The amount of effort required to build a custom Apprentice for your business will depend on what type of application you are doing – product, process or decision – and the efforts you have already made to understand your processes and decision rules.  It will also depend on the digital assets - such as databases, shapes and 3D models - that you have in place.

Product Configuration Solution

Do you have an existing component database? Does your component database have attributes that are suitable for rule-based filtering and selection?   Have you documented your rules for product configuration?  Are you currently using Visio shapes, either custom-developed or from standard stencils, to describe your product or system?  If so, implementation can be done more quickly .

Another major determining factor is the degree of sophistication you want in your application. A simple system in which a selected shape maps directly to a part number can be developed quickly; integration to existing databases can take longer, depending on the structure; an Apprentice that can select the best solution based on customer requirements will require knowledge capture from your experts, and will take more time and effort to implement. The Apprentice Product Modeler is capable of capturing sophisticated product knowledge quickly and easily.  Of course, this additional effort will repay itself many times over as the quality of your sales presentations improves and the time to prepare a custom bid or a custom design is reduced.

Three different levels of capability can be built into the Product Apprentice, which is the tool used to deliver product configuration applications:

Quick Start: using existing Visio shapes, imported AutoCAD blocks or bitmap pictures, items are dragged and dropped and the corresponding part number is added to the bill of materials. There is a one-to-one relationship between a shape and a part number. This simple application can be developed by phone or over the web and completed within a week if you have an existing parts database.

Advanced Configuration: generic shapes are dragged and dropped, customer requirements are collected, the right part / solution is inferred, and related parts or accessories are added automatically. The Product Apprentice can even select transitional parts based on the connection between two or more shapes. Onsite consulting is required to do an advanced configuration project, and most projects can be completed within a month, based on data availability.

Automated Design: the Apprentice is able to reason across rules to drive product or system design. Examples include automated wire routing and automated equipment rack design. This requires a deeper level of knowledge capture through onsite consulting, and usually requires two to three months to complete.

Any of the above systems can be supplemented with 3D capability through the use of models selected from our growing library of 3D content, or custom models created just for you.

Process Configuration Solution

The knowledge capture in a process configuration solution is relatively straightforward and can be jump-started by prior process work.  If process flow has been documented already, in any form, the thought process can be accelerated. 

We will, however, generally start with a blank sheet of paper.  All of the knowledge capture is done in the Apprentice Process Modeler, which makes it easy to document complex processes quickly and easily.  Our process modeling approach is a decomposition process, meaning very high level tasks are sketched in first.  Then individual tasks are broken down into greater (and greater) detail.  We stop at the level of decomposition that you feel is the level at which you want to manage the process.

At this lowest level of detail we capture key project-oriented knowledge:  What resources are required to complete the task?  How much work do they need to do?  At average resource allocation levels, how long does it usually take to complete the task?  Resources and work hours are the minimum information required to have a fully functional knowledge model.

Resource information is captured in a separate database:  What are the resource roles (or individual names)?  What are their costs and billable rates per hour?  This information is captured when the model is built, but can be updated or modified at the time the Project Apprentice runs a simulation of the process.

Knowledge models containing approximately 100 tasks can be completed in a matter of days, with an additional week of review and modifications.  Very complex models of 200+ tasks can usually be up and running in a month.

Prototypes

We often start by building a small prototype of your application to give you the flavor of what the Apprentice can do for you. A prototype project will focus on a well-defined, manageable piece of the larger product or process solution.  It would be built by Apprentice Systems modelers, but would require that your experts work with us and provide us sample data, if applicable.  Based on our workloads at the time, the prototype can often be turned around in a matter of days.

In any case, the very best way to get started is to call or email us! We can give you more specific estimates of the time and effort required to meet your needs. A remarkably powerful and affordable product, process or decision configuration solution may be only days away.

 Contact Us