Which objects can be used to restrict the products released for a value contract in SAP S/4HANA?

In SAP S/4HANA, value contracts are agreements where customers commit to purchase a certain value of products or services over a specific period. To ensure that only the relevant products are made available for these contracts, specific restrictions can be applied.

Product hierarchies are particularly useful for this purpose. They allow organizations to categorize products systematically and can be used to filter or restrict the selection of goods that a customer can acquire under a value contract. By leveraging product hierarchies, companies can manage contracts at a more granular level, efficiently aligning product offerings with customer needs and contract terms.

While assortment modules, customer classifications, and vendor groups can play roles in broader sales and distribution strategies, they do not specifically restrict the product selection for value contracts in the same manner that product hierarchies do. Assortment modules generally pertain to managing product ranges across different channels, customer classifications help in segmenting customers for various sales strategies, and vendor groups relate more to supplier management and procurement processes rather than direct restrictions related to value contracts. Thus, product hierarchies emerge as the most appropriate mechanism for restricting the products in value contracts.