Rules-Based Product Configuration
Turn spreadsheet logic and tribal knowledge into a visual rule engine. Every quote follows the same compatibility rules from inquiry to approval.
Each step
Compatibility checked on every option change
One ruleset
Same product logic for direct sales and dealers
Before quote
Invalid combinations filtered during configuration
The challenge
Product rules live in people's heads, not in the quoting flow
Your reps know the catalog on paper, but the real logic sits in application guides, Excel tabs, and a few senior engineers. Every complex inquiry becomes a thread: Can we pair this motor with that housing? Does this finish work in a food zone? Is this discount allowed on that option?
Inside sales forwards configurations to applications engineering for a sign-off. Dealers work from last quarter's price list and memory. By the time someone spots an incompatible combination, the quote is already in the customer's inbox or the order is on the plant floor.
Spreadsheet configurators break when you add a product line or open a new region. Training does not scale: each launch means new slide decks and more escalation calls. The quoting process grows slower as the catalog grows, even when engineering has already released the options.
The bottleneck is not lack of product detail. It is that compatibility logic is not enforced where quotes are built: in the configurator, in the dealer portal, at the moment of selection.
How it works
How Mercura applies rules while reps configure
Product and operations teams model logic in Mercura's visual rule editor: IF/THEN conditions, required options, mutual exclusions, and dynamic filters that react to each selection. As a rep or dealer works through the configurator, incompatible choices disappear, mandatory lines appear, and pricing recalculates against the same ruleset. There is no separate validation step before the quote. When engineering updates a compatibility rule, it propagates to every channel that uses that product model. The goal is not to replace engineering judgment on novel requests, but to stop routine quotes from entering the engineering queue.
What's included
What you model in the rules engine
- Visual IF/THEN authoring without custom code
- Show, hide, or require options based on prior selections
- Mutual exclusions between materials, ratings, and finishes
- Required add-ons when a base option is chosen
- Rule sets shared across product families and revisions
- Version history when catalog logic changes
- Same rules in inside sales tools, dealer portals, and embedded configurators
- Works alongside constraint and dependency logic for deeper product models
The difference
Quoting before and after encoded rules
- Compatibility checked manually on complex quotes
- Applications engineering copied on routine configurations
- Dealers quote combinations that fail at order entry
- New options mean retraining, not a rule update
- Errors surface after the customer has a PDF
- Logic enforced at each selection in the configurator
- Standard configurations quoted without engineering sign-off
- Dealers and reps pull from one maintained ruleset
- Catalog updates published as rule changes, not email blasts
- Invalid paths removed before pricing and approval
Real-world application
Example workflow: industrial pump line
An industrial pump manufacturer encodes pressure rating, seal type, and motor frame rules once in Mercura. Previously, inside sales escalated most quotes to applications engineering when motor and housing sizes did not line up. After the rules went live, incompatible pairings drop out during configuration, and reps issue standard-range quotes while engineering stays focused on non-standard requests.
Quote turnaround dropped from 3 days to under 4 hours.
Business impact
Why encode rules in CPQ
Rules-based configuration is how manufacturers make expert product knowledge quotable at scale. It is the layer that keeps sales moving on catalog logic engineering has already defined. It does not replace CAD, PLM, or structural calculation on one-off designs. Rules need ownership: when the catalog changes, someone must update the model. For teams willing to maintain that logic centrally, the payoff is fewer late-stage corrections, less applications engineering noise, and dealers who can quote inside guardrails.
See product rules applied during configuration
Book a demo to walk through how Mercura encodes IF/THEN logic for inside sales and dealer quoting.
Let’s build together.
We empower manufacturers to master product modeling, streamline quoting process, reduce errors, and ultimately deliver the tailored solutions that customers demand.