Standardize the available choices
Assemble-to-stock and assemble-to-order start from planned combinations. Ask which choices already belong to the product family and where the customer order is created.
Product configuration managementKnow the definition.
Know the definition.
Keep its context.
Connect the selected parts, their versions and the conditions that make them applicable. Give engineering, manufacturing and service a specific product reference for the work ahead.
Explore configuration managementFrom customer requirements to a defined productDefine what belongs.
Define what belongs.
Make the product reference clear.
The definition
Product configuration management connects a set of requirements to the components and arrangement that fulfill them. It gives teams a defined product to discuss as customer needs and available choices become more varied.
In a working product structure
Start with a practical question: which product definition should this team use? In Windchill, configuration specifications select part versions for a structure. Latest, baseline and effectivity criteria serve different purposes; a task-specific filtered subset should not be mistaken for the complete product.
Match the approach to the offering
Manufacturing approachesConfigure within the family
Configure-to-order uses the permitted options and selection logic to derive a product. Identify who maintains that logic and how the chosen configuration is communicated.
Make the engineering work explicit
Engineer-to-order introduces order-specific engineering. Agree which decisions reuse the platform and which need design review before the receiving team proceeds.
Windchill can maintain options, parameters and variant specifications. Commercial order creation may sit in a separate sales configurator; define the integration and ownership for your environment.
What a connected product definition supportsOne shared product reference.
One shared product reference.
More informed work across teams.
A shared configuration reference can improve coordination across engineering, manufacturing and service. Use these six outcomes to identify a specific workflow worth improving, then assess it against your current process.
Better design reuse
Reuse suitable components and permitted choices instead of rebuilding an equivalent design.
For a familiar assembly, ask what the team must verify before choosing an existing candidate.
Parts classification and reuseGovernance and traceability
Keep product-family changes and their supporting records easier to follow.
A useful review identifies the affected definition, decision owner and evidence behind the change.
Engineering change managementMore informed costing
Use the selected configuration as a clearer input to costing and pricing work.
Agree who supplies cost data, which assumptions apply and where the commercial decision is made.
More accurate orders
Clarify the relationship between requested choices and the product to be delivered.
Check the handoff between the order system and engineering rather than assuming they share the same records.
Engineering efficiency
Give engineers a consistent starting point when requirements or choices change.
Use a recurring revision to examine where teams reconstruct context or reconcile information manually.
Manufacturing process managementCustomer confidence
Keep delivery conversations grounded in a product definition that teams can explain.
Ask how a customer-specific choice will be recognized later in supporting service information.
Service process management
Configuration across the enterprise
See the factory and field perspective
PTC’s Vestas discussion follows customized wind turbines across design, manufacturing and service. Use the session to consider which teams need to recognize the same configuration, and where responsibilities change during a handoff.
Watch the Vestas discussionPTC video · registration requiredThese are improvement areas, not guaranteed results. Applications, configuration, data quality and connections to other systems determine the practical scope.
Explore WindchillApply the discipline to a real product situationSpecific products.
Specific products.
Precisely defined configurations.
Configuration control gives a product discussion a precise reference. Apply it to a real industry situation where an unspecified “latest version” would leave an important question unresolved.
Aerospace & Defense
A program can support several applicable assembly definitions over time. Keep the selected revisions and their intended use recognizable to the next team.
Which configuration is the review actually addressing?
Industrials
A delivered machine may differ from the common platform through selected options and later changes. Preserve the reference used for manufacturing or service decisions.
Can the team identify the definition applicable to this machine?
MedTech
A device revision should be discussed with its relevant product and supporting document versions. An identifiable reference makes the scope of the review clearer.
Which device and document revisions belong to this decision?
Distinctions that make planning easierConfiguration questions.
Configuration questions.
Identify the intended definition.
Separate the selected definition, the selection criteria and the work that uses them.
Does this replace product variant management?
The disciplines complement one another. Variant management addresses planned product-family differences and choice logic; this guide focuses on identifying the definition, versions and applicability used for a particular purpose.
Is “latest” always the right reference for a review?
Choose a reference that fits the review purpose. Confirm its view, state and other criteria instead of assuming that the newest work represents the definition the team should use.
Does naming a baseline guarantee a complete structure?
No. A baseline filter selects the part versions referenced by that baseline. Missing membership can leave required versions unresolved, so review completeness.
Is a task-focused filtered structure the whole product?
Specialized filters may intentionally show only a subset. Review the active criteria before interpreting that display as the complete configuration.
Is configuration management the same as a sales configurator?
The engineering definition and the commercial order process have different responsibilities. Windchill can support configuration approaches, while order creation may occur in an external sales configurator. Agree the records, ownership and integration scope.
Your next product-definition handoffBring the configuration.
Bring the configuration.
Clarify the next decision.
Show us where a product reference becomes difficult to explain or reuse.
TriStar can help frame the records, responsibilities and connections around that work.