Topics of Special Interest To Industry in

Configuration Research

The following persons contributed to the list of topics:

Patrick Albert (ILOG), Claire Bagley (Oracle), Felix Frayman (Calico), Gerhard Fleischanderl (Siemens), Esther Gelle (ABB), Albert Haag (SAP), Werner Jüngst (Freightliner), Ingo Kreuz (DaimlerChrysler), Daniel Mailharro (ILOG), Niels Mortenssen (Baan), Klas Orsvärn (Tacton), Michael Schlick (Bosch).

(1)- Complexity metrics for knowledge bases
- knowledge acquisition by non-experts ("mass modeling")
(2) - Hierarchical models
 - with technical documentation as a basis
 - plus other aspects above (marketing, legal, supply)
(3) - Scalable solutions
    - Handling dynamic problems
    - User guided behavior
    - Explanation
    - Soft constraints
    - Move/add/change
    - Optimization
    - Modeling languages (ease of use/expressive power/support for rapidly
      changing data, data driven from outside databases, visualization)
    - Modeling compositions
    - Modeling connectivity
    - Modeling geometry
(4) - Consistency recovering
    - Testing and debugging tools
    - maintenance tools
(5) - Integration of configuration process
    - Simple modeling languages
    - Different models (sales, engineering, ....) and languages?
(6) - Interactivity
    - Reconfiguration
    - Integration of configurator/PDM/ERP/...
(7) - Theory of "knowledge", theory of "products"
    - Framework for variety and communality
    - Online knowledge acquisition
(8) - Software & Hardware co-configuration
    - Incomplete knowledge
    - Knowledge management
(9) - Re-use of knowledge from product development
    - Reconfiguration
    - Representation of software configuration problems
(10)- Distributed configuration/modeling (Agents)
    - Use of linear equations, optimization etc. solvers
    - Symmetry breaking in solutions
    - Cooperative Modeling
    - Set of benchmark problems, repository for these
(11)- Def. of criteria
    - Delivery date
    - support for production planning/scheduling for configurable products
    - co-operative modeling
    - different views of a product
(12)- Benchmark examples
    - Explanation
    - Computational complexity of large dynamic systems
    - Needs analysis
    - Modeling languages for needs analysis/experience
    - Modeling guidelines similar to normalization in databases
    - Functional configuration, fuzzy requirements
(13)- Configuration of products/software/services
    - Adding creativity to configuration
    - Software components/standard interfaces

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Last changed: 00-09-13