capabilities that they must possess.
In the Requirement field, enter or select a value.
Select OK.