Product Configuration and Management Module (PCMM)

1.1 Introduction

The Product Configuration and Management Module (PCMM), was developed for a leading Apparel manufacturing firm in the US. It is a web-based system, which is used to catalog all the products online with all the relevant feature details. It also supports archival of obsolete products and defining and configuration of new products. It is particularly aimed for use by product designers, sales staff and retailers.

1.2 Features

The site mainly constitutes: -

• Authorization and authentication
  
• Product catalog
  
• Product Search
  
• Product Comparison
  
• Product Archival
  
• New-Product Configuration
  
• New-Product Recommendation
  
  

  a. Authorization and Authentication

The site requires a login for users to access it. Though no transaction is involved, basic authentication is the primary security requirement of the site. Only authorized personal with the role of designer are allowed to create / modify products.

b. Product Catalog:

The site is designed to showcase the products in a very comprehensive way. It provides a user-friendly and intuitive interface to show the detailed features, image and notes on the product. The architecture involves site templates, which are filled dynamically from the main product database.

The site has the following features:

• Easy to use interface
  
• Content management for dynamic product details and other content generation
  
  

c. Product Search:

The site provides for a product search system based on keywords, features and categories provided by the user. The search engine searches the database for the keywords within the specified category and constrained to the specified features. The features to choose are specific to the category specified. The search results are displayed as a browse-able list represented as multiple pages with easy navigation.

d. Product Comparison

Any few products in a single category can be compared with respect to all the feature specific to the category. The user can select the features to be used for the comparison.

e. Product Archival

Any product when not in vogue and not in production can be archived to the archived products section. This provides as a ready reference to the sales team and retailers to lookup for old products. The archival is accessible only to the Product Manager role.

f. New-Product Configuration

Designers can configure and define new products, which are then sent to the acceptance queue of the Product Manager, who may accept the new product and subsequently a new product code is automatically generated.

g. New-Product Recommendation

Sales staff and end retailers can also recommend new products, which are put-up for recommendation / suggestions by designers. Designers can recommend it as a new product, and it hence follows the cycle of a new product.

1.3 Development Strategy adopted: -

• The first phase of the project was to define the High Level Design and the low Level Design including the Database Design.
  
• The second phase involved the coding of the individual modules.
  
• The third phase involved the System Testing and the User Acceptance Test.

1.4 Tools and Technologies adopted: -

OS

• Windows NT 4.0 Server with SP 6a

Services

• Oracle 8i
  
• IIS 4.0 Web Service

Technologies

• ASP 3.0
  
• ODBC

1.5 Effort/Duration Estimate
        

• Duration Estimate = 5 calendar months
         
•  Effort Estimate = 572 man-days
          
• Total Resources Required: 9