Conceptual modeling for configuration of mass-customizable products

The development and maintenance of product configuration systems is faced w ith increasing challenges caused by the growing complexity of the underlyin g knowledge bases. Effective knowledge acquisition is needed since the prod uct and the corresponding configuration system have to be developed in para llel. In this paper, we show how to employ a standard design language (Unif ied Modeling Language, UML) for modeling configuration knowledge bases. The two constituent parts of the configuration model are the component model a nd a set of corresponding functional architectures defining which requireme nts can be imposed on the product. The conceptual configuration model is au tomatically translated into an executable logic representation. Using this representation we show how to employ model-based diagnosis techniques for d ebugging faulty configuration knowledge bases, detecting infeasible require ments, and for reconfiguring old configurations. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.