Constraint-Based Configuration, a New Paradigm Product Configuration

Product Configuration Value Proposition  Customer-focused  Visualized multi-level product models  Easy to get started  Reusable components  Constraint-based  Support for multisite and inter-company scenarios  Dedicated Application Programming Interface

Customer-Focused  Configure-to-order scenario  Mass-customization philosophy  Tender for unique customer requirements  Manufacture-to-order rather than to-stock  Analyze products to identify product families and generic components  Reduce capital tied to inventory by carrying semi-finished components rather than finished products 3

Visualized Multi-Level Product Models 4

Easy to Get Started  The visual product configuration model structure makes it easy to keep the overview  Declarative constraints can be written by a product designer without help from a developer  The model including constraints isn’t compiled, thus it doesn’t require a developer license to either build a product configuration model or configure a product variant for a customer. 5

Reusable Components  Components are defined once and can be used in many models  A component’s constituents are maintained in the context of the product configuration models that it is included in  Attributes describe the properties of a component and the variability offered to the customers  Constraints limit customer options and provide dependencies  Subcomponents identify the lower component levels 6

Constraint-Based Configuration  Shift from rule-based to constraint-based product configuration modeling technology  Write declarative expression constraints using the Optimization Modeling Language rather than imperative rules using X++  Declarative constraints will always be satisfied and don’t impose a flow on the configuration process  Lower TCO as fewer expressions are required to express the same logic  Microsoft Solver Foundation handles the product configuration model at run time

Dedicated Application Programming Interface  Provides an opportunity for partners or anybody with a developer license to extend a product configuration model  Is executed when a configuration session is completed  Is implemented through the PCAdaptor class hierarchy, which exposes the product configuration data model  The main purpose is to modify the configured BOM structure, the route, or write back to the order line 8

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