Variant Configuration – Multiple Classification of the Same Material

In my current project, I’ve become reacquainted with the trials and tribulations of material classification.  Now in the past, I’ve found ways around the situation to simplify my life.  But I’ve found there are always new headaches to contend with.  My latest adventure has to do with multiple classification of the same material.  Now at first glance, sounds pretty standard.  Now my dilemma comes from the fact that the initial design called for different classes, with the same characteristics in the same class type.  Now here’s a couple of lesson’s learned that might help you decide the best course of action if you use BOM classification (that’s the idea for this approach).

1.  Remember, you can only assign one value to a characteristic within a material/class type combination.  This requires a lot of forethought in the event of the same material have multiple classes that share characteristics.
a.  My particular scenario had issues with this because we had multiple modelers.  We were each working on different products.  I was using some automation to load the CL24N, and didn’t even notice that there was overlap in the materials.  This instantly caused issues in some of the other product lines.  b.  Make sure you really need to use the same characteristic.  This was the big thing we found upon closer inspection.  The use of a common characteristic was more for convenience than for specific needs.

2.  Performance can become an issue.  Remember, if you haven’t noticed already the tables AUSP, KSSK and INOB can quickly become large and unwieldy.  This causes major performance issues.  So you may need to index these tables in order to improve performance.

3.  Remember, if you classify too many materials with the same class, your performance can also become impacted.  However, if you keep the number manageable, it works just as well (sometimes better) than standard selection conditions.

There are some of the things I’ve encountered.  In general, I’m a big fan of classification (also called class type 200), as long as you think through your approach carefully.  I just had to spend a few days reworking a bunch of models in order to improve our overall design.  I hope my mistakes can help you be successful.

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