Creating and Maintaining a Product Model

You can use this function to create and maintain a product model from product maintenance of a configurable product. Maintenance includes various steps in product modeling.

Prerequisites

You have made the settings for product models in Customizing for Customer Relationship Management by choosing Start of the navigation path Master Data Next navigation step Products Settings for Configurable Products End of the navigation path .

Features

You start product modeling from product maintenance of a configurable product in the SAP WebClient user interface (UI), and use assignment block Product Models.

Maintenance Functions: List of Product Models

If you choose Edit List, the following editing functions are available:

Create a new product model
You can use the following fields in when you create a new product model:
- Name
- Version
  You enter the version number yourself.
- Status
  Only product models with status Released are available in the product configuration.
- From Date
  Product configuration always selects the latest version that is valid.
The product from which you started this function is automatically in your new product model.
Change a product model
When you change a product model, it becomes inactive initially. In the list of product models, the value Pending appears in the Changes column. To accept or reject the changes, you can use the Apply Changes or Discard Changes buttons. To avoid defective product models, test the new, inactive version after you make the change.
If you apply the changes, the new version, which was inactive until now, becomes the active version and replaces the previous active version.
If you discard the changes, the inactive version is deleted and no changes are made to the active version.
Create a new version of an existing product model
Create a new version of a product model by selecting a product model from the list and choosing Insert New Version. Assign a new version number and then open this copy of your original version to make your changes.
Simulate a product model
Regardless of the status and regardless of whether the product model is active or inactive, you can start a simulation to test your configuration.
Delete a product model

Maintenance Functions: Product Model

The following maintenance functions are available for a product model:

Create products with components
You can add new configurable products to a product model. You can assign components to these main products (first-level products), creating a product structure. The components, in turn, can also be configurable products, though they can also be non-configurable. You can define rules that dictate the conditions that must be met for a component to be selected.
Creating classes and subclasses
You can create classes with subclasses and assign products of the product model and components to a class and subclass. You can also create characteristics for classes and subclasses.
Note
You use classes to group characteristics that are relevant for multiple products. If you use classes, you create an inheritance structure: a lower-level class inherits the characteristics of the higher-level class. If products have the same characteristics, you can assign different products to one class. If you change a characteristic that is assigned to a class, that characteristic changes for all the products assigned to that class.
End of the note.
Create characteristics for products, components, classes, and subclasses
For more information on characteristics, see Characteristics and Their Parameters.
Define dependencies
You can save dependencies as a table or in custom functions. For more information about dependencies, see Editing Dependencies.
Status change
If you have finished maintaining the product model, change the status of your product model to Released.
This way, you activate your model for use in product configuration.
Simulation
You can check the behavior of your product model in configuration. To do this, choose Simulation.