Product Information Management for Mass Customization: Connecting Customer, Front-office and Back-office for Fast and Efficient Customization.

There are twelve chapters in this book divided into four sections. The first section introduces the subject of product configuration. In particular, Chapter 1 highlights the field where the concept of product configuration is applicable. Chapter 2 defines the process of product configuration and configurable products. Finally, in Chapter 3 “traditional” approaches to product configuration are discussed, describing their advantages and disadvantages. The second section illustrates the structures and functional mechanisms of configuration systems supported by product configurators. Chapter 4 explains how to integrate organization and information system, distinguishing situations characterized by different degrees of automation. Chapters 5 and 6 analyze in detail the logic applied to formalize the knowledge needed to carry out product configuration, respectively from the commercial and technical-production points of view. Chapter 7 offers a general view of the models underlying the automatic generation of codes, costs, prices and graphic outputs for configurable products. The third section deals with the selection of a product configurator, its implementation and links with other parts of the company information system. In particular, Chapter 8 analyzes how the configurator interfaces with the production planning system and the advanced information system, especially useful in the presence of customized products, such as Product Data Management and Customer Relationship Management. Chapter 9 offers a detailed vision of the various aspects which differentiate product configurators while Chapter 10 presents a structured approach to the implementation of the product configuration system. Finally, the fourth section analyzes the impact of configuration systems on the company as a whole. Chapter 11 presents a detailed case study of an enterprise that successfully implemented a configuration system, describing the changes in operational processes and in the relative services. Chapter 12 describes how the implementation of a configuration system affects the whole organization, and how “to customize using configuration” requires an integrated action on the product, the organization and the information systems that support product knowledge management.