How can you make custom solutions scalable without replacing the core?
In manufacturing, variety is the new norm. Machines, devices, and systems are increasingly being custom-designed to meet specific customer needs or local requirements. That may sound like progress, but in practice, it creates enormous complexity.
Every new option or configuration adds another variant to the bill of materials (BOM), which increases the risk of errors, rework, and delays. At the same time, manufacturers are under pressure to deliver faster, report more transparently, and comply with new regulations such as the Digital Product Passport (DPP). The challenge is clear: how do you keep track of hundreds of product variants without overhauling your entire IT landscape?
In this article, you’ll learn how IT modernization can help you gain control over variant management and bills of materials without compromising the stability of your PLM or ERP core. In this article, we’ll discuss:
- The pressures of mass customization and what that means for IT and manufacturing
- The impact of BOM chaos on margins and lead times
- And how to modernize variant management without a complete system replacement, including real-world examples
Mass customization: variety as a new reality
The demand for customization is growing rapidly. Customers expect products that are precisely tailored to their specific applications, and manufacturers are responding with modular designs and configure-to-order processes. Whereas a single standard machine once sufficed, dozens of variants now differ slightly in functionality, materials, or controls.
According to McKinsey, this variant complexity creates high hidden costs in design, inventory management, and service for high-mix manufacturers, which noticeably reduces operational efficiency. After all, each variant requires additional coordination between engineering, production, and the supply chain. In practice, this leads to extra manual work, error-prone Excel spreadsheets, and delays when changes are made.
Yet this very variation is precisely where the Dutch manufacturing industry excels. Mass production may be cheaper in Asia, but flexible production and delivering custom solutions are actually a competitive advantage here. The Netherlands, after all, has short supply chains and direct lines of communication between design, production, and the customer.
As a result, manufacturers can respond more quickly to design or configuration changes. Moreover, direct collaboration with customers makes effective variant management particularly valuable. However, this requires IT infrastructure that can handle the growing number of variants and ensure reliable, consistent product data.
The cost of BOM chaos
Many organizations still work with separate engineering and manufacturing BOMs, often spread across multiple systems or even Excel files. When these versions do not match exactly, discrepancies arise between design and production. A single part modified in engineering but not in production can be enough to halt an order.
The consequences are tangible: rework on the shop floor, longer supplier lead times, and higher costs from rejected parts and waste. Furthermore, traceability comes under pressure. This poses a major risk in sectors where quality and safety are essential. McKinsey shows that manufacturers who better integrate their product data can increase their productivity by up to 25 percent.
BOM chaos therefore affects not only efficiency but also reliability and customer relationships. Especially in environments with many product variants and customization, it is crucial to manage all variants, rules, and alternatives from a single, consistent dataset.
This requires technology that supports the process, along with the expertise of the people using it. Practical experience often reveals where processes get stuck or where data is missing. By incorporating these insights into the solution, you reduce the risk of errors and ensure that improvements actually work in day-to-day operations.
Modernizing without replacing the core
Better collaboration also requires systems that support this way of working. In many organizations, the first reaction is to replace the PLM or ERP system. But in most cases, that often creates more risks than benefits. Core systems are complex and deeply intertwined with organizational processes. The challenge isn’t the core itself, but the lack of flexibility in the layer above it.
By modernizing on top of existing core systems, you can add precisely that agility. Instead of replacing them, you build a flexible innovation layer, such as with the low-code platform Mendix, which gives you greater control over processes and data exchange.
The platform is designed to quickly build custom applications that integrate directly with existing PLM, MES, and ERP systems. This lets manufacturers add functionality often missing from the core, such as bill of materials validation, change management, or traceability dashboards.
With Mendix, data, logic, and processes are brought together in a single layer on top of the core system. This lets engineering, production, and the supply chain work with the same up-to-date information without relying on time-consuming system customizations.
In addition to our own projects in manufacturing, real-world examples demonstrate how low-code accelerates BOM management, PLM integrations, and MES functionality, such as:
- BOM Comparison App: a solution that automatically verifies whether design data and production data match. Discrepancies and errors become immediately apparent, significantly reducing the need for manual checks and allowing you to switch more quickly between engineering and production.
- Composable MES System: a modular system for the shop floor that supports employees with production orders, quality checks, and inventory management. The solution automatically retrieves the correct product information, enabling teams to implement a modern, digital production process within a few weeks.
- Bill of Materials platform: a centralized environment where complete product structures are imported and enriched with information from suppliers. The app automatically verifies whether components comply with international laws and regulations. This reduces risk and simplifies compliance management.
These innovations enhance the existing IT architecture rather than replacing it. This lets you respond faster to changes without compromising the stability of the system of record.
Mendix further expands these capabilities with Workstation. This lets low-code apps communicate directly with shop-floor equipment such as scanners, label printers, or scales. This makes it easier to support variant checks, quality controls, and other production operations in real time, without adding complexity to the core system.
The value of modern variant management
The benefits of integrated variant management are significant. According to Siemens, this approach to engineering changes shortens lead times and reduces rework. McKinsey also notes that better alignment between product and process data reduces errors and shortens time-to-market.
But the real gains lie in trust and scalability. Digitally validating variants and bills of materials creates a foundation for traceability and for future requirements related to sustainability and circularity, such as the Digital Product Passport obligations that take effect in 2027.
For many manufacturing companies, the core system is robust but lacks flexibility. IT modernization, by contrast, adds control and speed. By building smart, data-driven solutions on top of existing PLM and ERP systems, you improve the consistency and speed of variant management.
Getting started with modern variant management
Are you encountering errors, rework, or slow changes in your product data? Discover how IT Modernization gives you control over variants without impacting your core systems. Contact one of our specialists through our contact page. Together, we’ll explore automation options to address the bottlenecks in your logistics process.
