Precision and personalization are paramount for custom manufacturers. From engineer-to-order machinery to custom entry doors, meeting client specifications is both an art and a science. Amidst the complexity lies a critical challenge: maintaining control and consistency across diverse product configurations.
Translate and access detailed product development specifications and validation logic of your product lines confidently with Frontier ERP. Our core Product Configuration Management (PCM) tools take the hassle out of managing and maintaining your product configurations. Data is stored in Frontier ERP’s centralized PCM knowledge base, so it is quickly and easily accessible in real-time for sales orders, production processes, online data transfers, remote dealer systems, and more.
Learn about the advantages of our parametric product configuration engine.
What is Product Configuration Software?
Product configuration software is a powerful tool that enables manufacturers to manage and customize their product offerings efficiently. This software helps in creating a variety of product combinations by specifying different configurations based on customer requirements.
Using product configuration software, businesses can streamline the complex process of creating tailored products, ensuring that each variation meets predefined standards and operates within the constraints of the available options.
At its core, product configuration software integrates seamlessly with other enterprise systems, such as ERP and CRM, providing a cohesive flow of information throughout the organization. This integration allows for real-time updates and accurate data management, which are essential for meeting customer demands swiftly and effectively.
By simplifying the configuration process, businesses can reduce errors, accelerate delivery times, and enhance customer satisfaction, ultimately achieving a competitive edge in the market.
Product Configuration Management Knowledge Base
Our PCM knowledge base incorporates multiple independently maintained rule types, data tables, and algorithms associated with each product line. This feature lets PCM logic be shared automatically between different product lines. PCM’s knowledge base can be accessed through Frontier ERP, integrated spreadsheets, or our client/server tool – PCM Workbench.
Tools for Easy Product Configuration Processes
Frontier’s Product Configuration Management (PCM) system includes an array of advanced tools and features designed to streamline the creation and management of rules and configurations for each product line. This enables businesses to handle complex product variations efficiently, ensuring accuracy and consistency across all offerings.
PCM supports automated processes, reducing manual effort and errors, and provides a robust platform for scaling product management operations as business needs grow.
PCM Workbench
PCM Workbench provides access to all parts of a knowledge base from one place by connecting clients and servers. A built-in component of PCM, Workbench users can consolidate and simplify maintenance of new and existing product lines, pricing, and manufacturing data within this single maintenance facility.
In addition, PCM Workbench includes a powerful inquiry tool. Users can fix errors by searching the knowledge base and analyzing data configurations. Easily access specific model information with drill-down options to find the details you need. “Where-used” functionality allows you to view the information by formula, component resource, segment, options list, and more. This makes it easy to implement changes with full visibility of the impact it will have on all other products.
Key benefits of the PCM Workbench:
- Eliminate Multiple Steps for PCM Model Modification
- Implement and create new PCM models with ease with Workbench assistance.
- Real-time Change Visibility
- Rather than sorting through multiple screens, users gain immediate visibility to configuration changes with PCM Workbench’s rich client platform.
- Enhanced Execution of Validation and Logic
- With the PCM Workbench Test Facility, you can validate all PCM logic without generating sales and associated work orders. The simulation includes processing orders, applying pricing, and scheduling production as if they were authentic.
The PCM Workbench Test Facility encompasses real-time:
- Option List Entry
- Conditional Options
- Master Condition Processing
- Edit & Advice Processing
- Pricing
- BOMs & Routings
Product Data Management
Frontier’s robust Product Data Management (PDM) module manages the entire lifecycle of a product’s data. With PDM, users can define and maintain comprehensive product and production data crucial for powering Frontier ERP.
Complementing PDM, Product Configuration Management, and Engineering Change Management collaboratively supports the engineering needs of companies producing stock, semi-, and custom-configured products.
Parametric Product Configurator
Frontier’s Parametric Product Configurator presents a multitude of advantages compared to simpler rules-based models. Enhanced configuration allows for more advanced customization and complex products often required by custom manufacturers. Our configurator is the heart of our Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) software built into Frontier ERP. The powerful combination of sales order management and product configuration results in reduced errors, faster quoting, and shorter lead times, even for configure-to-order products.
CADFlow
Frontier CADFlow automates the composition of complex 3D models, drawings, and manufacturing data tailored to each order configuration. It works directly with Frontier’s product configurator to improve accuracy and eliminate data duplications. All customer orders are generated utilizing both your current CAD models and the configuration rules you establish within our ERP CPQ. CADFlow also integrates seamlessly with AutoDesk Inventor.
eWebServices
Use eWebServices to combine Frontier ERP data with your website, app, or customer portal. This enables real-time, two-way access to customer, product, and configuration data. Extend Frontier’s robust quoting and configuration capabilities to your applications, whether developed internally or in concert with external web designers or app developers. By providing frictionless access to your centralized database, eWebServices empowers developers to customize systems to meet branding, marketing, and customer service needs effectively.
Learn More
Frontier ERP’s cutting-edge Product Configuration Management capabilities are designed to tackle configuration challenges faced by stock, semi-, and custom manufacturers.
By leveraging these advanced capabilities, businesses can ensure precision, personalization, and efficiency at every stage of the product lifecycle, ultimately leading to improved customer satisfaction and streamlined operations.
To delve deeper into the features and benefits of Frontier ERP’s Product Configuration Management solution or to arrange a personalized demonstration, feel free to reach out to us today.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a parametric configurator and a rules-based configurator?
A rules-based configurator presents a set of predefined options and uses simple if/then logic to determine valid combinations. It works for products with limited, fixed variation — but breaks down quickly when products involve dimensional flexibility, calculated outputs, or complex interdependencies between options. A parametric configurator like Frontier’s stores the underlying engineering logic — formulas, algorithms, constraints, and relationships between attributes — and applies it dynamically to each configuration. This means the system can handle products where dimensions drive downstream calculations, where options are conditionally available based on multiple factors simultaneously, and where BOM and routing outputs need to be generated automatically from the configuration. For custom manufacturers with genuinely complex products, the difference is substantial.
How does the PCM knowledge base work and who maintains it?
Frontier’s Product Configuration Management (PCM) knowledge base is where all product engineering logic lives — rule types, data tables, algorithms, and relationships for each product line. It’s maintained by the manufacturer’s product and engineering team using PCM Workbench, a dedicated maintenance tool that provides a single interface for managing all aspects of the knowledge base. When engineering changes are made — new options, updated constraints, revised pricing logic — PCM Workbench shows the impact across all affected products before changes are applied, using “where-used” functionality to prevent unintended consequences. This gives manufacturers direct control over their configuration logic without requiring software development resources.
How does the configurator prevent unbuildable orders from being placed?
The configurator validates every configuration against the engineering rules in the PCM knowledge base before an order can be placed. If a customer or dealer selects a combination that violates a constraint — incompatible options, a dimension outside the valid range, a finish not available with a particular material — the system prevents submission and provides guidance on what’s valid. This validation happens at the point of order entry, whether that’s internal sales staff, a dealer using eQuote Dealer, or a customer ordering through an online portal. The result is that orders that reach production are already confirmed as buildable — eliminating the back-and-forth between sales and engineering that many custom manufacturers manage manually.
What outputs does the configurator generate automatically from each order?
When a configured order is placed in Frontier, the configurator automatically generates the BOM (bill of materials), routing, production schedule, and pricing for that specific configuration — all derived from the PCM knowledge base. No manual BOM entry or routing setup is required per order. For manufacturers using CADFlow, 3D models and cut lists are also generated automatically. This means that from the moment an order is confirmed, production has everything it needs — accurate materials list, work instructions, scheduling data, and specifications — without any manual translation from the sales order.
Can the configurator handle products with near-infinite dimensional variation?
Yes. Frontier’s parametric configurator is specifically designed for products where dimensions are customer-specified rather than drawn from a fixed list — windows, doors, cabinets, furniture, and similar products where width, height, and depth can be any value within a defined range. The configurator calculates material quantities, cut dimensions, pricing, and production requirements dynamically based on the actual dimensions entered. This is one of the primary reasons manufacturers in the window, door, and cabinet industries specifically choose Frontier — it handles the dimensional flexibility that defines their products without requiring a separate SKU or manual calculation for every size variation.
How does eWebServices connect to the product configurator?
eWebServices provides a two-way API layer between Frontier ERP and external websites, apps, or customer portals. Through eWebServices, developers can expose Frontier’s configurator capabilities externally — allowing customers or dealers to configure products, get real-time pricing, and place orders through a branded web experience without accessing Frontier directly. Configuration data, pricing, inventory availability, and order confirmation all flow through eWebServices in real time, drawing from the same PCM knowledge base that internal users access. This means there’s one source of truth for product and configuration data regardless of the ordering channel.
