Product & Configuration

A product definition needs to remain useful when a team quotes it, purchases its components, or prepares work. Product & Configuration gives product and SKU information a structured place in the operational system, with BOM relationships that describe how the parts fit together.

Establish a shared product structure

Create the product and SKU definitions that the team uses in its daily work. Represent component relationships through BOMs and component groups. Review the structure with the people who maintain the engineering definition and the people who use it in purchasing or execution.

A shared structure provides a reference point for questions about quantity, component selection, or configuration. Supporting documents can explain the specification behind a particular choice. The structure and its evidence become records that other workflows can reference.

Review component changes in context

A substitution can affect more than availability. It may change a specification, a verification requirement, or a downstream purchasing decision. Use Change Governance to define the proposed revision, connect the affected targets, and review the applicable effectivity before operational use.

Use Impact Intelligence to inspect dependencies represented in the connected records. The findings help reviewers identify follow-up work and questions. Engineering and quality evaluate suitability using the supporting evidence and the requirements of the product.

Connect definition and verification

Pair product structures with Design & Development when requirements, design outputs, risk controls, and verification need to be reviewed together. Connect approved specifications through Document Control so a product decision has a revision-specific source to follow.

The same definition can inform quoting and procurement. That connection helps the team review what is being offered, which parts are needed, and where a proposed update could change existing work.

Start with one product family

Choose a family whose configuration or component changes create recurring coordination problems. Agree on the product identifiers, structure owners, supporting documents, and review responsibilities. Establish the first working structure and follow a real change through its related records.

Expand as the team identifies useful connections to purchasing, commercial operations, and execution. Each additional relationship should make a concrete operational question easier to answer.