Examples of such configurations are computers to be delivered or financial service portfolio offers (e.g., a combination of loan and corresponding risk insurance).
Numerous practical configuration problems can be analyzed by the theoretical framework of Najmann and Stein,[A 12] an early axiomatic approach that does not presuppose any particular knowledge representation formalism.
Thus they require (potentially) excessive computation time, making heuristic configuration algorithms the preferred choice for complex artifacts (products, services).
[A 16][A 17][A 18] "Mass Confusion" [A 19] – the overwhelming of customers by a large number of possible solution alternatives (choices) – is a phenomenon that often comes with the application of configuration technologies.
Configuration knowledge bases are composed of a formal description of the structure of the product and further constraints restricting the possible feature and component combinations.