Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, for a multi-purpose configuration model. A computer program product, tangibly stored on a machine-readable medium, for defining a configuration model for a configurable product, includes instructions operable to cause a programmable processor to receive input. The product includes instructions to define, based on the input, a base component of the configuration model, the base component including information that describes the product. The product includes instructions to include, as a child object of the base component, a reused subcomponent that was previously defined, the reused subcomponent including information that describes the product.