Requirements in. A valid, buildable configuration out.
Long option strings, compatibility rules that live in two people's heads, equivalents when the specified brand is twelve weeks out. Axle selects the product, configures every option, rejects the invalid combinations, and shows its reasoning.
The configurator has forty option codes. Two people know which ones can't go together.
Configuration errors don't show up in the quote. They show up at order entry, or on the loading dock.
Before
- Selection from memory, or from whichever catalog page is open
- Options set one at a time, compatibility checked by experience
- The invalid combination caught by the vendor's order desk, two weeks later
- Equivalents offered only when the senior person happens to be in
- New hires who can't quote the line for a year
With Axle
- Candidates ranked by fit, availability and your history, ruled-out ones explained
- Every option set and checked against manufacturer rules before it's on the quote
- Invalid combinations rejected with the reason
- Equivalents and lead-time alternatives from your line card, marked as such
- Configuration knowledge that lives in the system, so the new hire quotes like the veteran
A valve actuation package, configured and checked.
Body, trim, actuator, positioner, accessories: every option validated, one combination rejected. Illustrative
- 3 in globe, 300# RF, produced watertag FV-2103
- Fail closed, 40 psi air supplyspec
- 4-20 mA HART, Class I Div 2spec
- Limit switches requiredcustomer std
- Globe, cage-guided, equal %Selected: Cv fit, rangeability
- Segmented ballRuled out: shutoff class
- Eccentric plugRuled out: not on customer list
| Body and trim | 3 in, 300# RF, 316 SS trim, PTFE packing | valid |
| Actuator | Spring-diaphragm, fail closed, SF 1.3 | valid |
| Positioner | Smart, HART, Div 2 rated | valid |
| Limit switches | Proximity, Div 2 | customer std |
| Air set | Filter regulator without gauge | rejected: gauge required with switches |
The rules do the checking. Your people make the calls.
Axle takes on
- Candidate ranking with reasoning
- Option-by-option configuration
- Compatibility and rule checks
- Equivalents and lead-time alternatives
- Learning the exceptions from your corrections
Your people keep
- Novel products and unfamiliar applications
- Customer conversations about alternatives
- Approving equivalents where the customer's list is silent
- The rules themselves
The rest of the workflow is already there.
Start here. When you want the next door, it's the same Applications Engineer, already configured to your catalog, templates and rules.
Selection and configuration questions.
Where do the configuration rules come from?
Manufacturer configurators and option tables for your line card, the compatibility rules your team already applies, and the corrections engineers make to drafts. Rules Axle proposes from corrections queue for a human to accept.
How does it handle equivalents?
It offers the equivalent from your line card that matches the requirements, marks it clearly, checks the customer's approved-vendor list, and shows the lead-time difference. The customer decides.
What happens when a combination is invalid?
It's rejected before it reaches the quote, with the reason, and Axle substitutes the valid option where the rule is unambiguous. Where it isn't, the line is flagged for the engineer.
Bring the product line only two people can configure.
Thirty minutes, and we'll configure a real request against your rules.