BULETINUL INSTITUTULUI POLITEHNIC DIN IAŞI - Universitatea ...

Bul. Inst. Polit. Iaşi, t. LVI (LX), f. 2, 2010 233
Table 2
Key aspects for the sales and design departments
Departments: Sales Engineering design
Specialization: Marketing Engineering
Modules: Functional modules Product parts and assemblies
Software: Configuration tool Virtualization and calculation tools
Goals: Sell the product Design with minimum costs
Degree of content: Sale probability Technical feasibility
In the center of the knowledge base is the abstract representation of the
product structure, from a neutral point of view. This representation is company
and product specific and it represents the basis for all the department specific
derived views. As exemplarily presented on the right side of the picture, the
module Mi in the main structure will contain its technical (e.g. for the design
department), as well as its functional (e.g. for the sales department) description.
The module has additional parameters and logic, for other derived views, as for
example for geometry calculation, validation of a module combination or
visualization of dependencies systems.
Further research is currently done to describe how at early stage goal
conflicts can be recognized and solved based on this structure.
5. Benefits of Using the Presented Knowledge Base
The main benefits of the presented solution and its knowledge base are:
- It reflects the company global view on its product structure definition;
- The collection and preservation of knowledge can be carried out without
strong efforts, as the configuration system is used on a daily basis;
- The sales and design departments are interacting better;
- The customized offers can be faster and technically more accurately
generated;
- There is a methodic, systematic and goal oriented approach towards a
common context for the configuration.
6. Conclusions
1. The need for customized products has increased due to market
globalization, internationalization and customer awareness. For staying
competitive, companies have to provide custom solutions for low prices, high
product quality and short lead times.
2. The knowledge necessary for configuring customized products in early
design phases is often scattered through numerous software tools and separated