Product Variants in SAP APO 

Definition

Product variants are pre-configured materials whose characteristic value assignment is stored in the material master record.

Use

Transferring Product Variants

When transferring product variants, you can specify in the integration model that only one PPM is transferred for the configurable materials and not for product variants. This ensures that only one PPM exists in SAP APO for the configurable product and that the product variants refer to this.

If you do not filter the PPM transfer, but have created object dependencies at the BOM and the routing, then the system will evaluate these when transferring the PPMS for the product variant. The system then creates a configured PPM in SAP APO.

In the R/3 system, you create a BOM/routing and a production version for the configurable material. No BOM or routing is created for the material variants, but a production version. This must have the same name as the production version of the configurable material, and refer to BOMs and routings of the configurable material.

Characteristics Propagation for Product Variants in PPMs

You do not need to maintain a characteristics propagation in PPM plans for product variants at requirements components. The characteristic value assignment is copied from the product master dependent on location. The in-house production order has no separate characteristic value assignment.

If you do define a characteristic value assignment, and set the Set Value Assgmt indicator for at least one characteristic of the product variant, then the requirements element is reconfigured (see Define Characteristics Propagation). You create a separate characteristic value assignment for CDP in the in-house production order. If you have reconfigured product variants at requirements components in SAP APO, they must also be configurable in the R/3 system. If this is not the case, problems can occur during integration.

For example, green triangle symbols in the product view indicate a reconfiguration. White triangle symbols indicate that the characteristic value assignments have been copied from the product master.