1. LO090 Product Data Management LO090 PDM-Overview PDM Overview LO 090
SAP System
Release 4.6B
May 2000
Product
Data
Management
System R/3
Release 4.6
May 2000
Material number
SAP AG 1999

2. Variant Configuration: Course Overview Diagram1
Classification 8
Navigation 2
Engineering Change Management 9
PDM Overview 3
Variant Configuration 10
Document Management 4
Integrated Distributed PDM Solution 11
Material Master 5
Project System 12
BOM Management 6
ASAP 13
CAD Interface 7
Summary 14

3. Variant Configuration: Business Scenario
Your company receives a sales order for a pump.
You use variant configuration to manufacture each individual pump.

4. Configurable Products
Many products have many possible variants that can be produced.
Variant configuration in the SAP System lets you describe the different variants of a product.

5. Customer Inquiry and Order Confirmation
Time
Quality
Work
scheduling
2 (Engineering)
Costs
Technical
clearing
Time
Inquiry
Sales
Variant configuration in the SAP System lets you check when you enter a sales order whether the required variant can be produced as well as:
Only variants that are technically possible are offered.
How much can the product be sold for
Whether a product meeting the customer's requirements is already available
And so on ...
Customer

6. Variant Configuration
Pump type
Plunger
Rotary
Wing
Pump for
Oil
Water
Mode Mode
Manual
Electric
Connection
Right-angled flange
Round flange (2 holes)
Round flange (4 holes)
Miscellaneous
Pump Height yd
Color
Blue
Black
Red
Medium circulation
Open
Closed
Rotation direction
Clockwise
Counter-clockwise
Any
Products with a large number of variants have a vast selection of combinations of individual product features.
As you would expect, complex products are reflected in complex configuration tasks in sales and production. However, a company that sells or produces products with variants must perform these configuration tasks quickly and accurately. With product development and life cycles becoming shorter and shorter, this is no easy task.
A configurable material is what we call a product that is produced in multiple variants. The configurable material covers all possible features of the product, so it is not a finished product in itself.
In the SAP System, we use characteristics to describe the features of configurable products.

7. Configurable Product, Class, and Characteristics
Configurable product: P-500
Class: CL_P500
Class type: Material Class 300
In variant configuration, a class groups together the characteristics that describe a configurable material.
In the standard system, you can only use classes that have class type 300 for variant configuration. You set the indicator to allow configuration for a class type in Customizing for the classification system.

8. Configurable Product, Class, and Characteristics
Configurable product: P-500
Class: CL_P500
Class type: Material Class 300
Characteristics: Pump for Mode Mode Pump type Connection Pump Height Color
Values:
Oil
Manual
Plunger
Right-angle yd
Blue
Water
Electric
Rotary
Round
Red
Wing
Misc.
The features of a product are stored in the SAP System as characteristics. You define characteristic values for each characteristic, then assign these values to the configurable material.
You assign the characteristics that describe the configurable product to the class.
You allocate the configurable material to the class, so that you can use the characteristics of the class to configure the material.

9. IDES Example: Configurable pump
Char. tab
Pump for Oil, Water, Waste water
Mode: ...
Pump type Plunger, circular pump
Connection: Right angle, Ru2, Ru4
Color: ...
P-500
(configurable)
Rtg
Shaft assy
(configurable)
Casing C
Support
Class:
Color
Casing A
Rtg
Casing S
Shaft
(configurable)
Bearing A
Splint
Pump P-500 is a configurable material that can be configured on multiple levels.
The BOM of the configurable material contains other materials that are configurable.
Rtg
Bearing B
Bearing C
Slug

10. Master Data > Configured BOM
Master data > Dependencies > Configured BOM
Bill ofmaterial
Super (master data) BOM
Dependencies
Dynamic BOM
The BOM of the configurable material contains all components that could possibly be required to produce a variant of the material. You use dependencies to configure the BOM, in other words, to select the components that are required for the specific variant. The BOM is exploded according to the characteristic values you assign.
If the configuration profile contains the appropriate settings, you can make manual changes to the BOM for a sales order (for example, you can delete or insert components). The BOM is then saved as an order BOM for the sales order.
Order BOM

11. Master Data > Configured Task List
Master data > Dependencies > Configured task list
Task list
Super (master data) task list
Dependencies
Copy task list
The task list (routing) of a configurable material contains all operations that could possibly be required to produce a variant of the material.
You use dependencies to select the operations that are required for a specific variant.
The task list is exploded according to the characteristic values you assign.
Dynamic operation sequence

12. Dependencies
Dependencies describe the interdependencies between objects in the configuration process.
They are used in configuration to ensure that the configuration is consistent and complete.
Dependencies describe the interdependencies between different objects in a configuration. It fulfills the following functions:
Checking the consistency of the configuration
Checking that the configuration is complete
Inferring characteristic values
The SAP System supports the following dependency types:
- Preconditions
- Selection conditions
- Actions
- Procedures
- Constraints

13. Dependency Types Precondition Selection criterion Procedure (Action)
Lets you hide and show characteristics and characteristic values.
The object only appears if the precondition
is true.
Selection
criterion
Forces the selection of objects such as
BOM items, operations in routings, and
characteristics in explosion functions.
Procedure
(Action)
Changes the value assignments or object items
in the configuration, if the object is included in
the configuration.
Constraint
A precondition is a "required" condition. You can use a precondition to control whether characteristics values can be set or whether a characteristic can have values assigned to it.
A selection condition is an "additional" condition. You can use selection conditions to control that a BOM item or a task list operations must be selected or that a characteristic must have values assigned to it.
Actions infer values for characteristics. Actions are declarative, so neither the processing sequence nor the time of processing is relevant.
Procedures, like actions, can infer values. A procedure is a set of instructions that is processing in exactly the sequence you define, like a program. Values inferred by procedures can overwrite each other, but they must not conflict with statements from other sources (for example, user entries).
Constraints are designed for highly interactive configuration tasks, and for configuration tasks where the dependencies between the characteristics of several objects are important. The main purpose of a constraint is to check the consistency of a configuration.
Describes interdependencies between different objects in a configuration.

14. Dependencies (Examples)
BOM item
Characteristic values
Characteristic values
Support
Required
Plunger pump
Optional
Wet pit
Precondition
Pump for EQ "oil" OR "Waster water"'
Action
Selection condition
Extras (options) EQ "with support"
Pump for
Suspension
Pump type
Wet pit
Example of a selection condition:
BOM item SUPPORT must be selected if characteristic EXTRAS has the value 'With support'.
Example of a precondition:
Characteristic value 'Plunger pump' is only shown if characteristic PUMP FOR has the value 'Oil' or 'Waste water'.
Example of an action:
If characteristic PUMP FOR has the value 'Suspension', characteristic PUMP TYPE automatically has the value 'Wet pit'.
(Characteristic)
(Value)
(Characteristic)
(Value)

15. SD: Sales and Distribution and Customer
Example: Sales Order
SD: Sales and Distribution and Customer
Sales order
10 P-500 (Pump)
Sales order
10 P-500 (Pump)
Value Assignment
Pump
Pump for
Mode Mode
Pump type
Connection
form
Oil
Manual
Plunger
Characteristic values
for the pump
A sales order is created for a configurable product (a pump, in this example). In the sales order, the features of the product are defined in detail. Based on the variant description in the sales order, the master data BOM and task list are exploded especially for the variant required.
Right-angle
flange

16. Example: Sales Order with Processing Afterwards
SD: Sales and Distribution and Customer
Technical
order processing
Order BOM
- Knowledge based - results oriented
P-501 (Pump)
2 steps
Shaft assy
Sales order
Shaft
10 P-500 (Pump)
BOM Maintenance
Value Assignment
Pump
Order BOM item:
10 P-501 (Pump)
Pump for
Mode Mode
Pump type
Connection
form
Oil
Manual
Plunger
Order related
Task list
Configuration multi-level
manual
change
Two-level processing of an order BOM:
In the sales order, you only configure the top level
In BOM maintenance, you can configure interactively on multiple levels, and make manual changes
You can process all BOM items, whether or not they are relevant to sales
Right-angle
flange