The Buyer-Centric Smart Factory: A New Operating Model for Delivering Configurable Products Profitably

Products are more configurable than ever, and manufacturers are expected to deliver that customization at production speed and cost. Configure-to-order doesn’t get difficult because a product is configurable. It gets difficult when the configuration process isn’t governed, when sales, engineering, and production are each working from their own version of the truth.

This white paper lays out the Buyer-Centric Smart Factory: an operating model built on one governed product definition that connects sales, engineering, and the production floor around one source of truth. This new operating model works alongside your current systems, making it easier to deliver custom-fit products at scale with the same predictability as a standard one.

In this white paper, you’ll discover:

• Why your complexity isn’t actually the problem, and what is
• How to move from three disconnected product definitions to one governed product model everyone works from
• What it takes to scale configure-to-order without scaling margin risk
• The digital thread that connects configuration, quoting, fulfillment, and aftermarket service
• How to align each Bill of Material across the product and manufacturing lifecycle
• How a governed product model changes what’s possible with AI and business intelligence