Today, most customers want discrete manufacturers to customize products for them in such a way that it reflects their brand or requirement. It can either be a customized component that fits their product assembly, or a uniquely shaped/colored automobile part, or a medical device component to treat a specific disease. Whatever it can be, you get the drift.
As a manufacturer who creates custom-products, every customer order is different from each other and requires a custom design and manufacturing approach. Moreover, customers today also want to be a part of the custom design process and watch their product/assembly/part take shape.
The usual capabilities of an ERP software seem inadequate to meet custom-manufacturing demands. What you need is a powerful configuration tool that lets you create rule-based solutions for configure-to-order, make-to-order, assemble-to-order and engineer-to-order environments.
An in-built product configurator tool in an ERP lets you configure custom features, include additional components, routings, BOM generation rules, pricing rules etc.
What is a Product Configurator in an ERP software?
A product configurator is a rule-based module where manufacturers can configure product designs, generate custom BOMs, routings, pricing and discount rules for custom products etc. All this can be done from a simple to use browser interface that is accessible from any device and hand held device. Let us look at various features available in a Product Configurator.
Price & Quotation Configuration
Custom products require a different quotation and price estimation approach. Each product needs a different BOM configuration, machine and labor capacity, material etc. to manufacture it. The challenge here is that manufacturers deal with multiple custom-orders at the same time, and in order to fulfil it on time, they need to quickly arrange quotes and arrive at accurate pricing estimates in a short time.
With a product configurator, manufacturers can configure and automate sales pricing, discounting and quotation workflows for custom-configured products. The easy to use browser-led interface allows engineers, sales personnel and customers to configure. They can generate custom quotation documents and detailed estimates based on price options and configured product requirements. Also, field personnel can configure on the move via hand-held devices such as smartphones and tablets.
BOM and Routing Configuration
New BOM and routings need to be created for every custom product requirement. A product configurator allows manufacturers to quickly define various rules for BOM generation based on selection of configuration options. They can associate phantom BOMs and standard item BOM to these options. They can also define rules for single or multi-level routings based on options. Apart from this, they can set up conditional rules to BOM calculations, generate single and multi-level BOMs.
Pricing and Discounting Rules
Manufacturers can set up pricing rules for various configuration options based on pricing definition tables, lookup tables, and calculated values. They can set up discount schedules based on each option, and respective customer types. They can set up discounts for dealers. System computed prices and discounts can be overridden with the configured rules.
Flexible Item Numbering
Based on customer requirement, custom-item numbers can be created and allocated to products. Manufacturers can set up rules for generating Item numbers for a configured Item based on options. They can generate item numbers at the time of quoting or after a quote becomes a sales order. Master item number and BOM records can be automatically created from the configurator. They can populate item characteristics from the configurator to an item master based on configurator data.
Publishing to Dealers and End-users
Getting approvals for configurations from third party vendors and customers is quick and simple. Manufacturers can share and publish fresh product configurations with their vendors and customers from within the ERP itself. They can allow them to use the same configurator rules as internal users. Vendors and customers can make access, configure and change configurations from anywhere using smartphones and tablets. Also, manufacturers can receive real-time data from dealers and customers if they have made any changes.
Configurator Administration Console
Management of configuration options is easy with the help of the product configurator admin console. The admin module allows setup of user inputs, configurator rules, changes etc. Manufacturers can set up their own sequence of questions, screen layouts, color schemes and overall user-interface. They can attach drawings, specifications etc. to the configured product. They can set up a separate configurator for each product line. In case of complex product configurations that require advanced coding, developers can write scripts for complex calculations and rules.
ERP & Product Configurator
The product configurator is built within the ERP software. Therefore, configured quotes, estimates, BOM and pricing rules integrate real-time into the ERP’s centralized database. This eliminates duplicate record creation and reconciliation. Also, with its integration to various modules such as sales management, order management, inventory, supply chain management etc. the workflow is seamless and the data is updated in real-time across all modules.
Tracking and History
Manufacturers can monitor revisions made to all configurations. They can track its history with relevant details such as, person who created it, date and time stamps, revision history, share history etc. This helps them maintain comprehensive documentation of all product configurations for audit and compliance purposes. Also, in case of any last-minute or emergency changes, or defects, they can narrow it down to the respective configuration and make necessary changes.
Conclusion
A product configurator is a great tool for manufacturers who cater to customers with custom products. It saves them immense time, overhead cost, production cost, and effort required to manufacture a custom part/subassembly/final product. The speed at which they can be configured increases order-to-fulfilment ratios, improves cash cycles, market reputation and customer satisfaction.
OmegaCube ERP’s Product Configurator enables manufacturers to easily configure & customize products for their customers from a single location.
