The aim of the project RefMod06 is to develop a modeling technique for small and medium software companies to derive, administer and further develop customer-specific variants from existing reference models. The basis for this modeling technique will be adaptation mechanisms, which will be enhanced by a controlling concept. The specification of the modeling technique will be converted into a prototypic modeling tool, which will offer code generators for accelerating the software engineering process. Results will be validated by test scenarios in the retailing industry.