Product configuration and inter-firm co-ordination: an innovative
solution from a small manufacturing enterprise
C. Forza
a,*
, F. Salvador
a,b
a
Dipartimento di Tecnica e Gestione dei Sistemi Industriali, Universita
`
di Padova, Stradella San Nicola 3, 36100 Vicenza, Italy
b
Department of Management, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 874006, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
Abstract
In order to survive, a great number of small companies are forced to offer a wide product variety and often to respond to the
market with customised solutions. At the same time, fast delivery is often a key to win orders. As a result, a vital challenge for
these companies is to overcome the trade-off between product variety and delivery time, without compromising cost. Recent
developments in Information Technology made available also for small companies a class of software tools—called product
configurators—that promise to reduce this trade-off. This paper reports a case study of the implementation of a product
configuration software in a small manufacturing enterprise. The paper highlights that the company enjoyed significant benefits
from the implementation of the software, especially in terms of delivery time and customer relationships. Moreover, the case
evidences that product configuration software can be proactively used as a tool for improving inter-firm co-ordination.
# 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Product configuration; Supply chain management; Mass customisation; Customer relationship management; Case study
1. Introduction
For a long time, firms operating in the industrial
goods business have been offering a wide variety of
products, in order to fulfil the highly heterogeneous
demands of their customers. The fast speed at which
companies have to react to their environments now
mandates this variety to be provided in shorter and
shorter lead-times. McCutcheon et al. [1] effectively
portrayed this phenomenon by observing that many
firms in the industrial goods business are ‘‘squeezed’’
between the request for customised products and the
need to ensure high responsiveness in product deliv-
ery. Past research on product variety management
explored multiple solutions to overcome these diffi-
culties: some scholars focused on flexible manufactur-
ing processes [2], others on modular product design
[3] and logistic processes re-design [4]. It is only
recently, however, that management research consid-
ered the issue of how the ‘‘squeeze’’ between custo-
misation and responsiveness could be reduced by
improving the product configuration process.Bypro-
duct configuration process, we refer to the process
through which the customer’s needs are translated into
the product information needed for tendering and
manufacturing (typically product cost, bill of materials
(BOM), production cycle, etc.). The attention manage-
ment literature recently devoted to the issue of pro-
duct configuration is also related to the important
advances obtained by Artificial Intelligence research
[5–7], advances that have been incorporated in a new
Computers in Industry 49 (2002) 37–46
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: þ39-444-998-731;
fax: þ39-444-998-888.
E-mail addresses: cipriano.forza@unipd.it, forza@gest.unipd.it
(C. Forza), fabrizio.salvador@asu.edu (F. Salvador).
0166-3615/02/$ – see front matter # 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0166-3615(02)00057-X