Classes as place holders [Components in Super BOM]

As we all know, Super BOMs are used in Variant Configuration, which contain contains all the components that are required
to manufacture the material.
But there is one more option available in SAP to use Classes as BOM Items.
You can use class items to control the selection of variant parts in a BOM. Variant parts are classified in a class, and this
class is entered in the BOM as a class item. When you configure the material, the class is replaced by a suitable variant
part.
Class items can help you to simplify maintenance of BOMs for configurable materials:

You only enter one item for the class, instead of several items for the individual variant parts.
You do not need to create and assign selection conditions.
You can classify additional objects in the class at any time, without having to change the BOM.

Lets take example of Super Bike, it have 3 parts which have 3 possible combinations.

BIKE
COLOU
R

Variant
s

ENGIN
E

EXHAUS
T

RED

1200

EXHAUST
-1

BLUE

1500

EXHAUST
-2

Black

1800

EXHAUST
-3

If we create SUPER BOM for it we need to Create BOM with 9 items and write dependencies (Selection Condition ) for each
item position.
Below are the steps to Create Class BOM.

1) Create characteristics that describe the objects

Transaction CT04
Characteristic Name: COLOOR , Allowed Values RED, BLUE, BLACK

CHARACTERSTIC ENGINE

CHARACTERSTIC EXHAUST

Create Class: COLOUR , Transaction CL01, Create Classes of type 200 & 300 with same name.

Input previously created Characteristic COLOUR in it.

In class type 200 maintaion Unit of measure, resultant item category and allowed in BOM indicator

Do not forgot putting allowed in BOM indicator, base uinit of measure & resultant item category (L), as shown in above screen.

(2)
Class: ENGINE

Input previously created Characteristic ENGINE in it

Class: EXHAUST

Input previously created Characteristic EXHAUST in it.

Create Material Master: SUPER BIKE, and Include these Classes in Classification View.

Create Configuration Profile for Super Bike , Transaction: CU41

Create BOM for Super Bike, Transaction: CS01

Go To Class Tab and add the classes as shown below

Create Material: Paint Red

And in Classification view, add class COLOUR with value 01(RED)

Repeat same to create other 8 materials tied up with other value combination ie Blue, Black, 1200 CC, 1500 CC, 1800 CC etc
To test this setup , Go To Transaction CU50

Assign values to characteristics

Select Result
Classes presented in BOM will be replaced by material number associated with characteristic values.

If in result screen, more then expected items are appearing or same item is appearing twice please
check sap note on
"A specialized class item is displayed twice in the result screen of the configuration" SAP Note 969288

Advantages
For products with many variants, class items make the bill of material easier to maintain.

The class item is used as a placeholder for an item, and has several objects allocated to it (for example, screws
from different suppliers). Each object has a unique identifier in the class. Which object is replaced for the class item depends
on the characteristic values that are required for a particular configuration of the material.
If you enter all the possible objects for an item individually, you must allocate a selection condition to each item, so
that only the component you require is selected when you configure the material.

If you use a class item, you no longer need to maintain these selection conditions. When you configure the material,
the system selects the component whose characteristic values in the class are identical to those required for this
material.
Material requirements planning (MRP) is supported for class items. In Customizing functions for MRP, you can
define that a check is made in MRP as to whether an order BOM exists. If an order BOM does exist,
requirements for a material selected from a class item are transferred to MRP.

Disadvantages

In a class item, the item quantity is always the same, regardless of which classified material is selected. For this reason,
only use class items in cases where you use the same quantity of different materials.

Below are few enhancements Related to class nodes in variant

configuration
Description

Enhancement

Function Modules

Include

EXIT_SAPLCUD0_002

ZXCUCU04

Parameters for finding an object for a class node CCUX0003

EXIT_SAPLCEIS_001

ZXCUCU17

Object types for finding objects for class nodes

EXIT_SAPLCEIS_002

ZXCUCU19

Reaction to conflict when finding an

object for a class node

CCUX0002

CCUXOBTY

SAP Notes
Note 1302546 - Incorrect aggregated quantities after deletion of subitems
Note 177308 - Class node: manual object search and changes
Note 37484 - CU50: Class node with action or procedure
Note 1671129 - Issue with Component Allocation
Note 201647 - @3Z@ class nodes: Collective note
Appreciate if people who used it in their previous implementations can share their thoughts on this approach.
Please do comment and rate this blog.