Alternative Materials

Alternative Materials provide flexibility in material consumption without requiring multiple BOM variants. Multiple BOM variants are one way of defining that there are multiple different combinations of materials that can be used to produce this material.

However, the BOM specified for the production order is valid for the entire order, which can result in unnecessary constraints. For example, if one of the raw materials runs out part way through the order and a valid alternative is available, the BOM does not provide sufficient flexibility to handle this situation.

Defining multiple BOMs also introduces master data overhead and requires time to configure and maintain. In some cases, similar materials can be used interchangeably when the planned material is not available. Additionally, when the same physical raw material is delivered from separate suppliers with different material numbers, alternate materials can be a solution.

For such scenarios, alternative materials can be defined, without creating a new BOM. The application validates material consumption by allowing materials that are defined in the BOM or configured as valid alternatives for a BOM item.