Variant Configuration – the new ESTO process

Now, the current project I’m on is my first exposure to this process, so maybe I’m just behind the curve, but if you happen to know more about this, please let me know.  The process I’m talking about is ESTO.  Now, this is very similar to the original STO (Stock Transfer Order) which is a process for moving stock between facilities.  It can work similar to a purchase order between plants, with a lot less paperwork.  Now, ESTO is a way that you can do with a configurable material.

So, envision this.  Your facility in Europe takes an order for a variant configuration material.  Through the magic of special procurement keys, you can now send that planned/product order demand to any other plant of your choosing.  Now, I’ve been doing this a while, so this functionality is pretty cool.  I’ve always had to tell customers if you want to do something like this, you have to use material variants.

The magic with ESTO is that it will transfer your configuration to the building plant, so that it can use it’s configurable BOM’s and routing to produce the machine, and then allow it to be shipped to the plant that originated the demand.

While I haven’t been closely involved in the testing of this process it does have me curious.  Again.  if you have any feedback on this process, or things to consider, I’d love to hear them.

As always, thanks for reading.

As always, thanks for reading and don't forget to check out our SAP Service Management Products at my other company JaveLLin Solutions,
Mike