Selecting Alternatives for Bill of Material Explosion 

If there are several different bills of material to choose from for making up an assembly, the choice of bill of material can be made either automatically or manually in the sales order when the bill of material is exploded.

Automatic Selection

Using the item category, you can control whether the bill of material alternative is selected manually or automatically. If you switch off the manual alternative selection function for a particular item category, the bill of material alternative is selected automatically and exploded in the sales order.

In Customizing for Production, you can control which BOM alternative for a material or assembly is selected by the automatic alternative selection function and exploded in the sales order. For more detailed information, see the online Implementation Guide for Production.

Manual Selection

If the manual alternative selection is switched on for an item category, the Alternative Selection Bills of Material screen appears when the bill of material is exploded in the sales order. All alternatives for the bill of material are displayed on this screen. You choose an alternative by placing the cursor on the appropriate alternative and then choosing Edit ® Choose. The alternative selected is exploded in the sales order.

Item Structure

To obtain information regarding the structure of the bill of material item, select the item and choose Item ® Structure ® Components. You reach the Item - Item Structure screen, where the main item data and data on any sub-items, such as the component quantity and the order quantity, are displayed.

If you make changes to the component quantity, the schedule line quantity is automatically adjusted accordingly.