There is possibility you may need many others function possible with material Variant , this document is addition to what I explained in Part 1 of this document.

I am also trying to explain few issues you may face or advance requiremnt related to usage of Material variant.

1) We havent assign values to all characterstic of a configurable material while creating material variant or  we want to perform variant matching based upon few characterstic only.

Solution : You can exclude characteristics from the search for variants. To do so:

…

• 1.      Choose System -> Services -> Reporting. Enter the name of the report: RCU_EXCL_CHARACTERISTICS. Choose .execute
• 2.      Specify the number of the relevant material or the characteristic that you want to exclude from the search and choose .execute
• 3.      Select the Exclusion Types indicator for the characteristic or combination of material and characteristic to exclude it from the search. Choose .save

2) we used Material variant as a component inside a BOM , we want to explore this material variant BOM at the time of sales order BOM explosion.

Solution:  For this, set the constant in Include LCUKOFCK in function group CUKO to value ‘X’.  

You should only set the switch if the following conditions are fulfilled:

·        The configuration profile object dependency is formulated so that the characteristic value assignment of the material variant does not deviate from the valuation in the material master even after processing the material variant.

·        The object dependency in the BOM items of the material variant is formulated so that the bill of material matches the one calculated for the material variant in Transaction CS11. For example, the selection conditions should not be formulated with $root since this stands for the initial material in the multi-level configuration.

·       The lower-level material variant must not be transferred as a sales-relevant item to the sales order.

3) Material variants doesn’t replaces configurable material.

Solution

·        In case of assemble to order a plan or production order is getting generated at the time of creation of order and due to it configurable material cant be deleted in the sales order.

·        Check that the variant is maintained in the corresponding sales area.

·        Check Customizing of the item category. Check the settings in field ‘Material Variant Action’. If you have selected the field ‘ATP material variant’ so that the variant can only be replaced if it is completely available, then check the warehouse stock of the variant.

4) Incorrect display of customer requirements in MD72 for material variants

Solution:  By mistake both the Planning material field and the Configurable material field are maintained for a material variant in the material master. Due to it , the material is entered from two different “points of view”. This could cause errors not only in MD72 but also in other transactions. Thus, if there is no particular reason why the material should be specified as both a planning material and as a configurable material, changing the material master (indicated only as configurable material) would solve the problem.