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QAD Configurator. Rea Buchanan QAD September 28, 2010. Agenda. Landscape & Challenges Overview of QAD Configurator Solution Recent Releases Closing Thoughts Questions. The Landscape for Product Manufacturers. Customers want: fast delivery, low price, high quality, and ……
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QAD Configurator Rea Buchanan QAD September 28, 2010
Agenda • Landscape & Challenges • Overview of QAD Configurator Solution • Recent Releases • Closing Thoughts • Questions
The Landscape for Product Manufacturers • Customers want: fast delivery, low price, high quality, and …… • Choices to meet their specific needs • Competitive advantage can be gained by offering products tailored to the specific customer need • If you elect not to offer the choices, your competition will !
Some Products are Just Complex ! • Pumps, Motors, Valves, Cylinders, Regulators • Switches, Electrical and Electronic Components • Windows, Doors, Cabinets • Automobiles, Boats, Off-Highway Equipment, • Machine Tools, Fabrication Equipment • Appliances, Computers • Locomotives, Air Planes, Mass Transit Cars
As proliferation and complexity increase: • Engineering effort and cost increases • Quoting effort increases; response decreases • Order entry effort and potential for error increases • Pricing becomes more complex • Preparation time prior to manufacturing increases • Procurement and Manufacturing cycles increase • Component material shortages increase • Expediting costs increase • Compatibility knowledge is centered in a few key people
QAD Configurator • Provides the tools to easily configure complex products during quotation and order entry without the need for technical knowledge of the product • Supports the configuration process for engineering and manufacturing in the back office and for sales in the front office • Improve the quality of the configuration process to avoidcostly mistakes and time delays • Captures sales and product knowledge in a central repository
Components • Sales Configuration Definition of questions, responses,and their inter-dependencies thatrepresent valid product variations • Questionnaire Guides user interactively through sales configuration questions recording customer specific product needs • Product Configuration Translates Questionnaire selections using rules that create configured items, product structures and routings
Available for QAD SE* and EE Integration Sales Quotations Sales Orders Items & Item-Site Product Structures Routings Costing Pricing TrM – Trade Mgt * eB2.1 SP4 and forward
Master Groups– used to organize content of the various configuration models Configurable Item – “generic” item that is used to signify that a configuration process will occur Variables, options, andfeatures are the means by which you define your products that can be configured. Variables are characteristics of products that can have a range of different values. (e.g.. Color) Variable Options are possible values for variables. (e.g. red, green, blue, yellow) Features are variables that have been linked to a configured item. Feature Options are possible values for features. Sales Configuration - Key Concepts
Questionnaire Tabs Rule Features & Options
Variable & Options Options
Configurator – Key Concepts Rules • Provides inclusions, exclusions and interdependency between features and options • The way simple or complex conditional or assignment logic is structured within the Sales or Product Configuration sections • Used for calculation logic
Rules – Key Concepts • General Rules: Used for more than one Configurable Item • Rule-Groups: Contain rules covering the same topic • Item Rules: Rules specific to a Configurable Item and cannot be used elsewhere • Item Rule Groups: Used to link general rule groups to a specific Configurable Item • General Rule Tables: A matrix table of multiple variables, conditions (up to 20 columns) and result variables • Item Rule Tables: Item specific rules tables
Rule Group and Rules Rule Group Rules Rule
Sales Configuration – Key Concepts Pricing • calculated during configuration Questionnaire • price can be: • leverage standard QAD price table functionality • roll-up of component prices • roll-up of prices associated with options • feature pricing attributes • affected by existing price & discount tables • manually adjusted with net prices • calculated based upon rules
Configurable Item – “generic” item that is used to signify that a configuration process will occur. Features, option and rules are associated with a configurable item Variant Item – a new or previously configured item that now exists as an item as a result of configuration Configurable Item BOM and Routing – contains all possible components and operations for a Configurable Item Variant Item BOMandRouting – created as a result of the configuration process and contains only those components and operations required for the variant configuration Product Structure Rules: Select components and quantities Routing Rules: Select operations and times Product Configuration - Key Concepts
Product Configuration – Key Concepts • TheConfiguration Output Processor processes the answers given to questions in the questionnaire and converts the information into the form necessary for defining a variant configuration • Creates variant BOM by selecting components and calculating per quantities based upon rules • Create multi-level configured BOMS • Creates variant routing by selecting routing operations and calculating times based upon rules • Creates variant item numbers (single or multi-level) with format based upon user defined criteria • Performs standard cost roll-up on new variant configuration
Release Versions & History • 4.4 – April 2008 - Deliver .NET Questionnaire • 4.4.1 – July 2008 – maintenance release • 4.4.2 – April 2009 - maintenance release • 5.0.1 – April 2009 – Deliver Full .NET Product • 5.0.2 – July 2009 – functional and maintenance • 5.1 – September 2009 • 5.2 – March 2010 • 5.2.1 – September 2010 – functional and maintenance
Configurator 5.1 Enhancements • Customer Driven Enhancements • Re-build Configuration Data • User Defined Warning Messages – Sales Rules • Variant Item-Site Data • Sales and Product Configuration Rules • Custom Functions • System Variables • Existing Configurations Browse • UI Enhancements • New Browses and Browse Collections (3) • New Process Maps • Configurator Metrics (3) • Non-editable Configured Item Descriptions
Re-Build Configuration Data Business Driver Companies that repeatedly sell the same configuration for a longer period of time, but have changes in options, pricing, BOM, or routing can now rebuild existing variant items or ranges of variant items.
Site-specific Variant Items Business Driver Many manufactures assemble configured products in a specific site only. Configurator can now create variant item and variant item-site records to support this scenario
Existing Configurations Browse Business Drivers • Supports retrieving configurations by their options and header data outside of the Questionnaire.
Configurator 5.2 Enhancements • Minor technical and functional enhancement release • All Enhancements are Customer driven • Forecast Consumption for Configurable Items using a new rule type • Trade Management Support - V2.7.6 • View Configuration Details Browse Collection • Oracle Database Support
Trade Management (TrM) Support Business Driver In order to provide full interoperability with the QAD Enterprise Application suite, QAD Configurator needs to support item creation when TrM is implemented. Realization • QAD Enterprise Applications Item API has been enhanced to support TrM, triggering the bulk update that links the new item to the TrM promotion definitions and price lists. • QAD Configurator has been enhanced to leverage the enhanced API for the creation of Variant Items.
Forecast Consumption Business Driver • It is necessary to build forecasts for the Configurable Item and it’s components in order to effectively drive MRP • At the time of Variant creation and the generation of a confirmed Sales Order, the forecast of the Configurable Item needs to be consumed with the actual configuration.
Forecast Consumption – Realization • One or more Planning Items can be linked to a Configurable Item • The actual Planning Item is selected by a rule • Configurator links the newly created Variant Item to the selected Planning Item
View Configuration Details Browse Collection Business Driver Previously, a QAD Enterprise Applications user which was not also licensed for QAD Configurator, was not able to review the actual configuration of a variant item. Realization • Creation of a new Browse Collection View Configurations • Allow access for all licensed QAD Enterprise Applications users
Configurator 5.2.1 Enhancements Active User Check Enhanced Variant Product Structure Rule Comment Handling in Model Import/Export Trade Management Support - V2.8.2 SO/SQ Lines Rules Execution Price List Creation Variable/Features without Default Values
QAD GLOBAL SERVICES Consulting Learning Support QAD Global Services provides the people, experience, commitment and tools to maximize your QAD investment.
Configurator Advisory Group Goals: Defining industry-specific requirements Prioritizing enhancements Driving future direction of QAD Configurator strategy 11 Customers participated in Advisory Group: Actaris Germany, ADC Australia, Avery Dennison, Ball Corporation, Cascade Microtech, Encoder Products, Enodis, Kobusch-Sengewald Germany, Medtronic Physio Control, RW Beckett,Yamaha Motors
Key Differentiators • QAD core product • Sound and solid set of functionality • Built-in integration with QAD Enterprise Applications • Results proven in customer implementations • Active development of functional enhancements
Thank you Rea Buchanan QAD September 28, 2010