DWC KNOWLEDGE BASE
Insights
Expert guidance on modularization, product configuration, and end-to-end product structures, data models, and system architectures.
All articles are published as full German-language expert articles with an English title and an English executive summary on the same page. Selected articles may later be published as complete English versions.
01
Modularization & Variant Management
How portfolios, product architectures, modular systems, and product-process classes can be designed so that variety remains market-oriented and economically manageable.
In Preparation
Variant Management and Modularization: Differences, Interaction and the Right Sequence
Variant Management and Modularization: Differences, Interaction and the Right Sequence
Variant management governs diversity; modularization shapes the internal structure required to deliver that diversity economically.
In Preparation
Reduce or Master Variants? Why Fewer Is Not Always Better
Reduce or Master Variants? Why Fewer Is Not Always Better
Market-relevant variety and internal, non-value-adding complexity must be clearly distinguished.
In Preparation
Product Kit, Platform or Modular Product Architecture?
Product Kit, Platform or Modular Product Architecture?
A clear distinction by scope, interfaces, reuse, and governance creates a robust common language.
In Preparation
From ETO to CTO: Where Standardization Makes Sense – and Where It Does Not
From ETO to CTO: Where Standardization Makes Sense – and Where It Does Not
ETO does not need to disappear. Product-process classes create the right balance between standardization, configuration, and engineering.
02
CPQ & Product Configuration
How customer needs, guided selling, configuration, pricing and costing, visualization, documents, and quoting can be managed end to end.
DWC INSIGHT 001 · DECISION GUIDE
CPQ Systems at a Glance: Which Solution Fits Which Task?
CPQ Systems at a Glance: Which Solution Fits Which Task?
A neutral market map for industrial CPQ, configuration, and automation solutions, classified by system role, process class, product complexity, data model, and architecture.
DWC INSIGHT 002 · DECISION GUIDE
CPQ System Selection Is Not a Software Comparison
CPQ System Selection Is Not a Software Comparison
Why target vision, product model, system roles, and architecture must be defined before longlist, shortlist, proof of concept, and pilot.
In Preparation
CPQ Readiness: Why Preparation Determines Project Success
CPQ Readiness: Why Preparation Determines Project Success
Portfolio, process classes, product structure, data, guided selling, pricing, visualization, documents, and governance must be prepared before software selection.
In Preparation
The Industrial CPQ Market
The Industrial CPQ Market
System classes, vendor roles, and architecture approaches in the industrial CPQ market—classified neutrally, without rankings or generic market-leader claims.
03
Product Structures · Data Models · System Architectures
How product logic, characteristics, rules, sales BOMs, eBOMs, MaxBOMs, mBOMs, and result objects are governed clearly and used end to end across PLM, CPQ, ERP, CRM, and PIM.
In Preparation
PLM, CPQ and ERP: Which System Owns Which Product Data?
PLM, CPQ and ERP: Which System Owns Which Product Data?
Data ownership must be defined by data object and lifecycle phase. No single system can meaningfully own all product data on its own.
In Preparation
Product Configurator, CPQ, ERP Configuration or Design Automation – What Belongs Where?
Product Configurator, CPQ, ERP Configuration or Design Automation – What Belongs Where?
Different tool classes solve different tasks. Clear system roles prevent duplicate modelling and contradictory product logic.
In Preparation
From Customer Need to a 100% Bill of Materials
From Customer Need to a 100% Bill of Materials
Market characteristics, configuration structure, MaxBOM, and order-specific bill of materials form a controlled derivation chain.
In Preparation
Where Should Configuration Rules Reside – in PLM, CPQ or ERP?
Where Should Configuration Rules Reside – in PLM, CPQ or ERP?
The distribution of rules follows process role, object lifecycle, maintenance responsibility, and execution location.
In Preparation · Short Version Available on Request
Architecture and Vendor Lock-in in Variant Management
Architecture and Vendor Lock-in in Variant Management
Why the deepest dependency often arises not from licences, but from product models, rules, interfaces, and organizational responsibilities.
In Preparation · Short Version Available on Request
Project Tool or Permanent Platform?
Project Tool or Permanent Platform?
How companies can distinguish temporary consulting and modelling tools from permanently operated software products and avoid unnecessary platform complexity.
Is one of these topics already relevant to your organization?
For selected articles in preparation, we provide a concise assessment on request or discuss the topic in a professional exchange.