Which statement best describes how variant management works in SAP Variant Configuration for MTU's engines?

• A. A single configurable material can support multiple variants through features/characteristics and dependencies.
• B. Each variant requires a separate configurable material with independent BOMs.
• C. Variants are defined by customer-specific SKUs only.
• D. Variant configuration is only used for non-engine parts.

Answer: (C)

Variant management in SAP Variant Configuration revolves around building one configurable material that can realize many different product variants through features (characteristics) and the dependencies between them. For MTU engines, you model the engine family with options like model type, fuel system, turbocharging, cooling, and other configurable attributes, and you enforce valid combinations with logic rules. When a specific configuration is chosen, the system generates the corresponding BOM and routing for that variant, all under the same configurable material. This means you don’t need a separate configurable material for every variant; a single material can cover multiple variants by selecting different features.

Customer-specific SKUs might map to particular configurations for sales purposes, but they don’t define how variants are structured. The defining mechanism is the set of features and dependencies, not SKUs. And yes, variant configuration is used for engines as well, not just non-engine parts.