Using a Configuration System to Design Toilets and Place Installation Shafts

Abstract

Abstract:The aim of this research is to discover how configuration systems can support a product's design process when a high degree of variation is required and a very open or endless space exists for possible configurations. The article is based on an industrial case involving a firm that wishes to offer a bathroom configurator to architects. The aim of the configurator is to help architects design a bathroom according to relevent requirements and norms. In offering the configurator, the firm aims to enable a design that can be coordinated with a prefabricated installation shaft sold by the firm, and also to create customer leads. Four scenarios are developed for how design can be supported by four different types of configuration technologies. The four scenarios are evaluated in relation to a number of functional and technical requirements. The scenarios indicate that a good and varied range of opportunities exist for using configuration systems in the construction industry. They also show that it can be done without fundamentally changing the present process.

The costs and benefits of multistage configuration: A framework and case study

“…Sales configurators have gained popularity due to their substantial benefits for the companies, such as shorter lead times for generating quotations (Haug et al, 2011;Hvam, Haug, Mortensen, & Thuesen, 2013;Hvam & Ladeby, 2007;Trentin, Perin, & Forza, 2011), fewer errors (Forza & Salvador, 2002a, 2002b, the increased ability to meet customers' requirements regarding product functionality (Forza & Salvador, 2002a, 2002b, the use of fewer resources, optimised product designs (Gronalt, Posset, & Benna, 2007;Trentin, Perin, & Forza, 2012), less routine work and improved on-time delivery (Liu, Shah, & Schroeder, 2006;Squire, Readman, Brown, & Bessant, 2004). PCSs are widely used in a broad range of industries supporting ETO solutions, including construction (Kudsk, Hvam, & Thuesen, 2013), process plants (Orsvärn & Bennick, 2014) and the electronics industry (Hvam et al, 2008).…”