From automotive and high-tech machinery to consumer electronics and furniture, customers now expect tailor-made solutions. Enter SAP S/4HANA Advanced Variant Configuration (AVC) — a robust, real-time solution designed to manage complex product configurations with precision and speed. In today’s hyper-personalized and demand-driven economy, offering configurable products has become a competitive necessity for manufacturers across industries.
This blog by Multisoft Systems dives into what SAP S/4HANA AVC training is, how it transforms product configuration processes, and why it’s the go-to solution for businesses that manage complex configurable products.
What is SAP S/4HANA Advanced Variant Configuration (AVC)?
SAP S/4HANA Advanced Variant Configuration (AVC) is a next-generation configuration engine designed to manage complex and customizable product offerings within the SAP S/4HANA environment. Replacing the traditional LO-VC (Variant Configuration) model, AVC leverages the power of SAP HANA's in-memory computing to deliver faster, more flexible, and accurate product configuration capabilities. It enables businesses to define, manage, and simulate millions of product combinations in real-time, ensuring valid configurations with constraint-based logic and advanced rule modeling. AVC is particularly beneficial for industries such as manufacturing, automotive, and high-tech, where configure-to-order (CTO) and engineer-to-order (ETO) models are common. With user-friendly SAP Fiori interfaces, seamless integration with SAP CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote), and support for multi-level bills of materials (BOMs), AVC enhances the end-to-end customer experience while streamlining operations across sales, engineering, and production. It is a key enabler for businesses aiming to offer personalized products without compromising efficiency or accuracy.
AVC helps companies manage complex product variants and configure-to-order (CTO) or engineer-to-order (ETO) scenarios in real-time. It enables seamless, accurate, and dynamic configuration of products with many possible combinations — all within a digital core powered by the speed of HANA.
Why is AVC Needed?
With increased customer expectations for individualized products, businesses face challenges in:
- Managing millions of product combinations
- Preventing invalid or contradictory configurations
- Handling real-time pricing, availability, and compatibility
- Enabling front-end sales tools like CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote)
- Providing instant feedback to customers during the order process
The classic VC model worked well in the past, but as businesses grow in complexity and scale, the need for a faster, scalable, and user-friendly system becomes critical. That’s exactly where AVC steps in.
Key Features of SAP S/4HANA AVC
Let’s explore the features that make AVC a game-changer:
1. High-Performance Engine
Built on SAP HANA, AVC leverages in-memory computing for ultra-fast processing of configurations. This ensures:
- Instant response times
- High scalability for complex models
- Support for millions of combinations
2. Advanced Constraint Modeling
AVC introduces constraint-based modeling, which allows you to define rules and dependencies more flexibly and intuitively using:
- Boolean logic
- Decision tables
- Declarative rule models
This results in better error handling and more accurate configurations.
3. Integration with SAP CPQ
AVC supports seamless integration with SAP Configure Price Quote (CPQ), enabling sales teams and customers to configure products in real time via web interfaces, with immediate price and delivery feedback.
4. Real-Time Simulation and Validation
AVC provides instant simulation of configuration results, including visual feedback, ensuring that customers and sales reps can test various combinations on the fly without causing inconsistencies or errors.
5. User-Friendly Interfaces
New and improved UI with Fiori apps allows for easier model maintenance and a more intuitive experience for users at all levels.
6. Multilevel and Modular Configuration
AVC supports multilevel BOMs, modular configuration, and reuse of models, which is vital for complex manufacturing like automotive or industrial equipment.
Benefits of Implementing AVC
SAP S/4HANA AVC doesn’t just upgrade a tool — it transforms your business capabilities. Here are the top benefits:
- By providing accurate configurations and pricing instantly, AVC shortens sales cycles and improves customer satisfaction.
- Thanks to constraint-based logic and validation, the likelihood of invalid or impossible configurations is significantly reduced.
- Customers love choices — and with AVC, you can confidently offer a wide range of options without overwhelming your internal systems.
- AVC enables better integration between sales, planning, and production, resulting in smoother operations and on-time delivery.
- Model creation and maintenance are more efficient, thanks to reusable logic, modularization, and visual modeling tools.
Classic VC vs. AVC: What’s the Difference?
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Performance
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Slower, not optimized for HANA
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In-memory, lightning-fast
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Limited
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Limited for very complex models
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High scalability for millions of combinations
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AVC in Real-World Industries
1. Manufacturing
Manufacturers use AVC to offer hundreds of customizable features, such as engine types, paint colors, and accessories, while ensuring valid configurations that can go directly to production.
2. Automotive
With hundreds of thousands of part combinations, AVC enables real-time customization of vehicles and supports seamless coordination between dealers, production plants, and suppliers.
3. Consumer Goods
Companies selling modular furniture or consumer electronics can provide flexible build-your-own experiences, powered by AVC’s dynamic pricing and availability logic.
4. Engineering and Construction
In Engineer-to-Order (ETO) industries, AVC helps handle project-specific BOMs and configurations tailored to individual projects, reducing rework and design errors.
How AVC Works: A Simplified Workflow
- Modeling: Engineers define configurable products, features, and rules using the AVC modeling environment.
- Configuration: Sales or customers select options via CPQ or Fiori apps.
- Validation: AVC engine ensures only valid combinations are selected.
- Pricing & Quote: Integration with pricing engine generates instant quotes.
- Order Processing: Configurations flow into production planning, BOM generation, and order fulfillment.
AVC and Fiori: The New User Experience
Multisoft’s SAP S/4HANA Advanced Variant Configuration (AVC) certification combined with SAP Fiori delivers a modern, intuitive user experience for managing complex product configurations. Fiori apps are designed with user-centric principles, offering a clean and responsive interface that simplifies the modeling, simulation, and maintenance of variant configuration models. Through applications like the Variant Configuration Modeling Environment (VCME) and Manage Configuration Models, users can easily define characteristics, set constraints, and simulate product combinations without the need for deep technical expertise. This enhances collaboration across departments and accelerates the time-to-market for configurable products. Fiori’s real-time data visualization and interactive elements allow sales teams, product managers, and engineers to make quick, informed decisions, reducing errors and improving efficiency. Additionally, the integration of AVC with Fiori ensures consistency across sales and production processes, ultimately leading to a seamless and error-free configuration experience. This fusion transforms traditional variant configuration into a more agile, scalable, and user-friendly system.
Migration from Classic VC to AVC
Transitioning from classic LO-VC to AVC involves:
- Model Evaluation: Assessing which models can be migrated as-is and which need adjustments.
- Data Mapping: Ensuring compatibility of characteristics, classes, BOMs, and routings.
- Tool Usage: SAP provides tools like Configuration Model Transfer to assist with migration.
- Testing & Simulation: Validating models in AVC before go-live.
- Training: Onboarding key users and modelers to the AVC environment.
It’s important to plan the migration carefully and leverage SAP best practices and tools.
Future of Variant Configuration with AVC
The future of variant configuration with SAP S/4HANA Advanced Variant Configuration (AVC) is geared towards greater intelligence, automation, and seamless integration across digital channels. As customer demand for personalized products continues to rise, AVC will evolve to support advanced features such as AI-driven configuration suggestions, real-time 3D visualization, and tighter integration with SAP Commerce Cloud and SAP CPQ. SAP’s roadmap for AVC also includes enhanced analytics, enabling businesses to gain deeper insights into configuration trends and customer preferences. With ongoing innovations, AVC will become more adaptive, allowing organizations to handle even more complex configuration scenarios with minimal effort. The focus will also shift towards more intuitive modeling tools and better user experiences through improved SAP Fiori apps. As a cornerstone of the digital product lifecycle, AVC is set to play a vital role in helping businesses stay competitive by delivering customized, error-free solutions faster and more efficiently in an increasingly dynamic market.
Final Thoughts
SAP S/4HANA Advanced Variant Configuration (AVC) is a future-ready solution for businesses offering configurable products. It empowers manufacturers to meet customer expectations with precision, speed, and scalability — all while reducing complexity and error.
If your organization is looking to transition from legacy variant configuration tools or aiming to support modern sales channels like CPQ and eCommerce, AVC is the answer. As customer-centricity continues to shape the future of manufacturing, having a powerful variant configuration engine like AVC is not just beneficial — it’s essential. Enroll in Multisoft Systems now!