Using Feature Architecture to Enable Profit Maximization (R)
1/7/2003
For commercial product definition, a leading medical devices manufacturer relied on catalog identifiers as an extension to the manufacturing representation. Manufacturing effectively imposed its view as a loosely implemented, quasi-standard on marketing and sales, and ultimately, the customer. The result was a manual and error prone reconciliation across both the sales and manufacturing environments. A new feature architecture provides flexibility without proliferating the number of identifiers. The feature architecture builds on a hierarchical, constraint-based structure that presents an implicit logic. That logic, which employs relatively few rules, is not only much easier to understand and remember, it is also far easier to implement.
Keywords: benchmarking, BOM (Bill of Materials), catalog identifiers, configurators, ERP, features, feature architecture, medical device manufacturer, order fulfillment, pricebook, product development, Twelve-Fold Way