Today the proliferation of 3D product configurator and VR configurator has been noticed across the CPQ landscape. Manufacturing marketing teams and sales VPs are testifying the improvements in deal close rates with over 90% quote accuracy. It wouldn’t be wrong in saying that visual product configuration left the prospect with amazement of outcomes and drove more leads and sales.
Many big brands like Nike, Oak Beams & Frames, Lilitab, and others are using 3d product configurators to increase their manufacturer efficiency and saw amazing results in their sales funnel.
L’Oréal’s innovative beauty tool Makeup Genius is gaining huge attention. It converts smartphones into interactive mirrors. This AR product catalog lets people try different products in real-time without needing physical interactions.
Before discussing how you can make complex CPQ sales simple with configurator solutions, let throw some light on the first question that may be ringing in the head of newbies of the industry i.e what is product configuration?
Product configurator software is a part of CPQ software that allows companies to market, sell, and manufacture their products more efficiently and adroitly. It transforms traditional product inquiries into real-time, auto-generated quotes, product descriptions, bills of material, and even more — if you choose the right manufacturing CPQ solution.
A good 3d product configurator will help you scale from assemble-to-order (ATO) to Engineer-To-Order (ETO) while facilitating real-time coherence between engineering, production, and sales team. This interactive digital tool powered by 3D models allows customers to visualize and personalize products based on their requirements by enabling them to watch their adjustments live and then access to keep an eye on the whole product modeling process.
A product wireframing consists of many properties and options that are defined by engineering in their PLM system. All these attributes need to be consistent with manufacturing’s work instructions and Bill of Materials in their ERP system. And the visual product configuration should clearly reflect all the attributes defined by engineering defined in PLM and what manufacturing’s ERP system can build. Here product models serve as the master data that facilitates real-time collaboration between all teams i.e engineering, manufacturing, and sales.
If you are not using an efficient 3d product configurator for connecting all your product manufacturing processes, it can lead to various challenges by leaving all teams with different requirements.
3D product configurator providers are solving the problems that hold businesses back from utilizing the potential of providing 3D, Augmented Reality, and VR-based configurator solutions across all their selling and service channels to:
3d product configurators help in shortening the cycle times from product concept to completed product. As each manufacturing cycle has its own flow or speed depending on the customer’s requirement, visual product configuration makes it possible to meet the customer’s demand within a fine time limit.
There are various configurator solutions that are redefining the future of 3d product configurator. These solutions enable real-time integration between PLM, CRM, ERP, and CPQ systems. In today’s marketplace, businesses need to focus on two things, how visual product configuration is going to fit into their change management and the second is about staffing. If you are a manufacturing company and looking for a 3d product configurator to create the product, you need to hire a company that can deliver an entire solution at scale.
The CPQ companies are delivering next-generation 3d product configurator solutions for their clients that helps in:
The next generation 3d product configurator integrated with AI helps customers to make changes in a new product in a CPQ session, and quickly updated the model and saved it. In real-time, it updated all the teams i.e engineering, manufacturing, and sales to see how their changes influence the product.
When the engineering team configures the product, it automatically generates the 2D/3D proposal drawings and updates the product model in real-time, which makes augmented reality visual product configuration possible. The best part is that while the model’s appearance is improving, all important changes to the work directions and BOM are appearing in real-time using the visual product configuration enterprise.
When we enable the product model modification in real-time and sync it with other processes, it increases the profit of selling into the aftermarket. Aftermarket selling has its own complexities therefore shortening the product manufacturing cycle in the market is what's needed today.
3d product configurators hold huge potential, only organizations need to select the efficient one. It’s time to think beyond the shock-and-awe stage, which has been very thriving in stimulating leads, generating MQLs, and closing sales. It’s time to get the most out of the 3d product configurator to make all vital models buildable at scale and profitable. And that will only be possible by folding down stretches at shortening cycle times from product notion to product completion. That’s the true secret to succeeding in the market. Getting engineering, manufacturing, and sales collaborating using visual product configuration as a single source of truth is the best place to start.