Working with a Parameter Effectivity

Up to now, you have performed object changes using change numbers that were valid based on a valid-from date.However, more and more master data changes in your company are no longer date-dependent. Instead, they depend on parameters such as customer, material, or serial number. Therefore, you decide to use parameter effectivity.

This raises the question of how the system behaves if different effectivities are valid for the same object—for example, for the same item of a material BOM.

Some change numbers are only controlled by a valid-from date, others use a release key, and yet others are controlled by parameter effectivities. In such cases, the system applies defined rules to determine which change is effective.

The control elements are now the release key and the applicable parameter effectivity. Based on these, the system determines a priority and a rank, which are defined within the change number.

If you work without a release key, all changes become effective immediately after they are maintained.

If you work with a release key, the changes only become effective for a specific application once that application has explicitly been released using the release key.

After the active change numbers have been determined using the change key for the relevant object, the next step is to decide which of these change numbers should actually be applied.

If several active change numbers exist with different effectivity types, the priority of the effectivity type is decisive. This priority is a mandatory attribute that must be defined when the effectivity type is configured in Customizing.

For active changes with the same effectivity type, the system evaluates the ranks of the individual change numbers to determine which change is applied.

If you do not work with ranks, or if several change numbers have identical ranks, the system selects the change number with the most recent creation date. This change is then applied to the corresponding object.

• The system determines applicable effectivity types based on the value assignment. If different change statuses exist for different effectivity types, the system selects the change with the highest effectivity priority, provided that the corresponding release key is set.

• If several change numbers have the same effectivity type, the system evaluates the rank of the change numbers. If the ranks are identical, the creation date is used as the final decision criterion.

• This evaluation process is first executed for the BOM of the header material. The same decision logic is then applied repeatedly for each subsequent level during the structure explosion.

• If you work with changes that use the effectivity type Serial Number, all changes to the complete structure are maintained with reference to the serial number of the finished product.

• The subsequent explosion of the structure follows the same decision logic, ensuring that all dependent objects are evaluated consistently with respect to the serial number effectivity.

Up to now, Development Manager Tom has managed engineering changes using change numbers with date-based validity. In this approach, a valid-from date determines when a change becomes effective and can be used in downstream business processes. While this method is well suited for many engineering scenarios, not all product changes can be controlled effectively by dates alone.

Increasingly, Tom's company needs to manage changes that depend on specific characteristics of a product or asset rather than on a particular point in time. For example, a change may only apply to products within a certain serial number range, to specific material numbers, to selected customers, or to other business-specific criteria. In these cases, date-based effectivity does not provide the required level of flexibility.

To address this requirement, Tom decides to use parameter effectivities. Parameter effectivities allow engineering changes to be controlled by predefined effectivity parameters instead of a valid-from date. This makes it possible to define exactly which products, assets, or product variants are affected by a particular change and under which conditions the change becomes effective.

Before parameter effectivities can be used, the necessary settings must be configured in the system. This includes the definition of the effectivity parameters in Customizing and the assignment of the relevant effectivity information to the affected materials. Once this setup is complete, change numbers can be created and used with parameter-based effectivity control.

When object changes are performed using parameter effectivities, the process differs from traditional date-based Engineering Change Management. During Material BOM and routing maintenance, the system evaluates the defined effectivity parameters rather than a valid-from date. Likewise, when a BOM explosion or routing selection is performed, the relevant parameter values must be entered so that the system can determine the correct version of the object.

Watch the following video to get an overview of how a change number with parameter effectivity is stored and later applied when it is used in a production order.