Recap of the new features in Hive CPQ in 2023

In 2022, we first introduced the Hive Design Studio, an interactive and easy way for customers to create their own configurators in a low-code environment. This past year we added several features that greatly improve the experience of new and experienced configurator wizards! 

• Issues Overview: Quickly identify problems in your configurator logic: broken variables, missing components, circular dependencies, unused variables. 

• Node dependency information: Want to delete a node? Make an easy check to see where it’s being used, and which settings might stop working without the node. 

• Click, scroll, and highlight: Get an instant view of which nodes a variable is using. This is especially relevant when you’re using multiple nodes with the same component name. Simply click the node label to scroll to the place(s) where it’s being used. 

• Excel interaction with Design Studio: Add Excel sheets to the configurator to use it as a data source for your logic. Sheets can be imported and exported in the Design Studio. 

• Configurator snapshots: Save backups of your Design Studio setup. Easily switch between versions and add comments to remember what you changed.
• New node types:
  • File upload: Allow images, pdfs, documents, and more to be uploaded.
  • Sub-configurator: Reuse existing configurators within another configurator. This helps to reduce maintenance, by having one central configurator where you set up the logic.
  • Messages: Display static or dynamic messages to configurator users. Read more >
  • Row: Place nodes next to each other.

• Price settings: Per request by one of our customers, we expanded the pricing possibilities in the Hive Design Studio. 
  • Displayed price in the configurator: Set up which price you would like to show for each node in the configurator (e.g., list price instead of sales price).
  • Pricing breakdown: Additionally, give users an overview of all prices, such as list price and purchase price in a comprehensive pricing breakdown. 
  • Quick price edits: Allow configurator users to edit prices and add discounts or markups. Set a maximum percentage for the total discount and easily restore to the calculated value by clicking the percentage icons.

• Configurator wizard: The configurator wizard guides you through your configuration by showing issues and highlighting changes activated by user actions. This makes it easier for users to identify and solve incorrect configurations.
  • Changes assistance: An optional configurator wizard enhancement that gives configurator users an overview of automatic changes happening based on their choices. Additionally, they can choose to revert each change. 

• Configurator UI upgrade: Customize the look of your configurator with:
  • Shadows to the configurator’s elements
  • Interactive steps overview
  • Larger images for toggle buttons and selectors
  • Default configurator panel width
  • Slider

Read more about the upgrade to the configurator UI here.

In 2024, we'll continue working on this, so stay tuned!

We implemented a lot of features this year that were based on customers’ requests. A highlight of 2023 was the way we bundled the most popular requests into our first backing programs. They were successfully launched and implemented:

• Subdistributors: Allow distributors of your distributors – what we call ‘subdistributors’ – to create configurations, quotes, and orders in Hive CPQ. These projects are clearly indicated in the UI and get additional steps in the order process to help manage them. Subdistributors will only see information that is intended for them, e.g., only the subdistributor purchase price instead of the regular purchase price.
  This gives manufacturers a better overview of their network and more ways to manage purchase discounts. Discover more information about the subdistributors feature here.

• Branding: Add your own branding to the Hive CPQ platform. Change colors, add your logo, switch to a top menu, brand the contextual menu, or add a new font. Read more about the branding feature here. When combined with two other new features we launched in 2023, the branding module reaches its full potential:
  • Single Sign-On: Allows you to log in with your company brand account, eliminating the need for the Hive CPQ login screen. Read more >
  • Custom domain: Customize the URL to go to Hive CPQ. Instead of going to app.hivecpq.com, use a custom domain, e.g., configurator.manufacturer.com. Read more >

What will the new year bring? 

• More configurator UI updates
• Faster Hive CPQ performance
• More design Studio enhancements
• Enhanced sub configurators
• Improvements to the BOM features
• Overhaul of our dashboard

And much more! Keep an eye out on our website and our blog to not miss out on anything new this year.