Articles: Logistical Variants
Definition
Variant of a generic article in a given unit of measure.
Use
Logistical variants make it possible to:
This allows articles to be stored in given units of measure in separate storage bins, and facilitates efficient picking when ordering and delivering articles in different units of measure.
This allows an article to be replenished in a given unit of measure.
Logistical variants (and also standard variants of a generic article) may have different units of measure to those of the generic article.
You define logistical variants by creating a generic article with the characteristic unit of measure. As the characteristic values, you specify the units of measure in which the inventory is to be managed at a store or distribution center. For more information, see
Articles: Defining a Logistical Variant.Structure
A logistical variant is a separate article and can be either:
This is the article in the unit of measure in which it is sold to consumers at stores. It is automatically defined by the system as the variant whose characteristic value is the sales unit defined for the generic article. A generic article can have only one sales variant.
This is the article in the unit of measure in which it is procured at distribution centers or stores. A generic article can have several procurement variants.
Integration
Listing Logistical Variants
When listing logistical variants, take care to ensure that the sales variant is listed for one day only if it is not allowed for procurement. Outbound processing at the point-of-sale (POS) interface will not otherwise be possible. Also take care to ensure that the procurement variants are excluded from sales for the duration of the selling period if they are not allowed for sales.
Use in Logistical Processes
When a logistical variant is ordered and subsequently received at the distribution center, the goods receipt is posted to the stock of the respective variant. This makes it possible to see how much stock is available in a particular unit of measure. In the case of stores, the stock is always posted to the sales variant because the boxes are always opened at stores and included in stock as sales units.
In goods issue, procurement variants (for example, boxes) are normally supplied by the distribution center, while at stores the sales variant is usually sold to consumers. At distribution centers, you can plan requirements for each procurement variant because the consumption of each procurement variant is known. At stores, only the consumption of the sales variant is known. If the sales variant is not allowed for procurement at the store, the replenishment requirements are determined automatically using the procurement variant for the store, and the purchase order is created for this variant. If more than one procurement variant is allowed for the store, the system chooses the first of them.
For more information, see:
Logistical variants are also used in defining promotions and in the assortment list.
Activities
Assigning Units of Measure
Units of measure are created automatically for logistical variants and the generic article. They are not copied from the reference article.
All units of measure for which a logistical variant has been defined are assigned to the generic article. The base unit of measure must be specified for the generic article. It can be one of the units of measure proposed, or another unit of measure. It is always copied to all of the variants and cannot differ from variant to variant. Each variant is also assigned the unit of measure specified as its characteristic value. You can specify further units of measure for each variant manually.
Defining Purchase Prices
The purchase price (and thus the purchasing info record) of logistical variants must always be defined at generic article level because no purchase price will otherwise be found when calculating the sales price for the sales variant. If you want to define different prices for the different procurement variants, you can do so by using variable order units with their own price.