Function documentationProduct Configuration with the Configuration Engine in SAP CRM

 

You can use this function to configure products. This means that you can offer products, with various characteristics that are managed in their own master records (product model), in sales transactions. During a meeting with the customer, you can define how the product should look, directly in the sales transaction. A customer in a Web shop can also directly define how the product should look. For more information, see Product Configuration in Sales Transactions.

Example Example

For a car, the interior, the engine capacity, and the exterior paint color can vary, for example. When the customer selects this car in the Web shop, the possible characteristics for the product are displayed automatically. The customer can select the characteristic values that he or she wants. Only characteristics that are compatible with the previously selected characteristic values are shown. If the various characteristics of a product affect its price, the price that is displayed is also recalculated.

End of the example.

Product configuration is performed using the configuration engine. The configuration engine is programmed in Java, not in ABAP, and offers a Web-enabled user interface. For more information, see SAP Library for SAP ERP variant configuration under Configuration Engine.

The interface of the configuration engine is controlled using parameters in Extended Configuration Management (XCM) of CRM Web Channel. For more information, see the configuration documentation for CRM Web Channel in SAP Solution Manager.

Note Note

The configuration engine is also sometimes known as Internet Pricing and Configurator (IPC) or Sales Configuration Engine (SCE).

End of the note.

Integration

  • The configuration interface of the configuration engine is available in an identical form in the following environments:

    • CRM Enterprise

    • Interaction Center

    • CRM Web Channel

    • CRM Mobile

  • You can integrate one or more external product configurators in your WebClient UI. For more information, see Customizing under Start of the navigation path Customer Relationship Management Next navigation step Basic Functions Next navigation step Product Configuration Next navigation step Settings for External Configurators End of the navigation path.

Prerequisites

  • The product is marked as configurable in the product master data.

  • Product configuration is activated. You activate product configuration in Customizing under Start of the navigation path Customer Relationship Management Next navigation step Master Data Next navigation step Products Next navigation step Settings for Configurable Products Next navigation step Allow Configurable Products for a Product Type End of the navigation path. For more information about activating product configuration, see SAP Note 854170Information published on SAP site.

  • You have created a product model (SAP CRM), or replicated a knowledge base with the configuration master data from SAP ERP to SAP CRM.

Features

Master Data

Product configuration with the configuration engine uses master data that is either downloaded from SAP ERP or that you model and edit directly in SAP CRM. The master data can also be replicated to a mobile sales database, if necessary.

The corresponding configuration models must be created in the same system in which the product was created. In SAP ERP you use variant configuration for this, in SAP CRM you use the product modeling environment (WebClient UI: overview page of the product, assignment block Product Models).

Note Note

Since SAP ERP 6.0, you can also use the configuration engine within SAP ERP. For more information, see Product Configuration with the Configuration Engine in SAP Library for SAP ERP variant configuration.

End of the note.

For more information, see:

Features

For a list of features that are available to the user of interactive configuration, see Interactive Configuration on the Configuration Screen.