Managing the Solution Design

Objectives

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Describe solution design in SAP CPQ
Manage sections on the Solution Design tab
Add and allocate products to sections

Solution Design in SAP CPQ

The Solution Design feature enables users to organize items into sections and subsections in a separate tab on quotes.

Note

The Solution Design feature is only available in the Quote 2.0 engine.

The Solution Design tab is another view of the items that are already in the quote. If the same items are in the new tab and the Quotation tab, they will not be treated as duplicates. Changes made on one item is applied to the same item in the another tab.

The Manage Section

To enable users to create sections, first create a dedicated tab on quotes. Select Setup → General → Application Parameters → Shopping Cart and Quotes. Set the parameter Enable Solution Design to TRUE. A new tab called Solution Design automatically displays on quotes.

Alternatively, you can create the tab manually using the implementation file. This file is not available by default. Contact the SAP CPQ Support team to enable this for your tenant.

You can create sections either in Excel or using the in-built tool Section Builder. For both workflows, Quote 2.0 engine must be enabled on your tenant and with the Solution Design tab created.

Create Sections Using Excel:

The ability to import sections through Excel allows users to handle multiple sections with minimal manual effort. This feature is useful for handling tender documentation with a predefined set of sections within an Excel file.

Create Sections using Section Builder:

The Section Builder is an SAP CPQ tool for manually creating sections.

The current Solution Design tab does not display standard quote fields. However, administrators have the ability to add custom fields for quote items and manage calculations associated with these fields. To fulfill this requirement, the field needs to be set as visible on quotes through Layout Permissions.

Product Allocation to Sections

There's an icon for allocating items next to each item on quotes. After selecting the icon, find the section to allocate the item. Once an item is allocated, the icon is grayed out. The icon can be selected again to change the section.

Products in sections have a "gear" icon displayed next to them. Selecting this icon opens a dropdown list with actions that users can perform on a product. The actions include the following:

Copy: Make a copy of the product in the same section and on the quote.
Delete: Delete the product from the section and the quote.
Edit: Edit the product to apply changes to the section and the quote. If you are editing line items, they are automatically removed from the section. You need to go back to the quote and allocate them to the section again.
Refresh: Refresh the product so that all settings from the quote are applied on that product in the section. This is recommended when handling calculations in the Quotation tab.
Move: Move the product to a different section.
Remove: Remove the product from the section.

Let create and allocate products to sections in the next exercise!

Create and Allocate Products to Sections

Business Scenario

Supertech applied to a call for tender for furnishing a new business complex in Stockholm. The tender proposal contains more than 1000 items (computers, headphones, keyboards and so on) that are distributed into 3 buildings, each with 11 floors and dozens of offices. The tender documentation contains a tender proposal form in Excel with sections for each building and subsections for floors and offices, respectively.

Task Flow

In this exercise, you’ll learn how to create the Solution Design tab and allocate items in proper section.

Exercise options

To carry out this exercise, you can choose the following option: Platform Simulation: Watch the step-by-step instructions within the simulation.

To start the simulation, choose Start Exercise in the figure below.

ExerciseStart Exercise

Steps

Create and allocate products to sections.
Use the following data:
Field Value
Name SMB2 Desktop Computer
1. Navigate to Setup → General → Application Parameters → Shopping Cart and Quotes.
2. Set the Enable Solution Design parameter to TRUE.
3. Exit from the setup and create new Quote
4. Go to the Solution Design tab in the quote.
5. Choose Excel Template.
  An Excel file is downloaded. The file name contains the quote number. All cells are formatted as Text and the local formatting of Excel files isn’t automatically applied.
6. Populate the file with this data as on Image bellow:
  Note
  The first row in the Excel template is hidden and you shouldn't remove or change it in any way. The row contains original names of quote item custom fields and the system updates those fields based on their original names. Since quote item custom field names are unique in the system and their translated names aren’t, if there are multiple fields with the same translated value, the correct field is updated.
7. Choose Excel Upload and select the populated template.
  A grid displays in the tab. Sections and subsections are created following the hierarchy in the template.
8. Choose next to a section.
  A search field displays.
9. Enter the name of product, from the table above.
10. Choose Configure or Add next to the product in the list.
  Note
  The options vary depending on whether the product is simple or configurable. The product is either automatically added to the section or you’re redirected to the configurator to first configure it.
11. Choose the icon for allocating items next to each item on quotes.
  Now you can find the section to which you want to allocate the item. Once an item is allocated, the icon is grayed out, but you can always choose it again and change the section.

Field	Value
Name	SMB2 Desktop Computer

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