Abstract
Product Configuration Systems (PCSs) are automatic solutions to support and facilitate sales and engineering processes. PCSs are among the most successful applications of expert system
technology and one of the drivers in the digitalization era. Therefore, there are several studies on the benefits of PCS. Such studies are, however, often relatively undetailed or unspecific
about the costs and benefits of such projects. To address this issue, this paper presents studies of four PCS projects, which quantify benefits in terms of reduced working hours, and the costs in terms of development, implementation, and maintenance costs. The studies of the PCS projects each concern a 3-year utilization period. Our results show that the gained benefits from PCS has a growing trend over the years in case of proper maintenance. We also demonstrate the opposite is the case if not properly maintaining the PCSs. Furthermore, the study reveals that PCSs with the constant maintenance grow increasingly popular (i.e., use frequency) over time, while PCSs with poor maintenance decrease in popularity.
technology and one of the drivers in the digitalization era. Therefore, there are several studies on the benefits of PCS. Such studies are, however, often relatively undetailed or unspecific
about the costs and benefits of such projects. To address this issue, this paper presents studies of four PCS projects, which quantify benefits in terms of reduced working hours, and the costs in terms of development, implementation, and maintenance costs. The studies of the PCS projects each concern a 3-year utilization period. Our results show that the gained benefits from PCS has a growing trend over the years in case of proper maintenance. We also demonstrate the opposite is the case if not properly maintaining the PCSs. Furthermore, the study reveals that PCSs with the constant maintenance grow increasingly popular (i.e., use frequency) over time, while PCSs with poor maintenance decrease in popularity.
| Original language | English |
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| Title of host publication | Proceedings of the 21th International Configuration Workshop |
| Editors | Lothar Hotz, Michel Aldanondo, Thorsten Krebs |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Publisher | University of Hamburg |
| Publication date | 2019 |
| Publication status | Published - 2019 |
| Event | Workshop on Configuration 2019 (ConfWS’19) - Hamburg, Germany Duration: 19 Sept 2019 → 20 Sept 2019 |
Conference
| Conference | Workshop on Configuration 2019 (ConfWS’19) |
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| Country/Territory | Germany |
| City | Hamburg |
| Period | 19/09/2019 → 20/09/2019 |
| Series | CEUR Workshop Proceedings |
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| ISSN | 1613-0073 |