Designing a Module Product Structure

Many products have a number of subsystems that have their own sets of optional elements. In some cases, the options for each subsystem are processed independently by the system in a logical progression. However, in other cases, it may be necessary for the available options in one subsystem to be affected by the selections made in other subsystems.

For example, consider a metal display case that is available in several different models with a variety of display, trim, and lighting options. Depending on the display case model selected, the options that are available for the display, trim, and lighting elements may be different.

For a simple product structure with only a few modules and a limited set of options, it is relatively easy to create and test a suitable configurable product structure. However, if the product structure has as few as five modules, each with six possible options to choose from, the total number of permutations (5 x 6 or 30, in this case) can be overwhelming.

The suggested approach is to organize the module’s product structure into configurable modules, as shown in the following figure.

For this example, assume that the display case is available in five different models, Model_01 through Model_05, and that some of the options are only applicable to certain models, as shown in the following table.

Display Case Model	Trim Options	Lighting Options	Display Options
Model_01	Twin Standard	Single Double	Shelf, Ventilated Shelf, Solid
Model_02	Standard Deluxe	Double, Triple	Shelf, Ventilated Shelf, Solid
Model_03	Twin Standard Deluxe	Single Double Triple	Shelf, Ventilated Rack
Model_04	Twin Standard Deluxe	Single Double Triple	Shelf, Ventilated Shelf, Solid Rack
Model_05	Twin Standard Deluxe	Single Double Triple	Shelf, Ventilated Shelf, Solid Rack

The next step is to establish the appropriate logic elements in a modular fashion so that each option module can be tested independently and then integrated into the full product structure. For example, consider the logic for the Trim Options module. This module requires four parameters as follows:

• Constraint:“Model_01”, “Model_02”, “Model_03”, “Model_04”, “Model_05”

• Added to the Inclusion Option in the Uses tab of the Display Case configurable module for the Bumper, Standard part

• Added to the Inclusion Option in the Uses tab of the Display Case configurable module for the Bumper, Twin part

• Added to the Inclusion Option in the Uses tab of the Display Case configurable module for the Bumper, Deluxe part

Next, you need a case table such as pickTrim to control the applicability of the trim options for each model of the display case, as shown in the following table.

Display Case Model	Trim Options	Lighting Options	Display Options
Model_03	TwinStandardDeluxe	SingleDoubleTriple	Shelf, Ventilated Rack
Model_04	TwinStandardDeluxe	SingleDoubleTriple	Shelf, Ventilated Shelf, Solid Rack
Model_05	TwinStandardDeluxe	SingleDoubleTriple	Shelf, Ventilated Shelf, Solid Rack

The next step is to establish the appropriate logic elements in a modular fashion, so that each option module can be tested independently and then integrated into the full product structure. For example, consider the logic for the Trim Options module. This module requires four parameters as follows:

• Constraint:“Model_01”, “Model_02”, “Model_03”, “Model_04”, “Model_05”

• Added to the Inclusion Option in the Uses tab of the Display Case configurable module for the Bumper, Standard part

• Added to the Inclusion Option in the Uses tab of the Display Case configurable module for the Bumper, Twin part

• Added to the Inclusion Option in the Uses tab of the Display Case configurable module for the Bumper, Deluxe part

Next, you need a case table such as pickTrim to control the applicability of the trim options for each model of the display case, as shown in the following table.

askModel	useStandard	useTwin	useDeluxe
Model_01	yes	yes	no
Model_02	yes	no	yes
Model_03	yes	yes	yes
Model_04	yes	yes	yes
Model_05	yes	yes	yes

These logic expressions allow you to test the Trim Options module independently, so that you can ensure that everything is working as you intended.

If you use the same approach for each of the modules, though, the user is asked repeatedly what model of Display Case they want, which is undesirable. Therefore, after you create each of the modules and verify that they work correctly, you need to integrate them together.

1. Create a suitable parameter to determine the model within the Display Case configurable module as follows:

◦ Constraint:“Model_01”, “Model_02”, “Model_03”, “Model_04”, “Model_05”

2. Establish an equivalency between askModel in the Display Case configurable module and all of its descendants.

Removing these constraints is necessary to avoid conflicts between the Display Case top-level configurable module and the configurable modules that comprise each module.

4. Test the completed configurable product structure. Because you have already tested each of the modules, you only need to verify that the value of askModel entered by the user in the Display Case top-level configurable module is correctly copied to each of the modules.

If you display the BOM Tree in the Set Parameters page of the Configure window and use the Apply button, you can quickly see whether the current value of askModel in the Display Case configurable module has been copied to each of the modules.