At COExperience 2025, the session “How to Get to Variant Management” drew strong interest from attendees. Jakob Møller, senior manager at Grundfos and session presenter, shares his insights on Variant Management in this brief Q&A for COE members.

COE: Could you give a short recap of what your presentation was about?

Jakob Møller (JM): The presentation focused on the evolution from simple products to complex product families and the implementation of Variant Management using digital tools. At the core is the Virtual Product (VP) — a digital representation of product families that enables efficient management, simulation and visualization of all product variants. This approach streamlines product development, accelerates simulation and verification, and increases CAD coverage from 5% to 95%, thereby supporting innovation.

COE: What is the biggest challenge with Variant Management at Grundfos?

JM: Historically, we have not managed Bills of Materials (BOMs) and product structures in Enovia. SAP has handled BOM configuration, while Enovia only managed the available components. This has created challenges when performing product simulations and verifying complete product families. Variant Management is not only about managing BOMs but also about handling the variability of geometry and CAD models. It ensures that motors and sensors are positioned correctly in relation to each other.

COE: What has been a positive change from Catia V5 to 3DEXPERIENCE?

JM: One major benefit has been the improved support for EKL and Python. In V5, we relied on a mix of VBA and EKL due to limitations in EKL functionality. This is no longer the case in 3DEXPERIENCE. We can now accomplish everything with EKL and use Python to orchestrate the execution of EKL scripts. Also, having the Variant Management on the PLM side and not in the ERP is positive. Combining it with the capabilities of the Virtual Product enables us to on demand create the relevant CAD Geometry which is a big benefit for Grundfos.

Jakob Møller is senior manager at Grundfos, having been at this organization 19 years in various positions within product development, both in Denmark and abroad. His focus areas of expertise include mechanical development with a special interest in CAD, simulations and MBSE, which he now heads at Grundfos.