Symmetrix Products Product Definition Companies that manufacture or distribute complex products face the major issues of part number configuration and associated data storage. When a product line has multiple sizes and other variable attributes and options, unique part number permutations can number in the millions, billions, and beyond. Storing data associated with "flat" lists of numbers can be an insurmountable problem. Our product definition technology is designed to provide a way to configure literally billions of products with disk space impact in terms of Kilo (K) bytes, not Giga (G) bytes. Product models are created and then used in a software framework that allows them to provide context specific data for each unique product variation. Applications can easily work within the framework to access the models for part number configuration assistance or direct validation. Once the correct product is determined, application specific information defined in the model is available for sales, marketing, order processing, manufacturing, and other systems. The Symmetrix method of defining products is flexible enough to accommodate products ranging from simple to extremely complex. In fact, the more complex and configurable a product is, the more our technology shines. Each attribute that makes a product unique, and each rule that governs which attributes must, can, or cannot exist together perform in concert in a complete, intelligent product selection system. The result? Your sales force, customers, and business systems share access to a broad wealth of specific detail for any product you make, sell, and/or distribute. The need to enter and maintain huge tables of redundant information is eliminated! Product Configuration A configurable product has various attributes available for selection and those attributes are reflected in the product's part number. Usually there are restrictions on which combinations of attributes result in a valid configuration and there are rules that govern what is allowed and what is not. Even with limitations, the number of combinations of valid products may number in the thousands, millions, billions, trillions, or more. Our product definition technology allows the creation of product models that assist the user in selecting a correct and valid configuration. The product model can also validate a part number and automatically select attributes based on the valid number. Once a product is selected, either with assistance or by validation, information specific to that product is available to any application running in ProdLogix. Although the technology was designed to solve the problems of configuring and maintaining large numbers of configurable products, it can also work well for lists of un-configurable products or for configurations that do not result in a part number. The user interface for product configuration has the same format no matter which ProdLogix based application uses it. This ensures a common look and feel. Engineering Tools The same product models that might be used to provide commercial data for customer facing web configurators can provide complex engineering data that is useful for engineering tools. Applications that assist in creating sub-assemblies of multiple products to complete a panel layout all share the same framework of product models and programming interfaces. Examples of engineering applications that are using ProdLogix today include: a bus bar starter configurator which ensures that all starters on the system are compatible with that system's requirements; a CAD drawing assistant that can provide a layout drawing inside of AutoCAD; and a terminal block assembly tool that ensures all appropriate end barriers, end anchors, and jumpers have been selected. Because of the ProdLogix's extensibility, applications are easily enhanced. For instance, the terminal block assembly tool, mentioned above, has been modified to include user-defined devices and DIN rail mountable relays. Marketing Tools Product models used by a web site to help customers browse, select, and then order your products can also be used by PC based marketing applications. Request For Quote generation software allows customers to build a list of products they are considering for purchase. They may even use some of the engineering tools to assist in selecting a complete list of products.The product information available to your customers on the web, and on desktop computers, can be anything from a simple wiring diagram to a complete sales brochure. At the touch of a button, electronic forms of your product literature, photos, diagrams, graphs, performance sheets, and detailed specifications can be available. This supplemental information can be general, perhaps related to a product family, or it can be tailored to the specific product selected. We have ProdLogix tools that use product models to help create catalogs or price lists. Data can be exported in various formats, including XML, for use by other systems used in your marketing efforts. There is no need to manually re-enter product data into every program that uses it. Sales Tools Proposal generation, competitive cross-references, and distributor site assembly assistance are just some of the tools available to your sales and distribution channel. The same supplemental data that a customer would see when using your marketing tools is available to your sales team for creating complete, detailed, and professional looking proposals. Using customized cover letters and cover pages, a salesperson can produce a Microsoft Word document of a proposal. This document can then be emailed to the customer for consideration. Changes to the contents of the proposal are easily accomplished and a new Word document can be produced at the touch of a button. Many times it is useful to have the ability to take a competitor's part number and cross-reference it to your appropriate product. Our competitive cross-reference tool does just that, in a way that makes converting to your products a snap. The cross-reference program creates a report that can be included in your proposal to help expand the sale. For some complex assembled products, small modifications made at a local site other than the main plant may decrease turn around time and increase sales. The distributor site assembly assistance tool can help a distributor make modifications by following your pre-determined rules. Order Validation Using the same product models that are available to your sales, marketing, and engineering applications, ProdLogix can make it easy to validate part numbers as they come into your order entry process. Price and availability information can be maintained by making simple changes to your product models. Our validation capabilities make it possible to perform batch or behind the scenes data cleansing. For instance, you might use a batch process to confirm the validity of orders received through an e-Business connection. One result of this process could be a report that indicates what is wrong with any invalid part numbers. Manufacturing Assistance As orders progress from order entry through manufacturing, ProdLogix software can run in the background to again simplify the problems of part number validation and data storage. The same product models accessed by your sales, marketing, and engineering applications, are ready to go. Add manufacturing related information to those models and it is immediately available to your manufacturing applications. When orders are processed, bill of material and other data specific to each part number can be passed to your existing systems. Instruction sheets, labels, schematic drawings, and other supplementary documentation can be generated using information supplied by the product models. You no longer have to maintain large files of bills of materials, drawings, and other information for each specific catalog that might be ordered. ProdLogix runs in the background supplying data as requested and as needed. This data can range from something as simple as a manufacturing location, to dynamically created bills of material and instructions necessary to create diagrams in a CAD system. Custom Applications The beauty of the ProdLogix framework of software is that it allows any custom application to access the configuration power of the product library. If you have a need for a special application, simply add any required data properties to your product models and then use the ProdLogix framework to communicate between the application and the library. Custom applications can also be written to assist in the actual product configuration. They are easily accessed from the product definition models. © 1991-2004 Symmetrix Software, Inc. All rights reserved. |