You maintain configuration profiles for configurable objects to define central settings for configuring the object.

You can create several configuration profiles with different settings for an object. If an object has several configuration profiles, you must select a profile during configuration. You can only make changes to a configuration with the profile that you first used to configure the object.

You maintain configuration profiles for all configurable objects:

• Configurable materials
• Configurable standard networks
• Configurable general maintenance task lists
• Configurable model service specifications

You define different settings in configuration profiles for materials than for other configurable objects.

• You use the configuration profile to assign the configurable object to one or more variant classes. This links the object to the characteristics of the class for configuration.

• You can define settings that affect the display options and scope of characteristics on the value assignment screen. You define these settings for each object, and they apply to the object wherever it is used. However, you can overwrite these settings for your user in the configuration editor.

• You can use an interface design to group characteristics together and define a sequence on the value assignment screen. You need to assign a name to an interface design to enable further maintenance in the configuration simulation.

• You can use the configuration profile to assign dependencies to a configurable object. You can only assign dependency nets to a configuration profile. If you assign actions and procedures to the configuration profile, you can manage them more easily because they are all in one place.

• For materials, you must also maintain configuration parameters for BOM explosion. Depending on the configuration parameters you set, other fields in the configuration profile are hidden or shown.
• You determine the status of the configurable object.