Did You Know configured parts can be used to organize your clients’ storefronts?

Part configuration is a flexible tool on the Propago Platform. With configured parts, your clients can condense many distinct SKUs into a single master part. Instead of many products on the storefront for each combination of sizes and colors of a shirt, for example, a single shirt product can contain all the options for the end user to choose.

Master and child parts are what make up configured parts. The child parts are the individual versions of the product and the master part is the part that will contain the configuration options and be added to the storefront. Each child part and the master part have their own SKUs but only child parts will be ordered and taken from inventory.

There are many options for how to set up configured parts depending on your client’s needs. If they often have users ordering a large number of shirts in different sizes and colors, for example, they can create a product with a matrix configuration like below:

Configured parts can be used for much more than just apparel. Say your client has an Employee Onboarding document with many different versions. You might create a master part with two configuration types: Branch Name and Employee Position. Two dropdown options give end users the ability to quickly specify which version of the document they want. Each version has its own SKU and part page in the back end so you can track inventory and usage.

Benefits to the Client

• Organize product layout on the front end by consolidating part versions into a single master part.
• Track and report inventory and usage of each version of a configured part.
• Create re-usable configuration types so new products can be quickly set up with a master part.

How It Works

Part configuration works by setting up configuration types, creating a master SKU with Part Configuration Types and Configurations, then creating child SKUs for each combination of options.

Let’s go through the process with the example of a business card with the following options for customization: number of sides, coating, and corner rounding.

First step: setting up Part Configuration Types. You’ll go to Part > Part Configuration Types, give the type a name and click Add New Type. Then you’ll add the different options for configuration.  

The Value is the name of the option, and you can optionally give each option an image file to show on the front end. The Key can be used to auto-generate SKUs. The Rank will determine which order the options will appear.

Once you’ve set up Part Configuration Types for number of sides, coating, and corner rounding, the next step is to create a master part. Do this like you would any other part and then head over to the Configuration section. Add the three Part Configuration Types and then add Configurations by selecting combinations of those types.

If your child SKUs already exist in the system then you can use the Configured SKU field to link each configuration to the matching child SKU. If they need to be created, you can generate all the child parts at once with the Auto-Generate feature. The SKUs of the generated child parts will be the SKU of the master part plus the keys for each configuration type.

The last important setting to talk about with configured parts is the Display Type. This will determine how the configuration options appear on the front end. There are four options: Button, Dropdown, Image, and Input. This gives you and your client a lot of flexibility for how they want their end users to be able to customize their configurations.

If you have any questions about configured types or how to accomplish a particular use case with configured parts, feel free to reach out any time: support@propago.com or 512-887-5847