Virtual Product Configuration
by: Jon Beck
If you’re a configure to order manufacturer, you have one huge problem: customers can never see what they’re buying until you deliver it. What if . . . you could provide them a way to see what they’re buying before they buy it. Not only that, what if they could literally step into your product and make changes to what they’re buying as they see how it actually works when all the pieces and parts are put together?
Welcome to the world of Virtual Product Configuration. Some really smart folks in Minneapolis have developed a new class of CPQ (configure-price-quote) software by adding virtual reality to their configuration engine. Not only can your sales people, customers, etc., choose what options, upgrades, etc., they want in a guided, rules-based way; they can now virtually step into the results.
The software I’m talking about was developed by Axonom (www.axonom.com). Full disclosure: I used to work with/for the principals of Axonom in the late 1990s when we were working exclusively in the CRM space. They’ve called their software the “Virtual Reality Configurator”. The VR part works in conjunction with their 2D / 3D configuration engine to present a real-time, immersive experience of the product(s) being configured. To demonstrate the concept, they use a surgical suite example on their web site:
Here’s the cool, freaky part: I’ve been in that surgical suite. It’s actually a small room in Axonom’s Bloomington, MN headquarters but the experience is nothing short of exciting and breath-taking. It took a few minutes to get used to the controllers but before I knew it, I was replacing virtual components with different ones. Moving things around the room. Articulating arms with monitoring equipment attached. Not doing it very elegantly and with the sound of giggles permeating the room as I fumbled about and almost walked off the edge of the reality I found myself in – a.k.a., I walked into a wall of the room.
What kind of company would this apply to?[pms-restrict subscription_plans=”1607″] Anyone who sells or manufactures products that need to fit together and that are used as a “system”. Surgical suites as you see are one example but there are hundreds of others like:
- Vehicle manufacturers especially specialty vehicles like RV’s, ambulances, fire engines, buses, etc. For these folks, this technology addresses 2 significant issues:
- Prototyping – gone may be the days of had crafted clay models and hand-built wooden interiors. Imagine the cost savings from virtual prototyping alone!
- Sales Person / Dealer / Customer experience – imagine the impact of allowing the customer to step into their newly configured vehicle to see the color schemes, profile of the cabinets. And, if they don’t like something literally changing it on the fly.
- Clinics – medical, dental, veterinary where different types of “standard” rooms need to be configured. Think 20 exam rooms in a medical clinic or 6 checkup rooms in a medium size dentist office.
- Home builders & remodelers for specialty areas like kitchens and bathrooms. Imagine allowing your homeowner to step into their new kitchen to try it out before you build it for them!
To name just a few.
Virtual reality is still in its infancy but the folks at Axonom are on the leading edge of bringing it to the manufacturing / distribution space as a clear market differentiator. Their VR-CPQ suite can, with some work, be added to the configuration / quoting engine of any ERP, CRM or PLM application currently on the market. You owe it to yourself to check out this ground-breaking technology.[/pms-restrict]
