Design for material logistics

A key business strategy for Definity® system private-branch exchanges (PBXs) is offering the customer the ability to customize a system to match his or her needs. This is possible because the Definity PBX architecture allows design of an almost limitless number of customer end item configurations from a limited set of buildable options (e.g., circuit packs). Though this customization is an attractive selling point, it complicates PBX manufacturing. It can also be costly to the manufacturing organization if done without prior installation of capabilities to deal with a high level of product optionality. To do this in AT&T required the support of the company's PBX design community. In particular, the traditional single-design documentation was complex and cumbersome, and had to be broken up into several simpler documents that reflect the producT's buildable options and physical hierarchies (e.g., cabinets, carriers, circuit packs). This paper will review the change and explain its implications and effect on high-option manufacturing.