Configuration Management is defined as the discipline for capturing and controlling product data, with the aim of such practices being to identify, integrate and control the many complex business processes that are involved in the production and sale of commodities, including product design, proposal activities, contract negotiation, marketing, testing, manufacturing, delivery and support. The principles behind the business philosophy are co-operation between all staff at each level of a commercial operation, which requires the feeding of product data and associated information to all partners of the business community, both internally and externally.
Businesses and manufacturing operations are constantly perusing the environment they operate within to find better and more efficient solutions to reduce costs and increase productivity. As reducing budgets and tougher economic conditions prevail, sourcing organisationwide solutions becomes even more challenging as additional resources are not being contributed towards these tasks. However, process improvement in all facets of businesses activities must be aspired to, not only to survive in the increasingly competitive global marketplace, but as a proactive measure to gain competitive advantage and provide a secure footing for the future sustainability and success of the business.
Where businesses have traditionally invested large sums of money into custom software applications to streamline business management processes, which tend to be over complex to the point of impeding their ability to meet their core purposes, many are now turning to configuration based, 'out of the box' management software solutions that can be individually customised for each businesses operation and their specific requirements of such management tools. A more simplified approach allows the opportunity for businesses to address the process and integration needs that they are challenged with in today's economic and competitive environments, resulting in a more rapid return on investment. In essence, configuration management software allows businesses to focus on meeting a broader set of business needs without the complexity and high costs typically involved in the use of such tools.
With the option of installation or web based applications, the software provides a simple way to create a rich user interface that presents the information, at each level of production and between the various departments, necessary to support decisions, as well as fine tune operations. The user interface is designed to be simple to understand and use, giving all staff members the ability, without technical knowledge of such systems, to coordinate, execute and audit business systems and practices to increase productivity, triple bottom line results and consumer experience and satisfaction.
Of the more reputable companies providing such offerings, the key features of the configuration management software include:
- Quote, order and fabrication features
- Order management
- Process evaluations
- Database management
- Rules based 3D graphical configurator and shape generator
- Multi Level Bill Of Materials
- Routing and Fabrication
- Labour costs and productivity
- Batching
- Lineal Optimization
- CNC output to machines
- Engineering validation
- Shop Drawings
- Bar coding and shipping
- Accounting integration
- Embedded report generator
- Customisable user interfaces
- Multitude of E-Commerce Applications, including online catalogue facilities
- Security of the system
To streamline your business operations, reduce costs, increase employee productivity and engagement with your customers, employ a software solution that allows you to integrate and configure all your business tasks and responsibilities into one easy to use application.
