To quickly build up and effectively utilize bills of materials and product variant structures, a certain amount of flexibility is required. This is another feature of SAP PLM’s product structure management functionality, which makes it possible to assemble configurable product structures independently of the downstream logistics chain in question. In the process, intuitive user interfaces make it easy to display and use your knowledge of the interrelationships in play. This enables you to configure different product specifications and visualize them directly in the corresponding CAD or DMU application at an early stage of development.

Comprehensive and flexible change management is impossible without sound collaboration. SAP PLM sets an ideal stage for exactly that, offering a variety of ways to manage and control change processes. An add-on for engineering change management makes this possible in virtually every important area – from change requests and approvals to execution, scheduling, and notification of completion – with flexible process control and integrated functionality for ad hoc workflows or context-based analysis (Business Context Viewer).

SAP Portfolio and Project Management puts your company in a position to link your ideas and strategies with the necessary project data, workflows, and business processes, thus facilitating smooth, end-to-end administration of your projects and portfolios. You gain better control of projects, processes, products, and services across their entire duration while remaining constantly innovative. Meanwhile, SAP Enterprise Project Connection – another component of SAP PLM – makes it possible to share context-based information among project and portfolio management applications. Optimized synchronization ensures that the corresponding project data is always complete, correct, and up-to-date.