Digitalization in sales: How PIM and configurator work together optimally

Product configuration is seen by 80 percent of companies as a success factor for the sale of technical products with many variants. This applies to both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) relationships.

In B2B, the target group is engineers, planners and architects who are looking for a suitable product solution, for example for a machine, system or building. In B2C, the end user wants to find a product that meets their requirements, for example with suitable dimensions, materials, functions and colors. After the selection process, interested parties expect an offer with a price and delivery date. This is why the term CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) is used in this context. In the course of increasing digitalization in sales, this is a very central component, as customers must also feel well advised in digital media.

Product configurator, system configurator or product finder?

First of all, I would like to take a step back to illuminate and define the different facets of configuration. The term configuration is sometimes understood quite differently. I mainly differentiate between two types of configuration:

• Configuration of products that do not (yet) exist as article numbers. This means products that are extremely varied and therefore have to be made to order. Typically, they are defined by characteristics of attributes, such as dimensions, functions, shapes, surfaces, colors, etc. Each of these attributes and their characteristics multiplies the number of possible variants. The multiplied variants are thousands, millions and sometimes billions. Incidentally, this is also the strength of German industry in being able to manufacture these products. Because manufacturing is far more complex than this type of product itself. In terms of data, the product variants are coded by type codes so that a unique order is possible. Here are a few typical examples that I can think of from my practice: The configuration of a dosing pump with selectable output, seal material, dosing head design, hydraulic and electrical connection. The configuration of pleated blinds with selectable dimensions, fixings and fabrics.
• Configuration of a product solution consisting of several products, i.e. basically a parts list. This is the configuration of systems, which can be highly customized by combining products. The number of products themselves is manageable and all products also exist as articles with an article number. However, the combination results in thousands of possible solution variants. Here are a few typical examples that I can think of from my practice: A solution for configuring a gripper system for robots. The configuration of a safety cabinet with shelves, pull-outs and trays and for hazardous substances. The configuration of an electrical switch system consisting of a button, contact and light element.

Product finders are often referred to as configurators. However, this can be clearly differentiated: If a large number of products are narrowed down using search filters (called facets) in order to finally find a specific product, then this is a product finder. This is because nothing new is created, as is the case with product or system configuration.

The project procedure

I think you will know exactly whether you can use a product finder for your product world or whether you need a configurator for products or systems. If you need a configurator, then you have a choice of different providers. I have particular experience with 4PACE (formerly Plan Software) and their software solution 3PQ. In principle, the process of a project is as follows:

• Define the configuration objects, for example the gripper system mentioned above. This requires specialists from product management, development and application technology.
• Definition of the configuration attributes by which the solution can be varied, for example robot type, gripper type, drive type, gripping force, IP class, etc.
• Definition of the rules and correlations, for example which adapter is required.
• Development of the user interface consisting of the arrangement of selection fields (dropdown, radio button, checkbox, number input, slider) and additional information (explanatory images, texts and documents). This is also where the marketing experts come in. Behind the user interface is the configuration engine, which processes the logic after each click by the user and only provides the user with technically feasible response options.
• Output of a quotation with prices and a data sheet - and as a bonus: visualization of the solution as 3D CAD for direct further use by the designer or architect.

Green field or interface from the PIM system to the configurator?

You can set up a configurator on a greenfield site. This will work, but it will certainly not be efficient in the long term. The green field is of course tempting and you can get there quite easily with a few Excel files and collections of texts and images. But: even the first language variants become a bit more strenuous. And then there are updates and expansions, which become really exhausting because you can no longer work with copy & paste, but have to edit certain cells directly in Excel. I therefore recommend paying attention to the connection to existing systems right from the start, especially the PIM system, of course. Because there is already a lot of usable data there that is waiting to be used. Below I have listed the data from the PIM system that is useful for the configurator:

• Configuration objects and configuration attributes: The former typically do not exist in the PIM. However, it makes sense to create them there together with the corresponding configuration attributes. This is because the configuration attributes often already exist in the PIM system in the form of product attributes and can be "mapped". From my practical experience, I can say that around 80% of the attributes are already available and the missing part should be added anyway.
• Explanatory images, documents, videos and texts: On the one hand, this should help the user to make the right selection in the configuration process, e.g. using background texts and images. On the other hand, corresponding images, documents and a data sheet should be provided after the configuration process. The PIM system can do this extremely well, as this product information is (or must be) originally available in the PIM system.
• Translations: Images, texts, documents and videos should be provided in specific languages so that the configurator can be set up in the languages available on the website. PIM leads the translation process; the configurator, on the other hand, is not designed for this.
• Rules and contexts: The definition of rules using conditions and scripts is of course the core of the configurator. However, the PIM system can also provide support here, as many relationships are already maintained in the PIM system. I am thinking here of product relationships, for example suitable grippers and adapters for certain robots. Or matching accessories. This should not have to be maintained twice.

Conclusion

In my opinion, the configurator is crucial for good sales advice. It can therefore significantly support sales success. Consider connecting the configurator to the PIM right from the start - it's better to start with more mental work than a lot of manual work later! The connection brings synergies to the PIM, as missing data is added that is needed elsewhere and synergies for the configurator, as you don't have to start with blank paper - data is half the battle :-)