Supply Chain › Master Data
Product Configurator
Configure to order, assemble to order, make to order and engineer to order. A model asks questions, rules constrain the answers, and resolving a configuration produces an item, a bill of material or an engineering request.
In Supply Chain → Master Data · 14 screens
WorkspaceConfigure a ProductAnswer the model’s questions and watch the price, the lead time and the fulfilment strategy resolve as you go.OpenRecordsConfigurator · ModelsA configurable product and how a configuration of it gets made — configure, assemble, make or engineer to order.OpenRecordsConfigurator · QuestionsThe questions a model asks, in order. How many answers each takes decides whether it is a radio button or a checklist.OpenRecordsConfigurator · OptionsThe answers. An option with an item puts a part in the product; one without is a characteristic that changes price and paperwork.OpenRecordsConfigurator · RulesTwo kinds of rule in one list. CONSTRAINT rules say what may be chosen, as explicit pairs, because a rule has to be explicable to a salesperson standing in front of a customer. PROCESS rules say what the choice MEANS — which component, in what quantity, through which operation, with which inspection — and carry a condition written in the ordinary expression language.OpenWorkspaceConfigurator · WorkbookThe whole definition of a configurable product — models, characteristics, values, rules written as IF … THEN … sentences, components, operations and sub-assembly structure — as one Excel workbook to download, edit and upload; or many rules pasted as text at once.OpenViewConfigurationsWhat customers actually configured, what it came to, and whether it can be made yet.OpenRecordsConfigurator · ParametersThe named constants a calculation rule leans on — the process allowance, the cutting allowance, a density. Named so a formula reads as a sentence rather than as arithmetic over numbers nobody can place.OpenRecordsConfigurator · Sub-assembly InheritanceWhich of a parent model’s answers travel down to a child model, and under what name there. Without the map a sub-assembly is configured in isolation, and a 12 mm machine acquires a 10 mm axle.OpenViewConfigured · ComponentsEvery part the rules put in a configuration, at the quantity their formulas computed, with the rule that chose it. The answer to “why does this order have this part”.OpenViewConfigured · RoutingThe operations a configuration resolved to, in sequence, with the work centre, the time the rules computed and what each costs. A galvanizing operation that is not there is the answer to “why is this one cheaper”.OpenViewConfigured · InspectionsThe inspections a configuration’s characteristics decided on — incoming, in-process and final. The same rules that chose the parts choose what is measured.OpenViewConfigured · Cost SheetThe rolled-up cost of a configuration, element by element — material, labour, machine, setup, outside processing, scrap, freight, packaging and overhead. A total nobody can check is a total nobody can defend.OpenViewConfigured · WhyEvery fact about one configuration in one list: what was answered, what was computed from it, what that selected, and which rule did it. The screen a production engineer opens when an operator asks why the traveller says what it says.Open
Columns, fields and actions
| Screen | Kind | What it is | Columns | Fields | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Configure a Product | Workspace | Answer the model’s questions and watch the price, the lead time and the fulfilment strategy resolve as you go. | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Configurator · Models | List | A configurable product and how a configuration of it gets made — configure, assemble, make or engineer to order. | 14 | 25 | 4 |
| Configurator · Questions | List | The questions a model asks, in order. How many answers each takes decides whether it is a radio button or a checklist. | 8 | 11 | 0 |
| Configurator · Options | List | The answers. An option with an item puts a part in the product; one without is a characteristic that changes price and paperwork. | 15 | 27 | 0 |
| Configurator · Rules | List | Two kinds of rule in one list. CONSTRAINT rules say what may be chosen, as explicit pairs, because a rule has to be explicable to a salesperson standing in front of a customer. PROCESS rules say what the choice MEANS — which component, in what quantity, through which operation, with which inspection — and carry a condition written in the ordinary expression language. | 26 | 45 | 0 |
| Configurator · Workbook | Workspace | The whole definition of a configurable product — models, characteristics, values, rules written as IF … THEN … sentences, components, operations and sub-assembly structure — as one Excel workbook to download, edit and upload; or many rules pasted as text at once. | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Configurations | Read-only list | What customers actually configured, what it came to, and whether it can be made yet. | 10 | 0 | 1 |
| Configurator · Parameters | List | The named constants a calculation rule leans on — the process allowance, the cutting allowance, a density. Named so a formula reads as a sentence rather than as arithmetic over numbers nobody can place. | 8 | 9 | 0 |
| Configurator · Sub-assembly Inheritance | List | Which of a parent model’s answers travel down to a child model, and under what name there. Without the map a sub-assembly is configured in isolation, and a 12 mm machine acquires a 10 mm axle. | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| Configured · Components | Read-only list | Every part the rules put in a configuration, at the quantity their formulas computed, with the rule that chose it. The answer to “why does this order have this part”. | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| Configured · Routing | Read-only list | The operations a configuration resolved to, in sequence, with the work centre, the time the rules computed and what each costs. A galvanizing operation that is not there is the answer to “why is this one cheaper”. | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| Configured · Inspections | Read-only list | The inspections a configuration’s characteristics decided on — incoming, in-process and final. The same rules that chose the parts choose what is measured. | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Configured · Cost Sheet | Read-only list | The rolled-up cost of a configuration, element by element — material, labour, machine, setup, outside processing, scrap, freight, packaging and overhead. A total nobody can check is a total nobody can defend. | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Configured · Why | Read-only list | Every fact about one configuration in one list: what was answered, what was computed from it, what that selected, and which rule did it. The screen a production engineer opens when an operator asks why the traveller says what it says. | 9 | 0 | 0 |