The Problem: Customization at scale 

Manufacturers using Autodesk Inventor often face challenges when it comes to showcasing design variations and configurations to their end customers. This is especially true for build-to-order manufacturing of standardized products. Traditional workflows require specialized software installations, manual intervention, and significant time to prepare individual configurations for customers. 

What if you could simplify this process, allowing your customers to interact with and configure your products directly in a web browser, without requiring Autodesk Inventor on their end? That’s exactly the problem an online product configurator solves.

The Solution: Online Product Configurators 

Instead of manually adjusting designs for every customer request, an online configurator lets you upload an Inventor assembly and instantly turn it into an interactive, web-based experience. You just need a parametrized Inventor assembly, and you are ready to go! 

Key benefits for Customers 

Instant Configurations: Customers can interact with designs, select options, and immediately see the changes in the browser. After creating their desired variants, they have access to documentation files or can download Revit families, or other CAD files – eliminating the back-and-forth of manual file requests. 

Key benefits for Designers 

Parameterized Designs: CAD Designers can create parametrized designs and set the configuration boundaries directly in Inventor. After the design is published to the configurator, they don’t have to worry about creating the different variants – eliminating the tedious work of customizing products to the customer’s needs. 

Designed for customization and system integration 

An online product configurator doesn’t just streamline design customization—it connects seamlessly with other business critical systems:  

1. ERP Connectivity – A configurator can be linked to an ERP system to instantly calculate the price of configured variants. 
2. PDM Connectivity – A configurator can integrate with Autodesk Vault, automatically checking in configured designs as original CAD files or allowing to publish products to the configurator directly from within Vault. 
3. MES Connectivity – A configurator can be linked with a MES system (e.g. Fusion Operations) to calculate the lead time based on the stock and production order information. 
4. Marketing & Sales – A configurator can be embedded in a website, providing customers with an interactive, professional way to explore products. 

The showcase project is designed and optimized for integrating with enterprise systems. Streamlined integration enhances customer experience, reduces lead times, and eliminates bottlenecks in sales and design workflows. 

Besides that, it is built using modern, industry-standard technologies to ensure scalability, security, and ease of customization:  

• High-performance cloud hosting with scalability, security, and reliability. 
• Lightweight and responsive web-based frontend that can be tailored to individual workflows and adjusted to a corporate identity. 
• Seamless 2D and 3D model visualization using the Autodesk Viewer. 
• “Inventor in the cloud” Design Automation to extract and update parameters of Inventor assemblies dynamically. 

This flexible, web-based technology stack allows for easy enhancements and customization, making it a perfect fit for manufacturers looking to integrate a configurator into their existing workflows. 

Cloud-Hosted Design Automation 

The backbone of the configurator is Autodesk’s APS Design Automation API. COOLORANGE is an Autodesk APS certified development partner, and we work closely with Autodesk to improve Autodesk’s and our own cloud offerings.

Cloud-based tools bring significant advantages for manufacturing companies using Autodesk Inventor:  

1. Design Automation – Modify parameters, generate new designs, and export web-viewable or documentation files—all in the cloud, eliminating expensive hardware costs. 
2. Scalability & Performance – Run resource-intensive tasks on high-performance cloud servers, ensuring faster execution and effortless scaling. 
3. Security – Built-in encryption, controlled user access, and compliance with industry security standards protect sensitive design data. 
4. Customization & Flexibility – The API framework enables tailored automation, integrating with your ERP-, PDM-, and MES-systems, and sales processes. 

Summary 

By leveraging an online product configurator, you can:  

• Impress Your Customers: Deliver a modern, interactive experience that lets customers configure products in the browser. 
• Save Time and Resources: Automate time-consuming design tasks, freeing up your team to focus on innovation. 
• Improve Collaboration: Enable seamless sharing and interaction with designs across teams, suppliers, and customers. 
• Stay Competitive: Adopt cutting-edge technology that aligns with the future of manufacturing. 

Get Started Today

We’re excited to invite you to try our online product configurator demo and see how it can transform your manufacturing workflows. Reach out to our team at coolOrange to learn more, schedule a demo, or discuss how we can tailor this solution to your needs.