Variant (product)

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The DIN 199-1: 2002-03 terms of the technical documentation describes variant ( English : variant ) as "objects of similar form and / or function with a usually high proportion of identical groups or parts".

REFA differentiates between three types of variants that can occur in products:

  1. Must variant : The variant takes the place of another version. This is a change to the basic design that is necessary for the product to function. The customer must choose one of these variants.
  2. Optional variant : Such a variant extends the basic design of the product, but is not absolutely necessary for its function. Usually the customer can choose different variants independently.
  3. Requirement determination variant or dispositive variant : This can be, for example, a third-party part with the same function that is used instead of the own part. The decision on this is at the discretion of the manufacturer. The customer usually does not find out about this. The distinction is made on the basis of the different disposition for the part and thus also the different determination of requirements .

Variants usually arise when customer requests are met. This is increasingly the case when a market becomes a buyer's market because of existing overcapacity . A high number of variants leads to higher inventories, higher development costs and an increase in administrative company structures. It leads to smaller lot sizes and thus to a tendency towards higher unit costs. Since an increase in the number of variants is inevitable at the present time, attempts are made to contain the negative consequences through variant management .

Encryption of variants

Due to the increasing complexity and variety of products, the purely identifying encryption of the product variants with a 'fixed' product number (see also identifier ) has been replaced by a modular product encryption with the help of features. The product number is made up of a number of features that describe the product with the help of properties and thereby uniquely encode it at the same time (see also numbering ). Depending on the product, different properties are possible:

  • Geometric dimensions
  • Physical characteristics
  • Functional characteristics
  • Shape and shape
  • surfaces
  • Colours
  • Material and material structures

In some branches of industry, such as the automotive industry, the electrical industry and mechanical engineering, there are now so many product variants that a special form of product encryption has developed here. Here, alternative characteristics that mutually exclude each other in pairs are combined into characteristic families and thereby form a Boolean association. Exactly one characteristic must be selected from each characteristic family . This means that there is no differentiation between optional and mandatory versions. Each different combination of features represents a product variant. The number of theoretically possible product variants results from the combination of the alternative features from the different feature families.

Variants in practice - clothing

In the textile trade, variants are used particularly often, as the clothes often only differ in color and size. In online shops and merchandise management systems, it would be too cumbersome to create each color-size combination individually. That is why the articles are grouped together as a variant. It is usually possible to define your own EAN and prices. In online shops, variants are then displayed under an article, but with different colors and sizes.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ REFA Association for Work Studies and Business Organization e. V. (Hrsg.): Methodology of the company organization: Lexicon of the company organization. Carl-Hanser, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-446-17523-7 , p. 188.
  2. ^ Dieter Kluck: Materials Management and Logistics: Textbook with examples and control questions. Schäffer-Poeschel, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-7910-1260-6 , p. 147.
  3. ^ W. Herlyn: PPS in automobile construction. Hanser Verlag, Munich 2012, p. 79 ff.
  4. ↑ Jörg Becker, Reinhard Schütte: Commercial information systems. Redline Wirtschaft Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2004, ISBN 3-478-25590-2 , p. 250 ff.

literature

  • Bruno Grupp: Optimal encryption for online data processing. Development of modern numbering systems for part numbers of all kinds, personal numbers and order numbers. Verlag TÜV Rheinland, Cologne 1987, ISBN 3-88585-344-2 .
  • Wilmjakob Herlyn: PPS in automotive engineering - production program planning and control of vehicles and assemblies. Hanser Verlag, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-446-41370-2 .