Maintain variant tables easily and efficiently: Intuitive cloud solution based on SAP BTP

Variant tables are an important tool for mapping the derivation of values and checking the validity of values within object dependencies. In AVC, the latest generation of SAP configuration solutions in SAP S/4 Hana, these tables become even more important due to the enhancement of existing and the introduction of new syntax elements in object dependencies.

Variant table maintenance in the SAP standard

Maintaining variant tables is a challenge for the end user: The SAP standard (AVC/LO-VC) has a number of gaps in this area. Among other things, there is no search/replace function, which has a particularly negative impact on large tables with numerous data records, and the SAP change service is also not supported.

There are also restrictions for certain processes. Mass data maintenance, for example, is only possible via a CSV file. In addition, the maintenance functions are distributed across two transactions, PMVEC and CU60, and the user interfaces are not very practical or user-friendly. Overall, the maintenance of variant tables is very time-consuming and requires expert knowledge. For this reason, variant tables are often only used infrequently and most dependencies are written directly in syntax, which makes the maintenance of dependencies very time-consuming.

Solution from the cloud

There is a more practical and elegant alternative for variant manufacturers who process variant tables with standard SAP functions: the SaaS cloud solution Smart Variant Table Maintenance (SVTM) from Networker Solutions. The application was developed using modern development technologies directly on SAP BTP and is provided via this platform. It can be seamlessly linked to SAP S/4 Hana (AVC) and SAP ERP (LO-VC), is fully SAP-compliant and closes the gaps in the SAP standard for variant table maintenance, thereby enhancing it.

The modern user interface developed with Material UI offers elements that the end user is familiar with from their private environment - keyword usability. On the clearly designed start page, the end user can see at a glance which tables they have used most recently, but they also have the option of displaying their individually compiled list of favorites. The actual maintenance view also provides functions and buttons that are familiar from standard table editing tools (Excel).

Without expert knowledge

Even end users without specialist knowledge can learn how to use the cloud solution in a short space of time and maintain and manage variant tables easily and efficiently. SVTM provides numerous useful functions for this, such as filtering, sorting, copying and pasting tables and for comprehensive consistency checks. SVTM also offers the option of using the SAP change service for the upload and download function.

Unlike the SAP standard, the cloud solution also offers tools for the mass maintenance of variant tables. Data records can be quickly searched for and replaced using a convenient function. This saves a lot of time, especially with extensive tables with a large number of data records. If required, table contents can also be exported from SVTM to an external application such as Microsoft Excel, where they can be edited and then re-imported.

There are no restrictions for uploading and downloading that are familiar from the SAP standard, but tables with empty and/or multiple values per cell can also be exported and re-imported at this point. In addition, table contents can not only be standardized, but also entered by configuration. In this case, the individual characteristics of a product are first evaluated and then transferred to the variant table as entries.

"Keep the core clean"

The solution is operated exclusively in the secure SAP world, including for authentication and authorization. True to the motto "Keep the core clean", data is stored in the SAP cloud in a data center in Germany. The SVTM cloud solution offers even end users without expert knowledge exactly the usability and functions they need to efficiently maintain SAP variant tables - with the greatest possible security. SVTM is also being continuously expanded and improved, in the first expansion stage through table structure maintenance. Integration with the dependency wizard from Networker Solutions is already planned.

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