Working with Generic Parts and Variants
Use
You need to view the use of generic parts and variants in relation to the particular CAD implementation utilized. The following explanations refer to the use of Pro/Engineer.
In other CAD systems there are different concepts for part families; in such cases variants have completely separate files that refer to the generic part. The extent to which the approach here can be conferred to other systems must be clarified on an individual basis.
Generic parts 
, and related variants 
, which you create in the CAD system, each get a document info record in the SAP system, even though no individual physical files exist for the variants in the CAD system. This makes it possible to distinguish between the variants.
Exactly one document info record for the generic part is contained in the document structure of the document info record for each variant. The document info record contains a "dummy" file, which is also checked in and out, although it is not needed by the CAD system.
This makes it possible to visualize variants and generic parts, and to treat them individually, perhaps using a material assignment.
To exclude all variants of a generic part, the document structure must be exploded upwards. This happens using a where-used list in the SAP view: Only the generic part is displayed under a variant in the SAP system, with all the variants displayed under the generic part, even though they actually belong above the generic part in the document structure.
As only the file for the generic part figures in the CAD system, the document info records for all variants, and for the generic part, must always be handled together. This is particularly true for the functions Display/Edit Original, Change Document Status, Check In Original, Create New Version, and so on. This prevents serious logistical conflicts.
It means that the selection of document info records or originals is enhanced. If you carry out one of the functions mentioned above, then the generic part and all other variants are selected at the same time as the variant that you choose.