Solve the modular configuration

As a BOM engineer, you can perform a solve using the configurator module.

Procedure

1. Search and open the modular configuration.
2. Click Details > Variant Configuration.
3. Choose one of the following modes: In the Guided mode, only valid features are displayed. This mode allows you to navigate only valid selections and configurations. If no configuration is applied, a model opens in guided mode, and the system guides you to select a valid group of features in which to configure a product. Every time a selection is made, the system reevaluates the rules and refreshes the list of features. Guided mode supports both complete and partial configurations. In the Manual mode, all available features, including variants that are not valid in the current context, are displayed. In this mode, you can look at the entire variability, choose a variety of features, and assess if those selections are valid based on the configurator rules. You can validate your selections and save your configuration. If there are any conflicting constraints, the system reports violations as error messages and specifies the conflicting selections. While radio buttons are displayed for making selections in Guided mode, check boxes are displayed for Manual mode.
4. To filter configurator data by revision rule, effectivity, and rule date, and rule date, click to view the Settings panel and change them as appropriate.
5. Set the validation mode. Click to view the Settings panel. In the Filter Criteria section, choose the product hierarchy depth. The default value is 1 and the maximum is 5. Note By default, five levels of structures are supported. However, this example provides procedures to configure only three levels of structures. In the VALIDATION MODE section, choose a mode from the drop-down list. Order (default profile) This mode is intended for a user who wants to quickly arrive at a 100% BOM. 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. Overlay This mode does not expect you to specify the complete configuration. It is intended for developing a new product or making changes to an existing product.
6. To configure the modular configuration, make the appropriate selections in the Variant Configuration view.
7. Select a product model with which you would like to work.
8. Select each group from the list in the left panel and make the necessary feature selections in the work area.
9. (Optional) To find the required selections, in the Variant Configuration view, choose More Commands > Next Required or Previous Required as appropriate.
10. (Optional) To find user and system selections, in the Variant Configuration view, click Full Screen, choose Selection Summary, and select All from the Selection Type list. When the product hierarchy depth is greater than 1, the Selection Summary panel shows an additional column, Module. This column displays where the selection has been made, that is, the module, family, feature, and type of selection. The Selection Summary panel sometimes displays the same feature in two rows. This happens when either the user or the system (based on constraints) has made a selection on a feature that exists both in the parent module as well as the child module. You can see the name of the parent and the child module for that repeated feature in the Module column for that feature.
11. Make all the required selections. You can make selections at the root level and child level modules (configurator context levels). In the Guided mode, the validation happens for each of your selections, and its configuration completeness is displayed automatically. If you are in the Manual mode, when you click Expand or Validate, the current selections in the UI are validated or expanded, respectively. With modular configuration, along with configuration completeness, a module completeness check is also done. The configuration completeness is standard for all product structures, irrespective of the modular configuration.

The completeness indicator at the top of the view displays one of three states: Valid and Complete, Valid and Incomplete, and Invalid. Valid and Complete (applicable for both guided mode and manual mode) Valid and complete means that the BOM is targeting a complete structure, that is, a 100% BOM. When a configuration is valid and complete, you could take this configuration input and execute an order entry in the order system. When a configuration is valid and complete, you can take this configuration input and perform a cost or a weight rollup, compute the center of gravity, or perform a digital analysis of that product. On the contrary, if you do not see this completeness indicator, you should not typically perform the above action. It means that you have less content or more content. When a configuration is valid and complete, it assigns a value to every family. This is irrespective of whether the family is mandatory or discretionary. Valid and Incomplete (applicable for both guided mode and manual mode) In guided mode, you can select Next Required or Previous Required to navigate to the next or the previous family or the feature that requires a value to be assigned to complete the configuration. In the case of modular configuration, Next Required or Previous Required takes you to the next module after reaching the last incomplete family of the last group. Invalid (applicable for manual mode only) It means that the input criteria is invalid based on the configurator rules set in the current configurator context. The modular validation indicates the following states: State Description Partially Complete The selections for the parent are complete, but the selections for some of the children are not. Incomplete Some required families do not have complete selections. Invalid Some violations have occurred due to some constraints. Completed All the required selections are complete for the module, and they do not have any conflicts with constraints. 12. In the Manual mode, when you click on Expand or Validate, you might enter into an invalid state because of some constraint being violated. In such cases the system reports violations. The following are some examples of violation messages in the Manual mode: Example of violation message without modular configuration:

Example of violation message with modular configuration:

Note Violation indicators are available at the child level also. 13. Record your selections by clicking the Save button. If you have not loaded a variant rule or a variant condition, the system prompts you to save the selections as a new variant rule or variant condition. In such cases, specify the name in the Save dialog box and select one of the following options: Current Structure Revision to save the variant rule or the variant condition to the current structure. Configurator Context to save the variant rule or the variant condition to the configurator context. This saved variant rule or variant condition is available in all structures to which the configurator context is attached. 14. To load a variant rule or variant condition, choose More Commands > Load Variants. Currently, when you load multiple variants using the Load Variant dialog, the system switches to the variant configuration’s Grid Mode. With a modular configuration: If the selected variants have a product hierarchy depth greater than 1, the system does not switch to Grid Mode and an error message is displayed. This is currently not supported. Any variant with a depth greater than 1 can be viewed only in the variant configuration’s List view. If the selected variants have a mix of depth greater than 1 and depth as 1, the system switches to the variant configuration’s Grid Mode. It then displays only the variants with a depth of 1. The rest of the variants with a depth greater than 1 are skipped with a warning message. 15. Save selections after loading a variant rule or variant condition. Click the Save button to save the changes to the existing variant rule or variant condition; OR Click the Save As button to save the changes to a new variant rule or variant condition. 16. To apply the selected variant configuration to the current content and to refresh the content in the product, choose More Commands > Apply Configuration.