DWC KNOWLEDGE BASE
Insights
Expert guidance on modularization, product configuration, and end-to-end product structures, data models, and system architectures.
All published articles are available as complete 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.
DWC INSIGHT 101 · EXECUTIVE GUIDE
Variant Management and Modularization
Variantenmanagement und Modularisierung
Variant management defines which variety should be offered to the market. Modularization creates the internal structure required to deliver that variety economically.
DWC INSIGHT 102 · EXECUTIVE GUIDE
Reduce or Manage Variety?
Varianten reduzieren oder beherrschen?
The objective is not the lowest possible number of variants, but the right distinction between market value and internal, non-value-adding complexity.
DWC INSIGHT 103 · EXECUTIVE GUIDE
Product Kit, Platform or Modular Product Architecture?
Produktbaukasten, Plattform oder modulare Produktarchitektur?
A product kit is a reusable inventory, a platform is a shared technical core, and modular product architecture defines the rules governing both.
DWC INSIGHT 104 · EXECUTIVE GUIDE
Why Not Every Product Should Be Configured
Warum nicht jedes Produkt konfiguriert werden sollte
Product-process classes clarify which offerings should be selected, assembled, produced, configured, or individually engineered.
DWC INSIGHT 105 · EXECUTIVE GUIDE
Modularization as a Strategic Development Process
Modularisierung als strategischer Entwicklungsprozess
A robust sequence leads from market and product strategy through functions, architecture, and modules to a digitally governable product logic.
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-Systeme im Überblick: Welches System passt zu welcher Aufgabe?
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-Systemauswahl ist kein Softwarevergleich
Why target architecture, product model, system roles, and governance must be defined before longlist, shortlist, proof of concept, and pilot.
DWC INSIGHT 003 · DECISION GUIDE
CPQ Readiness Assessment
CPQ Readiness Assessment
Nine dimensions show whether portfolio, product logic, data, processes, governance, and system architecture are ready for a robust CPQ selection.
DWC INSIGHT 004 · DECISION GUIDE
Guided Selling in Industrial Sales
Guided Selling im industriellen Vertrieb
Guided selling starts with translating customer needs into technically valid, commercially viable, and strategically preferred solutions—not with the user interface.
DWC INSIGHT 005 · DECISION GUIDE
Product Configuration Across Sales, Engineering and Manufacturing
Produktkonfiguration zwischen Vertrieb, Technik und Produktion
End-to-end configuration depends on explicit relationships between the sales BOM, eBOM, mBOM, bill of process, and as-built structure—not on interfaces alone.
DWC INSIGHT 006 · MARKET GUIDE
The Industrial CPQ Market
Der industrielle CPQ-Markt
System class is a stronger indicator of suitability than the vendor name. Only then can features, references, implementation effort, and costs be compared meaningfully.
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 und ERP: Welches System führt welche Produktdaten?
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?
Produktkonfigurator, CPQ, ERP-Konfiguration oder Design Automation – was gehört wohin?
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
Vom Kundenwunsch zur 100%-Stückliste
Market characteristics, configuration structure, MaxBOM, and the order-specific bill of materials form a controlled derivation chain.
In Preparation
Where Should Configuration Rules Reside – in PLM, CPQ or ERP?
Wo sollen Konfigurationsregeln liegen – im PLM, CPQ oder 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
Architektur- und Vendor-Lock-in im Variantenmanagement
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?
Projektwerkzeug oder dauerhafte Plattform?
How companies can distinguish temporary consulting and modelling tools from permanently operated software products and avoid unnecessary platform complexity.
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