Configuration Management

Configuration Management is the process of identifying configuration items, controlling their versions and baselines, accounting for status across the lifecycle, and auditing the as-designed/as-built/as-maintained configurations to ensure they match the approved definition. It answers the question, “Exactly which version of which parts is in this serial number, right now?”

Scope

CM covers configuration identification (what is a CI), configuration control (formal change discipline), configuration status accounting (tracing approved baselines), and configuration audits. Standards include EIA-649, ISO 10007, and MIL-HDBK-61. In configurable products (variants, options, effectivity), CM is what makes 150% BOMs and unit-effectivity rules tractable.

Relationships (see sidebar)

• Realizes Regulatory Compliance, IP Protection, and Digital Transformation.
• Supported by logical capabilities such as PLM Data Model and Digital Thread.
• Closely related to Change Management (ECO/ECN) and Release Management.