Viewing Product Variant Structures

A product variant structure defines the structure of a specific configured item by specifying the relations between this item and the generic items and engineering modules that make up this item. Generic sub-items can also have their own sub-items and/or engineering modules. The level below the engineering modules is specified in the flattened assembly parts, which appears in the Assembly BOM and Operations (tiapl2520m000) session.

The product variant structure is created on the following moments:

• When the product variant is entered and saved, the product variant structure is created, in regard to the relation between the main item and the generic sub items.
• When you run the Generate Product Variant Structures (tiapl3210m000)) session, the product variant structure is created, based on the relation between the main item and the engineering modules. Note, however, that this only happens if the External Product Variant Structure check box is cleared in the Assembly Planning Parameters (tiapl0100s000) session.

  If required, the product variant structure can also be generated by the following sessions:

  • Generate Assembly Orders (tiapl3201m000)
  • Refresh and Freeze Assembly Orders (tiapl3203m000)

The generic items and engineering modules are retrieved from the following sources:

• The bill of material (BOM) relations to generic sub items are always copied from the item's template, which is defined in the Generic Assembly Bill of Material (Assembly) (tiapl2510m000) session.

• The BOM relations to engineering modules are either copied from the item's template, or delivered by an external source, which depends on the selection of the External Product Variant Structure check box in the Assembly Planning Parameters (tiapl0100s000) session.

  If this check box is selected, the BOM relations to engineering modules are delivered from an external source. LN provides no functionality to copy the engineering modules from an external source to the product variant structure.

  If this check box is cleared, the BOM relations to engineering modules are copied from the item's template, which is defined 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, which is displayed in the details of the Product Variants (Assembly) (tiapl3500m000) session.

You can only change the data in the current session if the following conditions apply:

• Your current company is defined as master company in the Assembly Planning Parameters (tiapl0500m000) session.
• You work in Test Mode, which is also defined in the Assembly Planning Parameters (tiapl0500m000) session.
• The Assembly Status, which appears in the Product Variants (Assembly) (tiapl3500m000) session, is Open.

Product variant structures are deleted if the corresponding product variants are deleted. Refer to the To Be Deleted check box in the details of the Product Variants (Assembly) (tiapl3500m000) session, and to the Purge Product Variants (tiapl3200m000) session for more information.

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

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

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