Luxury Automotive Manufacturer
Results Achieved.
9 Months → 10 Days
End-to-end Configuration Acceleration
Hours, Not Weeks
Validated Configuration via Automation
0
Configuration-related Stop Ships
Company Overview
Size:
Industry:
Departments that Improved:
Large
Automotive
– Engineering
– Product Configuration
– Supply Chain
– Manufacturing
– R&D
The Challenge: Complexity without Full and Instant Control
- A global luxury car manufacturer faced growing product configuration challenges driven by expanding range of models and derivatives, increasing regulatory pressures, and the boom in the variety of options and packages available to customer.
- Overly restrictive PLM and ERP systems, and a tangled history of IT integrations from multiple acquisitions made it difficult to understand the true complexity of their vehicles.
- Existing PLM and ERP systems contained a degree of inbuilt product modeling and configuration capabilities, the breadth and scope were limited and ill-suited to support the lifecycle configuration needs of complex products.
Transformation Journey
Streamlined Product Lifecycle Processes
By adopting a Configuration Lifecycle Management (CLM) approach, the manufacturer launched a large program to streamline the processes around product lifecycle management of new vehicles with the key goal of managing the configuration of vehicles from the early design phases through to ordering, delivery and maintenance.
Replaced Separate Tools with One Solution
Previously using separate configuration technologies and feature languages, the manufacturer now uses Configit Ace®, an enterprise-grade configuration rule management solution that provides a shared source of truth for all configuration information.
Created One Shared Source of Truth
As a result, they now have a consistent and validated set of configuration data at any point in the product lifecycle.
What Improved
Error-Free, Trusted Configuration Data
- By using a Configuration Lifecycle Management approach, they gain accurate and trusted configuration information throughout, with 0 errors
Faster and More Flexible Product Configuration Modeling
- Efficient, flexible, user-friendly and scalable modeling environment
- Support for concurrent modeling, comprehensive testing capability, and controlled release processes
Better Visibility and Dependency Insights
- Understand complex dependencies between features and the buildable combinations
Modern, Future-Ready Architecture
- Replacement of legacy systems while continuing support of numerous downstream systems
- Design more intelligent and scalable data structures more suited to connected vehicle technologies
- Platform for future business initiatives, such as global website, bill of materials (BOM) validation, wire harness optimization, and more