BS Product configurator – INTRO

What it is and what it is used for

BS Product Configurator® was born from the need to have a tool that guides the user in the configuration of a finished product - with the appropriate accessories - and represents a valid solution for companies that produce and/or sell complex and highly customizable products, which require equally articulated configuration logics.

In fact, it is an effective tool to support the commercial process that allows you to define all the possible configurations of a complex product in an easy, fast and controlled way.

The configuration takes place through a questionnaire, i.e. a guided sequence of questions and answers that are subject to previously defined rules and logics and that guide the user in choosing between the only possible options.

This Q&A series guides you through the loading of sales order lines from the finished goods class code, which are configured according to the variants chosen by the user. In fact, according to the needs, the user can decide which of the variants should compose the code of the configured product and which should remain external to the code itself.

The benefits for the user

· Streamline the workload within company departments: less experienced users will be able to use the app independently to prepare proposals and sales orders;

· Reduce the processing time of sales documents;

· Minimize errors in price calculations, price changes, and during the process of creating/revising bills of materials.

setup – configuration of the Questionnaire

Definition and creation of Article Categories

An accurate organization of the articles in 'Categories' arises from the need to be able to identify and define, in a timely manner, a finished product.

This subdivision makes it possible to classify the warehouse master data into homogeneous families of products, to which it is possible to associate or add a set of accessories, according to certain parameters defined by the user.

Therefore, the Item Categories will be based on a hierarchical structure divided into levels and sub-levels: the upper level ("parent level") will have n sub-levels, the last sub-level will be called "child level" (the code of the child level will be the Item Category code to be assigned to the finished product).

To create the category tree, on the Item Categories page accessible from the search bar, select the 'New' action and fill in the general detail tab as needed.

Configuring Questionnaire Questions

Each sales questionnaire is made up of questions and answers: it will be a priority to take a census of them and establish the relative conditions, and it is possible to do so in all languages.

Once the applications have been registered, it will be necessary to:

· census the possible answers to be displayed for each question;

· select the question for which you want to census the answers;

· in the question tab, under 'Configuration Answers', value the rows with the answer options to be shown.

In case the choice of an answer will have to generate a sales line, you will need to link one or more entities to the same response, and then populate the table with all the items linked to it.

Article Filters by Attributes

In the event that the choice of the entity is based on one or more attributes, it will be necessary to use filters to delimit the selection of a specific item, i.e. to ensure that the system automatically searches for and selects the correct item according to those attribute data.

The questionnaire

Question Selection

In the search bar, you will need to enter Product Configurator Questionnaires – Sales

The Description field is automatically populated after you select the question code;

§ The Level field allows you to specify the order in which the application is submitted, and then defines its visibility priority. The system automatically increments the level by 1, but you can change the level manually as needed;

§ Unique answer: The flag is inherited from the question. If checked, only one answer is allowed for the selected question;

§ Enable condition management: if the flag is present, you can enter conditions on the linked question.

Selecting Answers

Answers will be created automatically when the question is entered.

If for some reason they are deleted, you will be able to use the Create Responses function .
For the new creation:

Navigate to the question row, select Management, and then choose Create Answers. The system will automatically value the lines in Sales Responses with the answers of the selected question.

Question & Answer Visibility Logics

In order to guide the user to the correct configuration of the finished product and its accessories, the next step involves the insertion of specific visibility logics. (NB: it is also possible to set two or more conditions of the same type).

Question Conditions

1) Question visibility conditions: linked to answers given to previous questions;

2) Item category tree conditions: related to the definition of the finished product;

3) Condition Attribute Questions: Related to the attributes of the finished product.

When the visibility of the question depends on one or more previously given answers, the choice of this condition translates to: "show this question only if the question xxx was answered yyy". To apply a condition of this type: In Linked Question Line No., search for and select the question that generates the condition from the list proposed; the field will populate with the line number of the question.

Field	Description
Related question	After selecting the question in the Linked Question Line No. field , the field will automatically populate with the description of the question
Operator	The possible options are: · Equal: Choose this option if you want the answer to be the same as the one indicated in the Linked Answer field · Different: Choose this option if you want the answer to be different from the one indicated in the Linked Answer field
Filter related replies ques.vend	Search for and select the value of the appropriate answer from the list
Related Answer	after you select the response in the Filter Linked Responses field. The field will automatically populate with the description of the answer.

As with questions, you can manage the logic of visibility over the answers.

Answer Conditions

1) Visibility conditions answers: linked to answers given to previous questions;

2) Item category tree conditions: related to the definition of the finished product;

3) Answer conditions on attributes: tied to the attributes of the finished product.

After you have finalized the questionnaire, you will need to assign the questionnaire code to the relevant item category to which it is linked.

To assign a questionnaire code to an item category:

1. Choose the search icon, enter Item Category.

2. Choose the category, on the Item Category Card page, fill in the Questionnaire code field by entering the relevant questionnaire code to be used to configure that product.

How does that work

As already mentioned, the product configurator was born from the need to have a tool that guides the user in the configuration of a finished product with the appropriate accessories.

Offer/Sales Order

The configuration starts from a sales quotation or a sales order, through the following functionality accessible via the menu:

The screen that opens allows you to access the product configuration through the New Product Config feature.

The page that opens takes advantage of the item categories feature to define the object of the configuration.

The Wizard

Before moving forward with the guided process that will allow us to locate the object of the configuration, it is necessary to enter the specifications of the product.

The form that opens uses the attribute filter on item and asks you to enter the "Width" and "Height" attributes

(e.g. in the case of shutters).

Therefore, once the dimensions have been entered, the system will identify the object of the configuration (the result of the setup previously performed by the user), reporting:

- Question;

- Product Configuration Lines;

- Sales specific lines.

The status of the questionnaire is NON-COMPLIANT if there are still questions that do not have any answers (also visible from the red color in the side tab of Summary).

In the 'Product attributes' tab on the side there is a detail of the production specifications entered

in the previous step.

The information on the product configuration lines is the result of the questions and answers (already surveyed and selected) and will also contain the unit price associated with the item.

By clicking on Next you will be able to answer the question and proceed with the next ones.

Proceeding with the questionnaire, on the right you will see the Summary of the questions that have already been answered (blue) and those that do not yet have one (red).

N.B. If the question has a unique answer specification, you are prompted to enter only one answer

and a notification message is shown to update the corresponding response.

Not all responses represent items that determine the configuration of the sales order, but they represent useful data for the printout to report that particular technical specification for the purpose of configuring the product.

The answer associated with the question can be of different types:

- Item: item registered in the registry

- Comment: Text Field or Notes

- Item charge: service registered in the registry

Once all the questions have been answered, the questionnaire becomes COMPLIANT.

As can be seen from the image, at the bottom there is the Total excluding VAT which is valued according to the choices made during the configuration phase.

The Report

Finally, you can print a technical specification report using the Technical Specificationsà Report feature:

If necessary, extended texts and attachments can also be added to the printout, using the appropriate flags that can be selected before printing.

The printout represents a report in which there are the configured items with quantities, accessories and related images:

Additional Features

Once the configuration is complete, you can click Finish:

The app will report everything that has been configured on the sales lines.

For example, you can add an item to the sales quotation that was not included in the logic of the questionnaire:

With the Include in Configuration feature , you can add it to your existing product configuration:

Other features available on the sales document are:

- Copy configuration: copies the configuration made (with its ID) and applies the same configuration on another product where it requires the new measurements (if they are not compliant, the system highlights them in red and then processes them manually)

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- Related:àProduct Configuration

The system shows all the product configurations registered in the sales document: