Lesson 3 of 5
Configurable products at a concept level
10 min
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Many make-to-order products are configurable: the customer chooses options, and the system works out the right components, operations and price. SAP calls this variant configuration. SAP S/4HANA offers two engines. Classic variant configuration (LO-VC, modeled with transactions such as CU41 for the configuration profile and tested with CU50) is still fully available in on-premise and Private Edition systems and is not part of the compatibility scope. Advanced Variant Configuration (AVC) is SAP's newer configurator: it uses a constraint-solving engine and a Fiori-based modeling environment, works on largely the same master data (configurable material, classes, characteristics, dependencies), but evaluates some dependencies differently and is where SAP adds new functions. SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition offers only AVC. This lesson gives a tester and process owner enough concepts to follow the flow. Model design needs a specialist.
From order entry to production
When Maria enters a configurable item, a configuration screen asks for the characteristic values. Dependencies check the combination and refuse invalid ones. The chosen values stay with the sales order item. When MRP plans the item and a production order is created, the super BOM and super routing are evaluated with those values, so the order contains only the matching rotor, housing, regulator and test steps.
- ConfigureSales order item: 24 V, 240 A, hinge mounting
- CheckConstraints accept the combination; price adds a surcharge for 240 A
- CostA sales order cost estimate can cost this exact configuration
- PlanMRP explodes the super BOM with the item's values into the right components
- BuildProduction order contains only the selected components and operations
| Concept | Why a tester cares |
|---|---|
| Characteristic values on the item | They are the test input; record them with every test case |
| Constraints and preconditions | Invalid combinations must be refused, not just valid ones accepted |
| Selection conditions in BOM and routing | Each value must pull the right components and operations into the order |
| Variant pricing | Surcharges must match the price list for each option |
| Sales order cost estimate | Cost must reflect the configuration, or margins are wrong |
Variant configuration concepts through a quality lens.
What needs an SME
- Designing or changing the model: classes, characteristics, dependency syntax and their order of evaluation.
- Migrating models from the classic engine to AVC and checking that results match.
- Choosing the planning strategy for configurable materials and how components are planned.
- Costing and pricing of variants, especially with valuated sales order stock.
For Contoso, CMC-ALT-100 is not configurable, and CMC-ALT-240 is planned as a configurable product only in a later phase; for now it stays a non-configured MTO material. Contoso does run classic variant configuration in one corner: the CMC-ALT-900 family, 14 LO-VC models at Chicago plant 1720, which the conversion carried over unchanged. Their move to AVC is a later project, so in the conversion these concepts were tested as a regression of the existing LO-VC models, not as a migration. If your program does convert configurable models, budget separate test cycles for them: they mix sales, engineering, planning and costing in one object.
What would you do?
The variant model is migrated, and every valid test configuration produces the right BOM. A tester proposes to sign off. What is missing?
| Topic | Classic LO-VC | Advanced Variant Configuration |
|---|---|---|
| Availability | On-premise and Private Edition | On-premise, Private Edition and Public Edition (only option there) |
| Engine | Classic configurator, dependencies evaluated in sequence | Constraint solver; order of evaluation matters less, some syntax differs |
| Modeling | SAP GUI transactions (CU41, CU01, CU50 for simulation) | Fiori-based modeling environment with simulation; classic objects reused |
| Master data | Configurable material, variant class, characteristics, dependencies, super BOM and routing | Same objects, with AVC-specific checks |
| Moving from LO-VC | Not required by a conversion | A model-by-model project: activate AVC for a model, compare results with LO-VC for the same inputs, then switch |
LO-VC and AVC compared. Check the activation steps and dependency differences in SAP's documentation for your release.
- Variant configuration uses a configurable material, characteristics, a class, dependencies and super BOM/routing.
- Characteristic values on the sales order item drive components, operations, price and cost.
- Test each value, each dependency both ways, and high-volume combinations.
- Model design and migration to Advanced Variant Configuration need a specialist.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. What does a super BOM contain?
2. Which test proves a constraint works?
3. What carries the customer's choices from sales to production?
4. Which statement about variant configuration engines in SAP S/4HANA is accurate?