June 20, 2024 Configit Enables Configuration Consolidation

Consolidate, compile and consume product models and configuration data on a  shared-source-of-truth available to any user, at any location.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark – Configit, the global leader in Configuration Lifecycle Management (CLM), today announced the release of Configit Ace® 6.5. Configit Ace® provides CLM-as-a-Service, a SaaS solution for enterprise-wide management of product variants and configurations throughout the lifecycle of the product portfolio. Based on open services and APIs that leverage the power of Microsoft Azure, CLM-as-a-Service establishes a shared-source-of-truth for product configuration data that is accessible by any user when and where they need it.

Configit Ace 6.5 provides manufacturers with the unique capability to consolidate configuration logic from multiple systems across the enterprise in a common format that can be consumed by any system supporting open API interfaces. This includes the ability to test and verify product models and rules, as well as identify conflicts and data duplication issues before product models are used in product configuration applications.

“C-level manufacturing executives are focused on increasing efficiency and managing cost,” said Henrik Hulgaard, vice president of product management, Configit. “One of the areas of concern is the proliferation of IT systems with overlapping responsibilities leading to duplication of data that is unsynchronized. This can lead to data islands with conflicting data that requires time and manual effort to reconcile. This is a huge challenge to resolve.”

According to Configit’s experience across over 200 CLM implementation projects, most IT organizations use three or more separate product configuration management tools to manage different parts of their operations. Inconsistencies can lead to product development and delivery delays, quality issues and the risk of delivering the wrong product to the customer.

The Configit Ace® 6.5 release provides new capabilities that can help manufacturers to address these risks.

“Configit Ace® is designed to provide a shared-source-of-truth for product configuration information. One of the unique capabilities we provide is the ability to take existing product models, BOMs and pricing information from different systems and consolidate them in our Configit Ace® CLM-as-a-Service enabling them to be consumed by any application anywhere. This not only provides a full overview of configuration options defined in different systems, but it enables verification of analysis to ensure there are no duplicates, inconsistencies or errors before release to the customer,” said Hulgaard.

New capabilities provided in Configit Ace® 6.5 release make consolidation, compilation and consumption of existing product models and rules from different systems easier, more reliable and secure.

This includes a new Smart Compile service that provides an open API allowing product models and rules from other systems to be converged and compiled as Virtual Tabulation® packages. This enables all product models and rules to be consolidated in a common format in one shared-source-of-truth and consumable by multiple systems and product configuration applications through a single, common Configit Ace® Configure API service.

The new capabilities available in Configit Ace® 6.5 are:

Smart Compile service

• Virtual Tabulation® enables all valid product configurations to be determined in advance using a compilation process. This allows a specific product configuration to be immediately validated using a simple lookup.
• With the new Smart Compile service, only changes in product models and rules need to be compiled, which dramatically reduces the time it takes to compile a product model.
• Configit Ace® provides unique test and verification capabilities that can be used to identify conflicts and issues in product models before they are released.

Smart Compile metrics

• Compilation metrics enable modelers to understand and control their own performance by providing insight into performance consequences of changes in models and rules.
• This includes the ability to run benchmark tests to predict compilation performance before release.

Richer System Level Rules

• Configit Ace® system-level models enable modularization and re-use enabling multiple hierarchies of sub-models to be associated with a parent product model.
• With Configit Ace®6.5, rich system-level rules make it easier to refer to individual sub-models and iteratively apply rules.
• This allows even the most complex product models and rules to be imported, compiled and verified using Configit Ace® Virtual Tabulation® technology.

Compare and Combine Solution Space Analysis

• Configit Ace® provides a unique capability to analyze all valid configurations, known as the Solution Space. Filters can be used to analyze the available valid options for specific parameters enabling product and portfolio optimization.
• With Configit Ace®6.5 it is now possible to compare different Solution Spaces as well as combine different Solution Spaces to enable more sophisticated analysis. This allows analysis across different product versions.
• For consolidated product models, it allows analysis of product models from different systems to compare available valid configurations. This enables streamlining of configurable options offered across systems along with rule definition to limit the number of options offered.

API versioning

• Configit Ace® provides a rich set of open APIs enabling system integration and synchronization. With Configit Ace® 6.5, versioning of APIs is now available.
• This enables systems using Configit Ace® API-based services to integrate using a specific version of the API that will remain stable when Configit Ace® is upgraded to new versions.
• Manufacturers can then plan and control migration to the latest version of the API when this makes sense.  

Compatibility with IGA systems supporting OIDC

• Configit Ace® supports OpenID Connect enabling support for externally defined roles and access policies defined in Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) systems.
• This provides more secure and controlled access to Configit Ace® services with full transparency and control.

For more information on the latest release of Configit Ace® visit https://configit.com.

Contact us to find out how you can access the latest releases of Configit Ace®.

Subscribe to Industry Today