Configure-to-Order, CPQ
Ina Rogalev
26. June 2026
Many companies talk about 3D product configuration — but often mean little more than improved product presentation. In reality, that doesn’t go far enough. As soon as products become complex, pure visualization is no longer sufficient. What matters then is the ability to intelligently connect technical logic, configuration, and usable data.
That is exactly where modern 3D product configuration begins.
Most configurators work well as long as products remain manageable. Things become more challenging where variant diversity, technical dependencies, and planning processes come together.
Because industrial product configuration often means:
The challenge is therefore not to display a product in an appealing way. The real challenge is to generate technically correct data dynamically — with high performance and in real time.
This becomes especially important for machinery, systems, and technical components. In these cases, customers need not only visual confidence, but also usable information for planning and integration.
The real value of modern systems lies in the data created through configuration.
Today, a single configuration can produce a wide range of output formats — from renderings to technically usable CAD data. Dadurch wird die 3D-Produktkonfiguration zur Schnittstelle zwischen Vertrieb, Planung und Engineering.
One especially relevant topic is the handling of CAD data.
Industrial companies often work with highly complex models that contain all internal design information. This data is essential for production and development — but it cannot simply be made publicly accessible. At the same time, customers expect high-performance digital product experiences.
This creates a tension: models must be lightweight enough to be displayed efficiently, while still remaining technically useful.
This kind of intelligent reduction is increasingly becoming a competitive advantage for modern configuration platforms.
Another shift can be seen in what companies expect from software itself. Many companies face the question of whether to rely on standard software or custom development. In practice, however, modern configuration platforms need to combine both.
Today, the real strength lies less in rigid systems and more in modular platforms that can be flexibly adapted to different processes. Because hardly any two companies configure products in exactly the same way.
This gives rise to a new type of software: standardised at its core, yet highly customisable in its application.
For a long time, product configuration was understood mainly as a sales tool. Today, it is increasingly becoming the digital infrastructure of complex product environments.
Because modern companies need to:
This turns 3D product configuration into the link between customer experience, sales, and technical planning.
The requirements for digital product configuration are increasing rapidly. Today, companies need solutions that do more than visualize. They need systems that can translate complex product logic into understandable digital processes. The real difference does not lie in graphic quality. It lies in the ability to make technical complexity manageable in a way that is high-performing, secure, and user-friendly.
3D product configuration enables the interactive assembly and visualization of highly configurable products in real time.
It increases buying confidence, improves the customer experience, and generates technically usable data for downstream processes.
It means that 3D models are generated dynamically and automatically based on a model plus defined rules and parameters.
Planners and engineers need precise data in order to integrate products into technical environments.
Because complex CAD models need to be displayed efficiently without exposing sensitive technical know-how.
STEFAN JUNGEN
Team Lead Sales
LENA SCHÖNLEBEN
Head of Online Marketing & Communications
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