Different modes to analyze configurations

Different modes to analyze configurations You can use Order and Overlay modes for configuring and analyzing variant configurations. The Order mode helps you achieve a 100% Bill of Material (BOM) for shippable products by automatically completing configurations. The Overlay mode is used during product development to show compatible features and content without requiring a complete configuration. You can use the Order mode or the Overlay mode to configure and analyze the variant configuration. Order mode This mode is intended when the product is ready to be shipped. It is for a user who wants to quickly arrive at a 100% BOM. The 100% BOM is an as sold product configuration. An example of this is the configuration of a car that is going to be built and shipped to the dealer. You can use a 100% BOM to create a prototype, perform simulations, compute the price, calculate the weight of the product, or visualize the structure. In this mode, the system considers all the information that it can get to autocomplete the configuration. You can select a certain model and select the country of sale, for example, UK or India, and the system automatically selects the right-hand drive. The system scans the entire knowledge base of the configurator in order to predict what the final 100% product looks like. You can select another color or a different engine. The configurator attempts to consider your inputs and complete the configuration as much as possible as per the default rules. In cases where your inputs and the default rules are insufficient, the configurator does not achieve the original goal of completing a 100% configuration. When some user options are possibly left open, it achieves only a 90% configuration. Overlay mode This mode is intended when the product is in the development stage. It does not expect you to specify the complete configuration. You can, but it is not necessary. It configures all the features and the product content that are compatible with your inputs. For example, a new fuel filter, that you plan to introduce might have collision or interference problems within the existing space. However, at this stage, your focus is in determining all the environments in which the fuel filter can be assembled. The filter can be assembled in the 1.5 liter, 2.0 liter, and 3.0 liter gasoline engine options with or without an automatic transmission. However, the filter cannot be used in a diesel engine. Therefore, in this mode, when you select a fuel filter, you see a large overlay with various types of gasoline engines, but not a diesel engine. You can view only the options that are compatible with your selection. Therefore, both modes converge for complete configurations, even if they might begin with very different starting positions, based on more inputs provided by the user. While the Order mode might automatically complete the empty input configurations to come up with a complete, default product, the Overlay mode leaves the same input configuration empty. When the input expression reaches a complete product configuration, the system behavior of both modes is identical. Engineering BOM Management ─ Usage, 2606 Unpublished work. © 2026 Siemens