To illustrate the new capabilities that system-level configuration provides, consider the following example. A mining plant has to be built that requires multiple inter-dependent complex products to be combined to meet a required output specification. This involves multiple crusher mills, supporting power plants, conveyer belts, loading stations and the myriad of piping and wiring involved. During the project phase, the plant design might be changed several times based on revised customer requirements.
The challenge of configuring a plant solution to meet a specific output is that it has a major impact on the type, number and size of products that need to be included in the solution configuration. However, the products required might not be compatible and complex engineering rules define the capacity and specifications of the products that need to be chosen. This complexity often requires an Engineer-to-Order (ETO) process to configure the appropriate solution and then re-configure as customer requirements are updated during the project.
With the new system-level configuration capabilities in Configit Ace®, it is possible to capture the complex engineering rules and constraints that govern how the system of inter-dependent products and components is defined, enabling the proposed solution to be adapted without the need for engineering support. This reduces or even eliminates the ETO part of the process allowing complex solutions to be configured and re-configured using a Configure-to-Order (CTO) process.
