Generating Product Variant Structures

The structure of a product variant for a selected configured item is defined by specifying the relations between the item and the engineering modules that are used to create the item. Generic sub-items can also have related sub-items and/or engineering modules. The sub-level of the engineering modules is specified using the flattened assembly parts, defined in the Assembly BOM and Operations (tiapl2520m000) session.

The product variant structure is created:

  • When the product variant is specified and saved based on the relation between the main item and the generic sub items.
  • When you run the current session, the product variant structure is created, based on the relation between the main item or generic items and the engineering modules.

The Generate Product Variant Structures (tiapl3210m000) only creates product variant structures if the following conditions are met:

  • Your current company is defined as the master company in the Assembly Planning Parameters (tiapl0500m000) session.
  • The External Product Variant Structure check box is cleared in the Assembly Planning Parameters (tiapl0500m000) session.
  • The Planned Offline Date of the product variant, specified in the Product Variants (Assembly) (tiapl3500m000) session, is within the time fence that is specified in the Assembly Planning Parameters (tiapl0500m000) session.
  • The Product Variant Structure generated check box on the product variant, in the Product Variants (Assembly) (tiapl3500m000) session, is cleared.
  • The To Be Deleted check box in the Product Variants (Assembly) (tiapl3500m000) session, is cleared.
  • The Assembly Line field, in the Product Variants (Assembly) (tiapl3500m000) session has the Assembly Line Structure Status set to Actualized. The Assembly Line Structure Status is displayed in the Assembly Lines (tiasl1530m000) session.

The bill of material (BOM) relations to the engineering modules are copied from the item's template, which is specified in the Generic Assembly Bill of Material (Assembly) (tiapl2510m000) session. The information that is retrieved from the generic BOM is selected, based on the effectivity unit of the product variant, and the effective and expiry dates. The date range is evaluated against the Configuration Date, specified in the details of the Product Variants (Assembly) (tiapl3500m000) session.

If the product variant structures are generated, a completion report is created, and the Product Variant Structure generated check box on the product variant is selected, specified in the details of the Product Variants (Assembly) (tiapl3500m000) session.

You can also generate product variant structures for configurable items. You can use a configurable item to create an item structure that contains a configurable purchased sub-assembly.

For more information on procuring purchased configurable items in Assembly Control, refer to

  • Procuring configured items in Assembly Control - Master Data Setup
  • Procuring configured items in Assembly Control - BOM setup
  • Product variants - Purchased configurable items

Generic items can be configured using a contract deliverable. The product variant resulting from the configuration is stored on contract deliverable for possible reuse. The generic item linked to a contract deliverable can be modified to a customized item before the deliverable status is set to Active.

To configure a customized item, the Customizable field must be set to Yes with With PCS set to No.

The Inherit Project Peg and Mandatory Project Peg check boxes are available for generic items in the Items (tcibd0501m000) session if:

  • The Default Supply Source is Job Shop
  • The Customized field is set to Yes and the With PCS set to No