What is meant by Variant management?
"Variant management" is a process in which different variants of a product or service are effectively managed and coordinated. This typically involves managing product variants, configurations, or options to meet the needs of different customers or market segments. Variant management enables companies to adapt their product lines flexibly to meet a wide range of customer requirements without compromising efficiency and profitability.
Typical functions of software in the "variant management" domain could include:
- Configuration management: The ability to define, store, and manage various product variants or configurations.
- Production planning and control: Tools for planning and controlling the production of different variants to maximize efficiency and capacity utilization.
- Inventory management: Features for tracking and managing inventory for different variants to ensure the right products are available at the right time.
- Pricing and quoting: The capability to manage prices for different variants and automatically generate quotes based on configurations and options.
- Customer relationship management (CRM): Integration with CRM systems to track and manage customer preferences and requirements for different variants.
- Product lifecycle management (PLM): Integration with PLM systems to manage the entire lifecycle of different product variants, from conception to retirement.