You are looking for every high-criticality 24V piece of equipment in SAP. Every batch with a viscosity between 200 and 250. Every premium customer in a specific geographic area. If classification has never been set up on those objects, you fall back on SE16N extracts and rough Excel joins. If it has been set up, two clicks in CL30N and the list comes out. The difference between findable data and invisible data sometimes comes down to a single Customizing transaction nobody bothered to open at the start of the project.
SAP classification is exactly that: the cross-application layer that lets you attach business properties to any object in the system (material, batch, equipment, customer, production order, document) and then retrieve them by their values. This article covers the fundamentals of the topic for a consultant who has never opened CT04 or CL02, without getting into class hierarchies or variant configuration (which deserve their own articles).
- A characteristic (transaction
CT04) is a configurable field with its allowed values. A class (transactionCL01) is a grouping of characteristics for a given object type. - The class type determines the SAP object the class can classify: 001 material, 002 equipment, 022 batch by plant, 023 batch by material, 200 configurable, etc. SAP delivers 90+ standard types.
- Once the class is assigned to an object, you maintain the characteristic values on the object record. And you can retrieve every object that matches a criterion via
CL30N. - Classification feeds other SAP mechanisms: batch determination consumes batch characteristics, variant configuration uses class types 200/300, EWM merchandising relies on product characteristics.
What is classification in SAP?
Classification is a cross-application mechanism in SAP that lets you describe a business object (material, batch, equipment, customer, contract, document, production order) with a set of properties called characteristics. These characteristics are grouped into a class, and the class is linked to the object via the relevant transaction.
The image that works well: think of a configurable identity card. You decide what appears on the card (characteristics), you group the cards by category (classes), you stick the card on an object (assignment), and you can then search for every object whose card matches a criterion (CL30N).
Classification is documented officially in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud documentation on classification. It has existed since SAP R/3 and remains central in S/4HANA, with no break in paradigm.
The trio: characteristic, class, classified object
Characteristic
- Building block: a field plus its allowed values
- Format: numeric, text, date, time, monetary, currency
- Example:
Z_VOLTAGEwith allowed values 12, 24, 48, 230 V - Transaction:
CT04(create)
Class
- Container: a grouping of characteristics
- Tied to a class type (001 material, 002 equipment, etc.)
- Example:
Z_EQUIPEMENT_ELECwith voltage + criticality + model - Transaction:
CL01(create)
SAP characteristic: the building block (CT04)
A characteristic is created in CT04. There you define the internal name (prefixed with Z in the customer namespace), the format of the accepted data, the allowed values and the status. Five main steps:
-
1Launch CT04 and name the characteristic
Enter an internal name in the Z namespace, for example
Z_VOLTAGE. Click Create. -
2Basic Data tab
Short description (label), characteristic group (optional), data format (numeric, character, date, time, currency), number of positions and decimals where applicable.
-
3Values tab (optional)
Define a list of allowed values (12, 24, 48, 230) or leave it open. You can add alternative labels per language. Tick “Multiple-value characteristic” if the object can take several values at the same time.
-
4Restrictions tab (optional)
Limit the use of the characteristic to certain class types. If the characteristic is used only for equipment, restricting it to type 002 prevents future classifiers from using it by mistake on other object types.
-
5Save and release
The “Released” status makes the characteristic usable in classes. Without release, the characteristic stays in draft and cannot be assigned. Later change:
CT05. Display:CT06. List:CT10. Where-used:CT12.
The video below shows the full creation of a characteristic in CT04, screen by screen:
SAP class: grouping the characteristics (CL01)
A class is a container: you attach one or more characteristics to it to describe an object type. Each class is associated with a class type that determines the SAP object it can classify (material, batch, equipment, etc., we come back to this below).
-
1Launch CL01 and choose the class type
Enter the class name (for example
Z_EQUIPEMENT_ELEC) and the class type (002 for equipment). Click Create. -
2Basic Data tab
Description, status (1 = Released, 2 = Locked), validity dates, default class yes or no.
-
3Characteristics tab
List the characteristics attached to the class (created beforehand in CT04). Define the display order, the default values, and whether each characteristic is mandatory or not.
-
4Save
The class is usable as soon as it is in Released status. Change:
CL02. Display:CL03. Deletion:CL04. Where-used:CL6P.
The same logic in video, on transaction CL01:
To go further on the attributes of classes and characteristics, the SAP Learning journey on Characteristics and Classes covers the advanced options (inheritance, restrictions, multiple values).
Class types: one application area per object
The class type determines which SAP object the class can classify. SAP delivers around 90 standard types, but 8 cover most cases in practice:
| Type | SAP object | Typical use case |
|---|---|---|
| 001 | Material | Product characteristics: color, dimensions, brand, marketing segment |
| 002 | Equipment | Voltage, criticality, model, vendor, warranty (PM/EAM) |
| 003 | Functional location | Location, business function, installed capacity |
| 010 | Customer master record | Segment, geographic area, risk profile, sales channel |
| 022 | Batch by plant | SLED, viscosity, vendor quality certificate, campaign number |
| 023 | Batch by material or customer | Same as 022 but different granularity (see SAP batch management guide) |
| 200 | Configurable material | Variant configuration: product configuration rules at order entry |
| 300 | Variants | Commercial variants of a configurable material |
The two types exist for historical reasons of granularity. Type 022 links a batch to a plant, type 023 to a material and customer pair (a different master data logic). On a greenfield project in S/4HANA, the SAP Batch Classification documentation recommends locking the choice before go-live. It is tied to the OMCT Customizing detailed in the batch management guide.
Assigning an object to a class and entering the values
Once the class is created, you can link it to an object of its type. For a piece of equipment for example, open the equipment record (IE02), go to Extras then Classification, choose the class Z_EQUIPEMENT_ELEC, enter voltage = 24, criticality = high, save. The batch, the material, the customer follow the same logic with their own master record transaction.
A few cross-application transactions useful for managing assignment:
CL20N: assigning objects to classes (view by class)CL24N: assigning a single object to several classes (view by object)CLMM: mass change of characteristic values across a set of objects
Searching for objects by characteristic: CL30N
The main value of classification reveals itself at search time. CL30N lets you query SAP with a business criterion: “every piece of equipment in class Z_EQUIPEMENT_ELEC with voltage = 24 and criticality = high”. The result is immediate, without having to cross dozens of technical tables.
-
1Launch CL30N
Enter the class to query (for example
Z_EQUIPEMENT_ELEC) and its class type (002). -
2Enter the filter criteria
SAP displays the characteristics attached to the class. Enter the desired values or ranges (voltage = 24, criticality = “High”). You can leave some fields empty for partial searches.
-
3Execute
F8. SAP returns the list of objects that match. For equipment, double-clicking opens the record in
IE03. For batches, it opensMSC3N.
On the 2020 pharma project mentioned in the intro, this is exactly the mechanism that pulled the list of high-criticality 24V equipment in two clicks. The fact that the objects had been classified upstream is what makes the query possible. Without classification, you fall back on SE16N extracts of technical tables, Excel joins, and guesswork.
And beyond: class hierarchies and variant configuration
Two advanced mechanisms build on classification but fall outside the scope of this article. Class hierarchies let a child class inherit the characteristics of a parent class, useful for complex product taxonomies (for example Clothing > Men’s clothing > Men’s trousers). Variant configuration (LO-VC) uses class types 200 and 300 to configure a product at order entry with dependency rules between characteristics. If you work on a configurable product such as a tire or a vehicle, the production version and the variant class work hand in hand.
SAP classification is one of those mechanisms every consultant meets early but rarely configures in depth. The learning curve is short, the business benefits are immediate: multi-criteria search in two clicks, master data qualification, feeding downstream mechanisms such as batch determination or variant configuration. If your client complains that SAP cannot find data they know is in there, check first whether classification exists on the object type concerned. Nine times out of ten, the answer is no.
Frequently asked questions
What is classification in SAP?
Classification is a cross-application mechanism in SAP that lets you attach business properties (called characteristics) to any object in the system: material, batch, equipment, customer, production order, document. You group these properties into a class, you link the class to the object, and you can then retrieve the objects that match a criterion via transaction CL30N.
What is the difference between a class and a characteristic in SAP?
A characteristic is the building block: a configurable field with its allowed values (for example voltage = 12, 24, 48, 230 V). A class is a container that groups several characteristics for a given object type (for example an electrical equipment class with voltage, criticality and model). Characteristics are created in CT04, classes in CL01.
What is transaction CT04 used for?
CT04 is used to create a characteristic: internal name, description, data format (numeric, character, date), allowed values and status. Once released (Released status), the characteristic can be attached to one or more classes. To change it afterwards, use CT05. To display it, CT06.
What are the main SAP class types?
SAP delivers around 90 standard class types, but 8 cover the majority of cases in practice: 001 material, 002 equipment (see SAP PM preventive maintenance guide), 003 functional location, 010 customer master record, 022 batch by plant, 023 batch by material or customer, 200 configurable material and 300 variants. The class type is chosen when the class is created in CL01 and conditions the SAP object the class can classify.
How do I search for a batch with specific characteristics in SAP?
Launch transaction CL30N, enter the batch class to query (for example Z_LOT_PHARMA, type 022 or 023) and the criteria in the characteristic fields (viscosity = 240, vendor = X, SLED after a date). SAP returns the list of batches that match. The double-click opens the batch record via MSC3N. For general context on batches, see the beginner’s guide to SAP batch management.
Do you need to activate classification to use batch determination?
Yes for selection by batch characteristic. Batch determination uses a search procedure that can filter on the characteristic values attached to the batch class (type 022 or 023). Without active classification, batch determination can still work on simple rules such as FIFO or nearest expiration, but selections by business criterion require classification. See our batch determination configuration guide for the full setup.
Is SAP classification the same thing as variant configuration?
No. Variant configuration (LO-VC) does use class types 200 and 300 to configure a product at order entry with dependency rules between characteristics, but classification in the broad sense covers 90+ different SAP object types (material, batch, equipment, customer, etc.). You can activate classification without ever using variant configuration. The reverse is not true: variant configuration necessarily relies on classification.
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