IN
DEGREE PROJECT MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, SECOND CYCLE, 30 CREDITS
,
STOCKHOLM SWEDEN 2019
System Configuration in
Design Automation
SÓLRÚN TRAUSTADÓTTIR
KTH ROYAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
System Configuration in Design
Automation
Author
Sólrún Traustadóttir
KTH Royal Institute of Technology
School of Industrial Engineering and Management
MG213X Degree Project in Production Engineering and Management Stockholm
Abstract
Some companies have managed to gain an advantage in today’s increasingly competitive market by utilizing product configuration software. However, many companies in the industrial manufacturing industry offer systems of configurable products and wish to be able to configure the products both individually and together as a system.
The project described in this thesis was carried out at Tacton Systems, a provider of sales and product configuration software. This project aims to contribute to the literature knowledge on system configuration by researching, through literature study and interviews, what types of systems companies want to be able to configure, and what relationships or interfaces are needed between the configurable modules forming the system.
The result was that it is possible to look at each system in levels of abstraction. When looking at whole systems, the system structures can be split into two types, i.e., linear systems and central systems. Parameters need to be communicated between the modules in the system. The module interfaces defined in the Tacton model could carry enough information to establish the necessary relationships between the modules and thus make different parameter types irrelevant.
Furthermore, this project investigates different aspects of how Computer Aided Design (CAD) models for system configuration in SolidWorks need to be structured to work in a robust way for design automation. Different functions were tried on a relatively simple model as a proof of concept. The main result is that the most robust way to do the mates between the configurable components is to assign them to reference geometry that is built into templates.
Sammanfattning
Vissa företag har lyckats skapa en fördel i dagens alltmer konkurrensutsatta marknad genom att använda produktkonfigurationsprogram. Många företag inom industrin tillverkar dock hela system med konfigurbara produkter och vill därför kunna konfigurera produkterna både individuellt och tillsammans som ett system.
Projektet som beskrivs i denna avhandling utfördes hos Tacton Systems, en leverantör av försäljnings- och produktkonfigurationsprogram. Avhandlingen syftar till att bidra till litteraturkunskapen om systemkonfiguration genom att undersöka vilka typer av system företag vill kunna konfigurera, och vilka relationer eller gränssnitt som behövs mellan de konfigurbara modulerna som bildar systemet. För att åstadkomma detta genomfördes en studie av litteratur och intervjuer.
Resultatet var att det är möjligt att titta på varje system i abstraktionsnivåer. När man tittar på hela system kan systemstrukturerna delas upp i två typer; linjära system och centrala system. Parametrar måste kommuniceras mellan modulerna i systemet. Modulgränssnittet som definieras i Tacton-modellen kan bära tillräckligt information för att upprätta nödvändiga relationer mellan modulerna och därigenom göra olika parametertyper irrelevanta.
Dessutom undersökte jag i denna avhandling olika aspekter på hur CAD-modeller för systemkonfiguration i SolidWorks behöver struktureras för att fungera på ett robust sätt för designautomatisering. Olika metoder prövades på en relativt enkel modell som ett bevis på konceptet. Huvudresultatet är att det mest robusta sättet att göra relationer mellan de konfigurbara komponenterna är använda referensgeometri som är inbyggd i mallar.
Projektet fokuserade på att undersöka möjligheten för systemkonfiguration i Design Automation-miljön, men det är nödvändigt för Tacton att se på framtida utveckling i en helhetssyn.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Tacton Systems for giving me the opportunity and all the resources and help I needed to conduct my thesis at the company. I would especially like to thank my industry supervisor, Mathias Storm, for his support throughout the project work. Furthermore, I would like to thank all the employees at Tacton for warmly welcoming me during my time there, many offering great advice and guidance.
Special thanks go to all of the interviewees that took their time to contribute to this study.
Author
Solrun Traustadottir solrunt@kth.se
Production Engineering and Management KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Stockholm, Sweden
Academic Supervisor
Lars Wingård
KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Industrial Supervisor
Contents
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Background . . . 1
1.2 Tacton Systems and its Software Solutions . . . 2
1.3 Problem Description . . . 3 1.4 Research Questions . . . 5 1.5 Delimitations . . . 5 1.6 Outline . . . 6 2 Methodology 7 2.1 Literature Study . . . 7 2.2 Software Study . . . 7 2.3 Interviews . . . 7 3 Literature Study 9 3.1 Product Configuration . . . 9 3.2 System Configuration . . . 11 3.3 Modularisation . . . 12 3.4 Design Automation . . . 13 4 Software Study 15 4.1 Tacton Design Automation . . . 15
4.2 Partners and Competitors . . . 25
4.3 Designing in CAD for Design Automation . . . 28
4.4 Designing in CAD for System Configuration . . . 29
5 Interviews 39 5.1 The Need for System Configuration . . . 39
5.2 How to do System Configuration . . . 40
5.3 Customers Using Layout Mode . . . 43
5.4 System Configuration in Tacton - A Holistic View . . . 46
6 Results and Conclusions 47 6.1 Types of Systems . . . 47
6.3 Building Assemblies for System Configuration . . . 54
7 Discussion and Future Work 57
References 59
1
Introduction
This chapter provides an introduction to the area of the thesis. This chapter also presents a background on the external project provider, Tacton Systems AB. Furthermore, the focus and the objective of the thesis is presented, leading to the research questions. Finally, the structure of the thesis report is presented for guidance.
1.1
Background
Customers have for a long time enjoyed the benefits of mass production such as low cost, high quality, and fast product delivery. However, customers are progressively expecting companies to offer customized products while keeping the benefits of mass production. It is challenging for companies to successfully respond to these changes in expectations because with growing customization comes growing complexity. The term ”mass customization” refers to combining customization with the benefits of mass production (Tseng & Hu 2014). For companies to aim at mass customization, they need to act fast and operate efficiently.
component variants. The constraints can be defined for various reasons such as technical restrictions, manufacturing limitations, or economic aspects. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has for a long time been used in product configuration for complex products (Sabin & Weigel 1998, Haug et al. 2012). A configuration engine evaluates the constraints and makes sure that only possible solutions can be selected, using AI techniques.
Product configuration can be applied in various scenarios for different purposes. It can be used in sales to generate a correct sales bill-of-materials (SBOM) and for creating quotations instantly. It can also create different types of BOMs such as engineering BOM (EBOM), manufacturing BOM (MBOM) and service BOM, including different kinds of product specifications such as lead-time calculations and production instructions. Furthermore, product configuration can be used in Design Automation (DA) where the configuration model is connected to Computer Aided Design (CAD) software. It can be used early in the DA process to generate simplified CAD files that can, e.g., be used for material quotation. It can also be used later in the process during the product configuration. Then it is possible to see the product change in real time as the product gets configured, and CAD models and drawings for design engineers and manufacturing are generated automatically. In the engineer-to-order (ETO) sector, where the products are developed or modified to each customers’ specification and much time is spent on design-related tasks, using DA is a very efficient way to shorten lead time, to reduce cost and to maintain or even to improve the quality (Verhagen et al. 2012).
1.2
Tacton Systems and its Software Solutions
This thesis project was carried out at Tacton Systems AB, henceforward called Tacton. Tacton is a provider of sales and product configuration software and services. It started in 1987 as a research project on the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to solve industry challenges and was founded as a company in 1998. Today, as a result of over 20 years of AI development, Tacton offers a highly sophisticated configurator, serving customers across the globe (Tacton 2019). Tacton has over 250 employees, where the majority work with Tacton
Configure Price Quote (CPQ). Tacton offers their own configurator that manages advanced price models and a quotation tool, Tacton CPQ, that enables sales teams to configure the product according to the customers’ needs. The configurator engine checks and validates the entire solution after each choice, ensuring that the solution is always absolutely correct. Tacton CPQ delivers correct product specifications instantly down to the BOM level. Tacton also offers other software solutions, and one of them is Tacton Design Automation (DA). Tacton DA is a configurator software connected to a CAD system. It enables configuration of products and an automatic generation of complete 3D models and 2D drawings with the correct dimensions and specifications. Tacton DA can also be used in conjunction with CPQ, as a back-end CAD server, generating the CAD files automatically during the sales process in CPQ. Tacton DA is, like CPQ, connected to the configurator engine, so the entire solution is validated after each choice is made, eliminating costly design errors. Tacton DA is available for different CAD systems, more precisely, SolidWorks, Autodesk Inventor, and PTC Creo. Using Tacton DA to automate repetitive engineering design work can reduce the engineering hours drastically, allowing engineers to spend their time on other tasks, such as innovation and product development.
1.3
Problem Description
Tacton DA has had its primary focus on product configuration where complex products can easily be customized and modeled according to the customers’ needs. It is a developed software that can create 3D models and 2D drawings of these configurable products. However, there is a need to expand Tacton DA’s capabilities.
During the literature study for this project, no common definition of a system configuration in the context of product configuration could be found. To clarify what is meant with system configuration in this thesis, the following definition is used:
System configuration means to be able to combine configurable modules together and make them communicate the relevant input and output values of the surrounding modules, making sure that they fit together and run as a whole system.
The systems that customers want to configure can vary significantly in complexity and structure. They can be anything from the typical factory layout consisting of multiple machine lines to simple cabins that all need to have the same height. Systems do not necessarily need to be composed of many separate products that are placed together. If one product consists of two or more configurable modules, the product on its own can be a system.
Tacton has been able to meet the customers’ needs for building whole systems of configurable products both in CPQ and DA. However, Tacton does not offer a genuine system configuration as it is defined in this thesis, but instead, each problem solution is restricted to the use of existing options. Tacton DA offers a feature called ’Layout’. The Layout feature is only available for SolidWorks, does not use the Tacton configurator engine to validate the compatibility between nodes and is limited in its usage. The Layout feature and its limitations are explained in detail in chapter 4.1.1. Although the Layout option has solved some of the customers’ requirements for building systems, due to its limitations, it should not be confused with system configuration as it is defined in this thesis.
By offering system configuration in Tacton DA, it will be possible to break down large projects into smaller ones. That allows separate teams to work on different parts of the solution simultaneously, resulting in shorter configuration time. System configuration will result in significantly easier maintenance of the solutions. By making system configuration in Tacton DA use the Tacton configurator engine, the choices made will be verified by the engine so the solutions will always be correct. Additionally, it will allow for system configuration to be compatible with Tacton CPQ, which the Layout option is currently not.
Now, Tacton wants to look into the possibility to replace Layout with a system configuration solution.
1.4
Research Questions
This thesis project aims to research if and how Tacton can create system configuration functionality in Tacton DA to be able to meet the customers’ needs. Various areas and aspects need to be investigated to answer how the new system configurator should be designed. For the scope of this thesis work, three research questions were defined:
1. What types of systems exist in the manufacturing industry?
To be able to answer that, it is necessary to understand what kind of products do customers have that they would like to be able to realize and configure in design automation.
2. What relationships or interfaces between parts, modules, and products are needed?
3. How should CAD models be built and structured to work in a good and robust way for system configuration?
1.5
Delimitations
Furthermore, this research is limited to the features and commands available in SolidWorks 2019.
This project only provides an investigation, and no implementation of a real software solution was carried out during the project work.
1.6
Outline
Following this introduction is an explanation of the research methodology used to answer the research questions during the thesis project work. Chapter 3 covers a literature review of the main concepts and methods related to the topic of the thesis. Chapter 4 includes a software study that can be further broken down into an explanation of how Tacton DA works and how designers should build their CAD models for system configuration. The relevant information gathered during the interviews is reviewed in chapter 5 to gain deeper knowledge than what was possible during the literature review and software study. The results and conclusions after analyzing all the information gathered are presented in chapter 6. Finally, in chapter 7, the results are discussed along with the delimitations and future work.
2
Methodology
The information collection can be divided into three main parts, i.e., a literature study, software study, and an empirical study.
2.1
Literature Study
The literature study covers the study of available literature that is related to the field that Tacton works in, i.e., product configuration, that is relevant to this thesis work.
2.2
Software Study
The software study consists of a thorough explanation of how Tactons’ DA solution works and a state-of-the-art review of other solutions, similar to Tactons’ DA, that exist on the market today, with a particular focus on DA for system configuration.
The software study also includes an investigation into how CAD models can be built up to work in a robust way for system configuration. Information was collected from CAD vendors and engineering companies. When the relevant information had been collected and reviewed, the methods found where applied on relatively simple CAD models as a proof of concept.
The focus of the investigation was put on the SolidWorks CAD environment. It offers an official Web Help where it is possible to read and get instructions on different functions that the software offers.
2.3
Interviews
When companies are discussing the need for a new system, one of the first things that should be established are the requirements of the new system (Hull et al. 2011). That way, the requirements can be used to guide and drive the development process of the project. Hull et al. (2011) defined two domains for the requirements layers; the problem domain and the solution domain, see figure 2.1.
Figure 2.1: The three requirements layers, split into two domains (Hull et al. 2011)
Interviews were conducted with stakeholders to get their view on what they want and expect from system configuration to be able to define the problem domain, according to Hull et al. (2011) definition.
The interviews were conducted with various people that work with product configuration in one way or another. That included both employees of Tacton as well as Tactons’ customers. The list of interviewees can be found in Appendix A.
All interviews were semi-structured, where a set of pre-defined questions were asked, as well as opening up for new ideas and topics to be discussed. The reason why the interview method of semi-structured interviews was chosen is that the group of people that were interviewed had a very diverse background and knowledge. The pre-defined questions were also changed according to who was being interviewed in order to collect the relevant information. Additionally, some of the pre-defined questions were very open and were only meant to guide the interviewee to a certain path or theme and get the interviewee to speak freely about the topic.
3
Literature Study
A literature review was performed to understand the problems described in chapter 1.3 better and to acquire more knowledge about the subjects related to the problems.
3.1
Product Configuration
Product configuration enables efficient customization of products. Product configuration systems (PCS), also referred to as configurators, is the software system used for product configuration. Each PCS usually has a so-called front end where the user selects from predefined components and assigns values to parameters, tailoring the product to the customers’ needs (Orsvärn & Axling 1999). The PCS contains all the product knowledge, such as the available components and the predefined constraints. Product configuration utilizes AI technologies to search for a valid configuration, making sure that the solution is always correct and no unfeasible choices have been made (Sabin & Weigel 1998). An example of a product configuration is when a customer orders a new customized car from a car manufacturer. The customer begins by choosing a car model, then continues going through a list of choices, making other selections such as the body type, color, transmission, and engine. Naturally, not all choices fit together, e.g., if the customer selects an SUV, the engine types that the customer can select from are not the same as if the customer would have selected a sports car.
Aiming for mass customization, the concept of offering customized products at near mass manufacturing efficiency, is becoming increasingly important to survive in today’s competitive market (Tseng & Hu 2014). Time, cost, and quality are critical factors that companies need to attend to carefully. Configurators can be the heart of a company’s mass customization strategy (Hvam 2006).
One of the most significant issues faced within the engineer-to-order (ETO) sector, where the products are developed or modified to each customers’ specification, is a long lead time (Hicks et al. 2000). That is because with increased customization comes increased complexity, which results in increased time for all processes that affect the lead time within the organization. The sales process is time-consuming because of the time it takes to calculate and give quotation for a customized product and many engineering hours are spent on design and the creation of all relevant information such as production specifications, CAD models and drawings for the customized product. That is why implementing and using a PCS in conjunction with DA is an efficient way to decrease lead times and reduce costs (Verhagen et al. 2012). Myrodia et al. (2017) investigated the impact of PCS and concluded that using PCS resulted in increased accuracy of cost calculations, resulting in increased profitability.
Implementing and utilizing product configurators can also be a very efficient way to manage the product knowledge in regards to the variety offered by the companies (Forza & Salvador 2002). It is common and recommended that companies that decide to implement product configurators, also modularise their product range, if the products are not already module-based. Modularising the product range is an efficient way of handling product complexity (Blackenfelt 2001). The concept of modularisation is explained further in chapter 3.3.
The benefits of implementing and using product configurators can be substantial. When implementing PCS, it opens up for an opportunity to implement and use DA simultaneously, that can be especially beneficial for ETO companies to reduce the engineering hours spent on repetitive design tasks. Although the benefits are apparent, far from all ETO companies use configurators. One of the reasons for companies being hesitant to implement configurators is because of the challenges they might face during the implementation and utilization (Forza & Salvador
2002).
The companies providing product configurators and academia are well aware of the advantages of configurators as well as the challenges companies face when implementing them. The configurators and the implementation processes are therefore continuously being improved, and more and more companies are acquiring PCS, gaining a competitive advantage by taking advantage of AI technology and digitizing their sales and engineering processes.
3.2
System Configuration
Although a substantial amount of research exists on the subject, barely any information can be found on the matter of system level configuration in the context of product configuration. In fact, no definition of a system configuration in this context could be found. Therefore, a definition was provided in chapter 1.3 in the introductory part of this thesis, to be used in this work.
Kristianto et al. (2015) wrote about the need to think about configuration on the system level, and not only on the product level. Their proposal was directed towards ETO companies that develop large complex products where the configuration cannot be completed fully from the beginning. Uncertainty can remain for various reasons such as incomplete product parameters, more engineering work being required or multiple teams or even companies delivering components for the product. One example of such a large complex product is a ship, where the production takes a long time, and components are ordered from various suppliers, and different teams work on different parts of the product. What Kristianto et al. (2015) suggested was to use a system level configuration to include the main building blocks and the interfaces containing the important parameters and constraints. That way, it is possible to provide individual building blocks to the complete design (Kristianto et al. 2015).
system level configuration to understand what the market needs and how system level configuration should be performed. This master thesis contributes to that research, with a focus on a system-level configuration for DA.
3.3
Modularisation
Modularisation is the concept of combining various building blocks with well-defined interfaces in different ways to satisfy varying requirements (Blackenfelt 2001). Modularisation is closely related to product configuration. To be able to offer product configuration, it is necessary to have predefined components and component variants. Modularisation is exactly about that. In a modular product, the parts composing the product have been divided into so-called modules. When configuring the product, it is possible to choose between anywhere from none to multiple module variants for each module of the product.
Increased product variety often results in increased gross revenue. However, it also results in increased overall cost (Blackenfelt 2001). That is why one of the main challenges with handling the product variety using modularisation is to choose the right level of variety. Some of the key activities involved in modularisation is understanding what the customers want and being able to translate the customers’ needs into technical solutions. Companies need to analyze what the right level of variety is, to be able to offer what the customers want, without the product becoming too costly.
When implementing PCS, all components and component variants must be predefined to be able to offer product configuration. Therefore, it is recommended that the companies that implement product configurators begin by modularising their product range. The PCS will then manage the validity of the offered structures. The PCS also handles the translation of customer needs into the physical components that the final product consists of (Kristianto et al. 2015).
3.4
Design Automation
Design Automation (DA) refers to automating the design process by creating general models that represent an entire class of objects (Amadori et al. 2012). The main goal with DA is to automate repetitive engineering modeling tasks (Verhagen et al. 2012, Cederfeldt & Elgh 2005). By combining DA with the concept of product configuration, it is possible to create configuration models that include all necessary knowledge and to control both CAD models and CAD drawings through it. The way Tacton performs DA is explained in detail in chapter 4.1.
3.4.1 SolidWorks Application Programming Interface
Application Programming Interfaces (API) are used to enable communication between software programs. The API contains the communication methods between components, i.e., a set of functions and procedures, that enable information to be accessed by an external program. That way, it is possible to perform actions in the software without using the user interface of the software. The structure and contents of each API can vary greatly.
4
Software Study
This chapter provides information about Tactons’ solutions that were studied using material and tutorials available to Tacton employees. An investigation was also performed on similar solutions to Tacton DA, and they were reviewed to understand what products are available for customers.
Another investigation was conducted into how designers should build their CAD models to make them work in a good and robust way when used in system configuration. This involved information gathering as well as applying the methods on a relatively simple CAD model as a proof of concept.
4.1
Tacton Design Automation
This chapter provides guidance through one of Tactons tutorials, “Simple Conveyor”, to provide the reader with a comprehensive demonstration of how Tacton DA works and how solutions are modeled in Tacton DA.
Tacton DA is available as an add-in for SolidWorks, Autodesk Inventor and PTC Creo. The modeling of the solution is performed in the Tacton DA Studio. The modeled solution is saved in a .tcx file. Each .tcx model is connected to a CAD file, which is the so-called “Master Model” for the solution.
In this demonstration, the Master Model is a SolidWorks Assembly of a simple conveyor, see figure 4.1. Tacton DA edits the Master Model by driving parametric changes, by selecting from configurations or by replacing subcomponents or sub-assemblies. For the Master Model to update successfully during modifications, it must be a robust parametric model with a robust design intent.
When starting a new Tacton model, the first step is to create the component design tree. The component design tree in Tacton DA often looks similar to the SolidWorks design tree. One component is needed in the Tacton DA design tree for every SolidWorks component that will be configured. The Tacton DA components are then mapped to the corresponding SolidWorks components. The Tacton DA design tree can be seen to the left in figure 4.2.
Figure 4.2: The Tacton DA Studio
Only one beam and one support (for the four visible in the SolidWorks Master Model) is needed in the Tacton DA design tree because when multiple instances of the same SolidWorks file is in an assembly, they act together so when parametric changes are made to one component, the other instances also receive the same modification. Only one roller is needed in the Tacton DA design tree because the SolidWorks Master Model only used one roller that was patterned to make more instances. However, since the suppression state of the two middle supports that are suppressed in the SolidWorks Master Model should be controlled, it is possible
to create a collection in the Tacton model, where they are grouped to make their visibility state react in the same way.
Each Tacton DA component is associated with attributes, as can be seen in the lower right part of figure 4.2. The attributes are then mapped to the SolidWorks parameters that should be driven by Tacton DA. When attributes have been mapped, the icon next to the attribute name changes to indicate the mapping. An example in the conveyor tutorial is the roller_quantity attribute of the conveyor that is connected to the quantity in the roller pattern. Similarly, the roller_distance is mapped to the distance between instances in the pattern, and finally, the roller_start_distance is mapped to the dimension in the mate between the rollers and the beam, see figure 4.3. As seen in the figure, the dimensions that the attributes are connected to all have a logical name such as “Distance@Roller_Position” which is considered as good practice and makes the modeling of the solution much easier than if the parameters are not named logically, e.g., “Distance37”.
To be able to control the suppression state of the middle supports it is necessary to associate it with the predefined ”qty” attribute as seen in figure 4.4.
Figure 4.4: Control Suppression State on Middle Support
Each attribute has a domain that specifies what values or range of values the attribute can take. The configurator engine will then make sure to only consider values in line with the specified domain for each attribute. It is possible to specify a new custom domain or use one of the available pre-specified domains such as “int” which allows all integers or “boolean” which allows the values 0 or 1. In figure 4.4 and 4.2 it is possible to see the domains specified for each attribute.
It is possible to create variant tables such as the one seen in figure 4.5 that contain lists of variants from which the configurator can select. The configurator must then choose one variant from the list, and that variant will occupy that position in the design tree. When selecting from SolidWorks configurations or when replacing SolidWorks components the variant tables must be used. In this conveyor tutorial, a variant table is created for different types of rollers. Each variant is connected to a SolidWorks model of the corresponding roller type. When the user specifies the type of rollers, the roller component from the SolidWorks Master Model gets replaced by the one from the variant table. The symbol in front of the component name is different when a component is replaced, see the different symbols on figure 4.4 and 4.5.
Figure 4.5: Variant Table
The variant table can be used and connected to the components in the design tree. That is done for the rollers in the conveyor tutorial, as shown in figure 4.6. Then the features of the variants from the variant table get added automatically as attributes for the component in the design tree.
Figure 4.6: Variant Table Connected to Component
constraints make sure there is no space between the rollers, define the number of rollers, and make sure they are located correctly. Finally, the last constraint makes sure that if the conveyor is equal to or exceeds 1500mm in length, extra support will be added in the middle of the conveyor.
Figure 4.7: Constraints
Finally, fields need to be created for the user interface. For each attribute, it is possible to create a user interface field, but fields are normally only created for the attributes that the user wants to be able to control by making choices or assigning values. In the conveyor tutorial, three fields are created, as shown in figure 4.8, each connected to an attribute.
Figure 4.8: Defining the User Interface
Before creating the fields, steps and groups must be created. One step is visible to the user at a time. If the model contains two or more steps, the user will begin by configuring the fields in the first step, and then move to the next step and so on until the user has gone through all the steps in the model. Each step is configurable, but when moving on to the next step, the selections made in the previous step gets locked and cannot be changed. It could be explained as one-way communication. Step 1 talks to step 2, but step 2 does not report back to step 1. There is no way for the user to know how the values he/she commits in step 1 will affect the possible choices in step 2. If the user decides in step 2 that he/she wants to change the committed values from step 1, he/she needs to go back to step 1, change the committed values, and when moving on to step 2, the values he/she had already committed there might be changed. That is because the changes the user made to the committed values in step 1 affects the possible solutions in step 2 and the configurator engine will always search for a possible solution in the following steps, but not in the preceding ones.
It is possible to select from various types when specifying the fields for the user interface. They can, e.g., be a drop-down list, radio buttons, image list, slider, or the user needs to type values manually. It is also possible to control other aspects of a field such as its visibility or default value.
To use the model, and access the user interface just created in the Tacton DA Studio, the Runtime is started. The Runtime runs inside SolidWorks and can be seen in figure 4.9. The figure also shows different types of fields, the Roller Type option has a drop-down list, the length has a slider, and the value for the height should be typed in the field.
The CAD Master Model updates simultaneously as the user assigns values and makes choices in the user interface. An example of the configured conveyor and the corresponding updated Master Model in the SolidWorks graphics window is shown in figure 4.10. The conveyor tutorial is only a one-step model, but if it contained more steps, it would be possible to move between steps using the arrows in the top right corner on the user interface.
Figure 4.10: The User Interface after Assigning Values
The configurator engine validates every choice that the user makes, preventing the user from making any combination of choices that conflicts with any constraint, attribute domain, or other data specified in the model. The fields in the user interface will show green, orange, or red color to indicate whether a choice is possible or not. Two new constraints were added to the conveyor tutorial to demonstrate how the conflict resolution works. One completely banning the 100 mm roller and the other only allowing the 80 mm if the conveyor exceeds 1000 mm in length. As seen in figure 4.11, the 100 mm option is red, and not possible to choose. The length of the conveyor is set at 500 mm, so the smaller rollers are the only green options. However, it is possible to choose the orange option for 80 mm rollers, but then the user receives a message in a pop-up window saying that there is a conflicting parameter. The configurator engine will automatically propose a new value for the conflicting parameter. In this case, the length of the conveyor needs to be changed to solve the conflict, and the user can either choose to accept or decline that proposed value.
Figure 4.11: Conflict Resolution
However, because the Tacton configurator engine is a solver, i.e., the engine will always give the user a valid solution, all fields have an automatically assigned value for each parameter. The conflict resolution only checks on values assigned by the user. That means that during configuration, while the user assigns values, the configurator engine will be modifying the automatically assigned values, if possible, to meet the users’ requirements.
Today, if multiple values need to be changed for an orange option to work, the user receives a list of these in a pop-up window and only needs to press once to accept or decline the proposed new values. Sometimes there is more than one possible solution to resolve a problem, but the configurator engine will always only suggest one feasible solution. If the user is not happy with the values suggested by the configurator engine, he/she will need to decline the proposed values and commit new values manually. The user can set different search criteria for the configurator engine, e.g., for it to search for the cheapest solution or smallest solution.
4.1.1 Layout Option in Design Automation
Figure 4.12: Global Parameter
These global parameters contain the values of the configured components and work as an interface between them, allowing the components to communicate. When a component with a global parameter is used in an assembly containing another component with the same global parameter, they share a value. There is no need for a predefined CAD top assembly controlled by a large and complex Tacton configurator model that can configure everything when using the Layout option. Instead, it is possible to create an assembly and insert only the desired configurable components and configure them together in the Layout mode. Because of the communication through the global parameters, it is possible to update several components with separate .tcx files simultaneously, so it is not necessary to open each configurable component to modify values and make them match, but instead, they can be modified in the top assembly.
When configuring a component in a Layout, the new value of a global parameter is sent to all other components, on all levels, that include a global parameter with the same name. If wanted, it is possible to control which components receive which information in the top assembly through the global parameters, using what is called “targeted global parameters”. Defining which components the global parameters target is defined in the Layout Mapping Editor, see figure 4.12.
Breaking the large configurator model down into many smaller configurator models using the Layout option results in various other benefits. The performance of the model is improved by reducing the size and complexity of it, and maintenance becomes easier. Since each configurable component can be run individually, it is possible for different teams to work on different parts of the product concurrently.
However, as explained in chapter 1.3, various problems remain unsolved. The limitations of the Layout functionality has been investigated further during interviews with Tacton employees and customers using Layout. The results from these interviews are explained in chapter 5.
4.2
Partners and Competitors
Tacton mainly sells Tacton DA licenses through partners around the globe. One partner has expanded the capabilities of Tacton DA by building their own solution on top of it. Naturally, Tacton also has competitors that offer design automation systems. This chapter will cover what design automation solutions exist on the market other than Tacton DA, with a particular focus on options similar to that Tacton would want to offer with system configuration.
4.2.1 Lino GmbH
Lino GmbH is a partner of Tacton and resells and implements sales configuration, product configuration, and design automation software in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Lino describe themselves as more focused on the engineering and manufacturing side and less in the sales and business side. They focus on customers that offer machinery and plant equipment. Lino has developed some tools of their own, building on software from Tacton, where they believe something is missing in Tactons’ solutions. Therefore, integrations are critical to Lino, and they have come very far in their development of integrations between their software and Tactons’.
top of Tacton DA. That product is focused on factory layout planning. It runs inside CAD and shows a library of all available machines, conveyors, and other products, see right side of figure 4.13. The user drags a product from the library and drops it into the graphics window in SolidWorks. The user can click on the product to start configuring it. When the user drags the next product from the library, red spheres will appear to indicate where it is possible to connect the products, see figure 4.13. These red spheres are snapping points where the products get automatically mated. When products have been mated using these snapping points, they become a chain and inherit global parameters from each other, so if a parameter is changed in one product, it will change in the other as well. It is possible to manipulate the chain and either break chain connections or link non-connected components/chains. Lino also offers a tool to move and rotate chains relative to one another.
Figure 4.13: Linos 3D Layout
Instead of using the detailed engineering assembly for each product while doing the floor planning, Lino uses simplified sales components. Even though a simplified component is used, the BOM delivered is correct in regard to the detailed engineering assembly. It is possible to replace the simplified component with the detailed assembly if the user wishes to, but then the assembly runs
significantly slower.
Lino also offers what they call ”System Configuration” where Lino 3D Layout is synchronized with TCsite. TCsite is an older version of the CPQ solution from Tacton that Tacton has stopped selling and has replaced with Tacton CPQ. With Linos ”System Configuration” it is possible to send the configured layout to TCsite and receive an instant quotation. It is also possible to modify the configuration in TCsite and push the updated configured solution to DA.
4.2.2 Others
Naturally, Tacton has more competitors that offer DA solutions. However, when the market was analyzed with a special emphasis on searching for something similar to what Tacton wants to offer with its system configuration, not much was found.
Driveworks has for many years been one of Tactons’ main competitors when it comes to DA in SolidWorks, and they recently started offering CPQ software as well. When looking into their product offering for something similar to the system configuration Tacton would like to offer, the closest product found was what they call ”Layout mode” in their DriveWorks Solo product. An assembly file in SolidWorks needs to be open to activate the Layout Mode. The user needs to browse for a product to insert into the assembly, configure the product, and click ”Preview” to send it into the assembly. The product will then appear somewhere in the assembly. The Layout mode uses magnetic mates to simplify the mating process, but it does not send any attributes between products. For example, when inserting a conveyor into a conveyor line, the user needs to manually select the correct length, width, and other attributes that need to match between the conveyors. The Layout Mode in DriveWorks Solo is a way to combine multiple DriveWorks projects but does not offer many other additional functions of interest for this project.
The CAD vendors themselves offer some functionalities that can be used to automate design up to a certain degree. They have continued developing design automation tools, but none that can be compared to the capabilities of Tacton or other commercial vendors of DA tools, especially when it comes to layouts or systems.
4.2.3 Summary of Competitors
To summarize, Lino has built on top of Tactons’ solutions to expand the capabilities even further. However, in regards to the system configuration that Tacton wants to offer, no other commercial company offers anything similar to those capabilities, or even the capabilities of the Layout mode that exists in Tacton DA today.
4.3
Designing in CAD for Design Automation
The way that 3D CAD models are structured affects how they can be configured and how they will act if they are used in larger assembly models. The structure of 3D CAD models is therefore extremely important when it comes to DA and requires the engineers to adopt certain modeling techniques to be able to create robust models that will function well in the DA environment.
When designing for DA it is critical to have a strong design intent. To do so, the designer must think about the possible changes that will be made to the model in the future, and how the model should behave when these changes are applied.
Johan Ernfors (2009) created guidelines for how to create 3D CAD models, so they work well during configuration in DA and Andréasson & Lord (2013) added guidelines for the creation of 2D drawings. These instructions have proven to be successful and are still being updated and used at Tacton today.
When creating a 3D CAD model that will be used in DA the goal is to minimize the work needed during the design and maintenance of the model while still being able to configure it automatically using DA so that it updates successfully.
Some information such as parameters, constraints, and relationships can be controlled either in the 3D CAD software or the configurator model. It is important to avoid managing the same parameters in two different systems. That is why, when using a configurator model, the only information that the CAD software should include is the one needed to create the correct geometry and all other information should be included in the configurator model (Ernfors 2009).
Modern CAD software uses parametric modeling and feature-based modeling to be able to design with a strong design intent. During modeling, a sequence of features is created that either add or remove material to form the finished product. Usually, the features are created from 2D sketch geometry.
An example of a parameter type is a dimension. Dimensions are used to control the size and position of a sketch geometry and can also be used to relate and constrain existing geometry. Another aspect of parametric modeling involves creating relations between sketch entities in order to constrain geometries. Examples of dimensions to control are the length of a line or the diameter of a circle with a numerical value. Examples of constraints can be to make two circles concentric, two lines parallel, of equal length or parallel with a certain distance between them. By using dimensions and constraints, it is possible to make 2D geometry fully defined.
Parametric changes can be driven from Tacton DA to a SolidWorks model, as was explained in chapter 4.1.
4.4
Designing in CAD for System Configuration
4.4.1 Reference Geometry
It is possible to use reference geometry such as planes, points, axes, or coordinate systems to create features while designing in SolidWorks (SOLIDWORKS 2016). It becomes easier to maintain and use models in DA if the designer uses reference geometry to define the model, and as a result, the robustness of 3D models also increases. The main reason for that is because whenever a designer creates geometry, it will receive a unique SolidWorks internal ID code. Mates are assigned to the specific geometry ID’s, and if the internal ID of a geometric entity has changed for any reason, SolidWorks will lose the mate reference, resulting in a mate error. Since the model geometry is constantly being changed in DA, the 3D model will become more robust and less likely to lose references if a reference geometry is used instead of edges, faces, and points on the model itself. However, even if a reference geometry is used, if a component gets replaced by another one, the mate will break unless the reference geometry that the mate was assigned to has the same internal SolidWorks ID in both of the components that are being replaced by one another. Thus, an even more robust way is to insert the necessary reference geometry into templates in SolidWorks.
4.4.2 Templates
SolidWorks offers three default templates that create different types of files: Part, Assembly, and Drawing. It is possible to create new customized templates (SOLIDWORKS 2019a) based on one of the default templates, including more information such as reference geometry if needed.
By building the reference geometry into the templates, all files will have the same internal ID for the reference geometry that is built into them. It is possible to create the mates between the reference geometries that are built into the template. The mate will never break because the internal ID’s that define the mate are always the same, no matter though components are modified or even replaced.
If a reference geometry is deleted and re-added into the template-based file, the ID will change and everything referencing it will fail. Even if a geometry identical to another one is created, it will have a different internal ID. Therefore, the template
reference geometry should never be deleted.
SolidWorks, like other modern CAD software, has three standard reference planes for 3D models: Top, Front, and Right. Different kinds of reference geometry can be built into templates, such as planes, points, axes, and coordinate systems. It depends on what the intended use is, what type of geometry is best suited. It is worth noting that a lot of different reference geometry can be set up into the SolidWorks templates, and not all must be used or visible in every model. It is possible to organize the reference geometry into folders and either hide it or show, as the user wishes. One of the interviewees during this thesis work, Eric Schwieterman, a lead engineer at SMC Corporation of America, has built coordinate systems into templates at SMC. The reason why they use coordinate systems is that when two coordinate systems are mated together, the corresponding components become fully defined (Schwieterman 2019). Hence, by using coordinate systems as reference geometry, it is possible to determine what the orientation of the component will be when mated.
When defining the reference geometry in a template, it needs to be constrained in some way. If coordinate system is to be used as reference geometry, Schwieterman (2019) recommends creating a 3D sketch with point(s) in it and to attach the coordinate system to it, to give the designer the most freedom. By doing so, it is possible to control the location and manipulate the orientation of the coordinate system as needed through the Coordinate System Properties in SolidWorks.
4.4.3 Consistency in Design
guidelines for the engineers to follow in order to achieve uniformity, where everyone works the same way.
4.4.4 Mating in SolidWorks
As explained in the previous chapter, it is recommended to use reference geometry during the conventional mating process. This chapter covers other functions that SolidWorks offers to automate and simplify the mating process significantly compared to the conventional mating process.
SmartMates
One of the functionality is ”SmartMates” where different types of automatic mates can be created (SOLIDWORKS 2018a). To use SmartMates, one component is dragged onto another component, and SolidWorks will automatically create a mate between them. Which type of mate SolidWorks creates is dependant on the geometry on the two components being mated together. Therefore, SolidWorks will identify the geometry that is used to drag the component as well as the geometry that the component is dropped onto.
Additionally, it is possible to set up mating references so SolidWorks will know how the component should be mated. When a component with mating references is dragged into an assembly, SolidWorks will search for other reference mates with the same name and type. That way, it is possible to automatically create the desired mates for a component when inserting it into an assembly. Adding mate references is convenient for components that are often used and typically mated the same way every time.
Magnetic Mates
When using Magnetic Mates, the designer defines connecting points on the components (SOLIDWORKS 2019b). The predefined connection points appear as pink points. The designer can then drag components over each other, and a pink connection line will indicate the two connection points which a mate will be formed between when the designer drops the component into the assembly, see
figure 4.14.
Figure 4.14: Magnetic Mate
Although magnetic mates are a really fast and simple way to insert components in their correct place in an assembly, the functionality is not flawless. When a chain has been formed with magnetic mates, it moves together. The designer can still break the magnetic mates and move the individual components unless specifically locking the magnetic mates, not allowing them to break.
Perhaps the biggest disadvantage with magnetic mates is that there is no way to define the direction of components to control that they can only be fitted together in a viable orientation in regards to other components that are already placed in the assembly. For example, it is possible to place two conveyors back-to-back together, although they only have one viable orientation in regards to each other.
Ground Plane
component will automatically be the lowest face on the Y-axis unless the user specifies another face especially.
When doing a factory layout, it is possible to insert a model of the floor layout into the assembly and define the top of that model as the ground plane. That way, the user can arrange all the products so that they fit on the factory floor.
SolidWorks recommends using Ground Planes in combination with Magnetic Mates when doing factory layout. SolidWorks also recommends using SpeedPak (SOLIDWORKS 2017a), i.e., a simplified configuration of an assembly when doing factory layout.
4.4.5 Large assemblies
When it comes to system configuration, when multiple large assemblies might be placed in the same assembly file and configured together, it is inevitable to consider the performance in SolidWorks. The normal state for an assembly is the Resolved state where all of the model data is accessible and fully loaded in memory. This can result in a long loading time and overall slow performance in SolidWorks. In the past few years, SolidWorks has introduced new functions aiming at improving the performance of large assemblies, and today, a number of techniques exist to handle large assembly models.
Today, SolidWorks offers three additional ”modes” to the normal Resolved mode, i.e., Lightweight, Large Assembly Mode and Large Design Review Mode. This chapter covers what these different modes, and other functions offered by SolidWorks, include and their relevance to improving performance in DA.
Lightweight Mode
It is possible to open an assembly with it sub-assemblies and parts in Lightweight mode to increase the performance of the assembly. When using lightweight mode, only a subset of the components’ data is loaded, resulting in faster loading time (SOLIDWORKS 2017b). If the user wants to load more data than what is accessible in the lightweight mode, it is necessary to fully resolve the component. Since the user does not have access to all the features at all times, which is
necessary in DA when changes are being made to details in the model, this mode will not be considered as useful for DA.
Large Assembly Mode
When an assembly is opened in Large Assembly Mode, various system settings are applied that increase the assembly’s performance (SOLIDWORKS 2019c). Additionally, all of its sub-assemblies and parts are opened in Lightweight mode, which makes this option unsuitable for DA.
Large Design Review
Large Design Review enables users to open very large assemblies fast to view and investigate the model rapidly. The feature manager is available to the user when using the Large Design Review mode. When using this mode, it is, e.g., possible to measure distances, cut cross sections and hide and show components. The capability to edit the assembly while in Large Design Review was introduced in SolidWorks 2019 (SOLIDWORKS 2019d). Mates are accessible and can be edited, deleted, or created. Reference geometry and sketches are accessible and can be shown or hidden and used as references when adding mates. In the edit mode, it is possible to change configurations of components, delete them or insert new components. Additionally to being able to mate newly inserted components, it is possible to use magnetic mates to snap components into position in the Large Design Review. When the user has made all necessary changes, it is possible to save the assembly so that the next time it is opened, no matter in which mode, the changes have been saved. It might be possible to use Large Design Review for DA, however, it is going to need further investigation to really understand its feasibility.
Defeature Tool
also select which details should not be simplified at all. When the simplification is done, the simplified defeatured model can be saved with a link to the original assembly.
When it comes to DA, it is obvious that parametric changes will not be driven on details on components that have been simplified using the Defeature tool. However, there are some possibilities to use the Defeature tool in DA.
One possibility is to simplify only the complex parts of the model that will never be modified in any way. An example can be for a machine that uses a motor that always has the same dimensions, and the motor could be replaced with a simplified solid.
Another possibility is to utilize the connection between the simplified model and the fully resolved one. It is possible to create additional code that enables the simplified model to be open in the graphics window in SolidWorks, and when the Tacton configuration is started, although it is driving changes to the fully resolved model, it is possible to make it rebuild the simplified model and publish the changes in the SolidWorks graphics window.
SpeedPak
SolidWorks offers a SpeedPak option that generates a simplified configuration of an assembly (SOLIDWORKS 2019e). The simplified configuration retains its references, so it is possible to substitute the simplified configuration for the original complex one without losing references. The user needs to select what features such as faces, reference geometry, and sketches should be selectable in the SpeedPak configuration. All other details will only be loaded as a subset, similar to in Lightweight mode, and will not be selectable and thus cannot be modified or used for mating. Therefore, it is not considered feasible to use a SpeedPak configuration in DA.
Save an Assembly as a Part
It is possible to save an assembly file as a part file to simplify the design and improve the performance. By doing so, SolidWorks generates multiple solid or surface bodies that are accessible in the feature tree of the part file. Although the
bodies are accessible in the feature tree, there is no feature history available for the bodies and thus, not possible to drive parametric changes the way it is done in DA.
4.4.6 Multiple instances of a component
A very likely scenario when doing system configuration is that more than one instance of a component will be placed in the assembly. For example, when doing a factory layout, it is very likely that more than one instance of a straight conveyor will be used in the floor plan. One of the difficulties which imposes is that SolidWorks treats the different instances as the same object until the different instances are saved under different names. In an assembly with two instances of a straight conveyor, if one were configured to have a length of 2 meters, the other would automatically update with the same value if it is not saved under a new name before starting the configuration. Normally during the configuration process in DA, the files are not saved until after the user has committed all values and is done making all changes to the model. When the configuration is done, the files are exported and saved.
One possibility is to save the different instances with different names before starting the configuration. This could be automated using the SolidWorks API in multiple ways, and SolidWorks offers functionalities that can come in handy. An example is the ”Pack and Go” option that SolidWorks offers. Pack and Go collects all related files for the component into a folder or a zip file which might be useful when automating the generation and saving the different instances. However, the user often follows specific rules regarding where and how to save the model files. It might become difficult to automate the saving process, e.g., for files with unknown final saving destination or name.
an instance independent from other instances of the same component as well as it is possible to rename the virtual models in the feature tree, creating the desired distinction between the instances. This method supports the way configurations are done today very well, i.e., by saving everything at the end of the configuration, when the files are exported and saved.
5
Interviews
Interviews were conducted to gain a deeper understanding of the field of product configuration, to establish the needs and requirements for system configuration further and to investigate the possibilities for system configuration, with a special focus on the possibilities in DA.
The information from the interviews that is presented in this chapter can be split into a discussion about the need for system configuration, how interviewees envision system configuration, the use of the Layout option offered today in Tacton DA and finally a holistic view of the future for system configuration at Tacton.
5.1
The Need for System Configuration
Fifteen Tacton employees were interviewed, all of which agreed that there is a need for Tacton to enhance the support for customers that want to configure systems of products. However, it varied significantly between employees how urgent they saw the need for it. The employees had different opinions and views on system configuration in general and especially on how Tacton should approach it.
Two customers using the Tacton DA Layout option and one customer that has built their own ”system configuration” on top of an old sales product TCsite that Tacton offered were also interviewed to get the customers’ point of view.
Even though Tacton does not offer system configuration as it is defined in this thesis, they have been able to solve various system configuration problems for their customers with their existing software solutions. Some of the Tacton employees had worked on customer projects that involved system configuration. They could provide information about the existing problem solutions and the different aspects that worked well or could be improved upon, in order to better fulfill the customers’ needs.
into smaller ones. When modeling solutions for customers using the software that Tacton offers today, the modeler has the whole solution in front of him-/herself at all times. There is an “include” option available where the modeler can include a .tcx file inside another .tcx file. Intuitively this means to include a configurable module inside another configurable module. This option does not function as dynamically as system configuration should be able to do. When solutions get very large, they can get very complex and difficult to maintain or make changes to. Being able to break very large solutions down into smaller ones has various benefits. Among those benefits are:
• Easier maintenance
• Different teams working on different parts of the solution concurrently • Better performance and faster configuration time
5.2
How to do System Configuration
During the interviews, different functions were discussed to understand their relevance in system configuration. The different types of system structures and necessary communication between the modules forming the system were also discussed with the interviewees.
5.2.1 Functions in System Configuration
The interviewees’ opinion on how system configuration should be performed and which functionalities they want it to include varied significantly. It is necessary to go through some of the main functionalities that exist in Tacton’s solutions today to evaluate their usefulness and relevance for system configuration.
Steps
As explained in chapter 4.1, it is possible to break solutions down into multiple steps. Some employees like to break the models down into multiple steps, while others try as much as they can to keep their modeled solutions in only one step.
The advantages of using steps are that the user does not have to look at all the options at the same time resulting in easier navigation through the user interface. It can be very appropriate to use steps in some cases to improve the performance of the configurator model by excluding all options that are not appropriate for the product being configured. An example can be when configuring a bike, the first step could be to select what kind of bike it is, e.g., if it is a mountain bike or a racer. By making that choice in the first step, all the inappropriate selections for that product type get excluded. However, the obvious disadvantage of using steps is that after a selection has been made in one step and the user moves to the next one, the committed values in the previous step get locked and cannot be changed.
Conflict resolution
The conflict resolution, i.e., the configuration choices being colored green, orange, and red according to their feasibility, is very popular amongst all interviewees and works very well.
As was explained in chapter 4.1, if an orange option is selected today, the user receives a pop-up window saying that it is only possible to make this selection if a value of something previously configured is changed. The configurator engine will automatically propose a new value for the conflicting parameter.
What might be one of the biggest problems with including conflict resolution when doing system configuration is how everything is connected, which might trigger a chain reaction of required changes to be able to change one value.
Interfaces
Tacton does not offer any way to specify the interfaces between configurable modules in any of its solutions. The only way to make modules communicate today is by manually writing constraints, except for the global parameters available in the Layout option in Tacton DA.
way to establish relationships between these parameters is to write constraints manually.
When Tacton started offering the Layout option in Tacton DA, they introduced global parameters that share values with all other global parameters with the same name in the same SolidWorks assembly file. They also included the option to make the global parameter targeted, so the modeler can choose which other configurable models that include a global parameter with the same name in the assembly will share values. Using global parameters automates the way configurable modules can communicate parameters and establish relationships between them up to a certain degree.
It could very well be that other types of relationships might be applicable for system configuration to automate the communication of parameters between configurable models, and the Product Manager in DA had already detected two other types of relationships, namely, chain and pair, that could be useful.
• Chain relationship: Often, one solution includes more than one system. An example could be in a factory layout. There might be two parallel factory lines running beside each other, containing the same configurable conveyors and machines, but requiring different parameter values, e.g., if the height of the lines should not be the same. In a case like this, it might be convenient to offer a chain relationship that only shares values with other parameters in that same chain but not to other chains running in the same solution. • Pair relationship: The pair relationship would only affect two configurable
models enabling one configurable model to only share value with the adjacent module without affecting other parameters in the system.
The same final result could be achieved by using targeted global parameters in Tacton DA. However, by introducing the chain and pair relationships, it would be possible to simplify the process of sending parameter values between models in the chain and pair scenarios.
5.2.2 System structures and communications
To be able to develop a tool for system configuration, it is very important to understand the different system structures that the customers would like to configure. That includes how the configurable modules are positioned and the nature of the communication needed between the modules. Because of the diverse background of the interviewees, the discussion was always different and dozens of different system structures were looked into and reviewed.
The customers have systems spanning almost all of the industrial manufacturing industry so it would be a tedious and uninteresting work to enumerate the different products reviewed, how they connect to form a system and which parameters need to be communicated in the systems. Throughout the interviews, the discussion evolved from only discussing the different products forming a system, to discussing how it is possible to group them logically. Almost all the interviewees had input into forming the types of system structures that are presented in chapter 6.1. However, it is worth noting that an employee at Tacton with the job title ”Director Alliances in North America” had already put a lot of thought into system configuration before our interview and had already grouped the types of systems similarly to my conclusions that are presented in detail in chapter 6.1.
5.3
Customers Using Layout Mode
As explained in chapter 4.1.1, Tacton DA offers a layout mode that uses global parameters to enable the communication between configurable modules. When using the layout mode, the new value of a global parameter is sent to all other modules in the same assembly document, that includes a global parameter with the same name, but only during the step in which they are activated. Because the Layout feature is not compatible with the Tacton configurator engine, the communication is limited.
