Material Master Record
is a data record containing all the basic information required to manage a material in SAP
Examples of materials
- Goods
- SKUs
- Items
- Components
- Spare Parts
- Assemblies
Holds important data to support system activities such as
Procurement
Inventory
Planning
Data/Attributes stored in the Material Master include:
Descriptive texts
Units of measure
Reorder points
Accounting information
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The Material Master transaction allows the users to enter all of the information relevant to a particular item of material into the correct tables. The
Material Master isnt just a single file but a number of tables of information that combined reflect all of the information for that material.
Many tables are updated when information is entered into the Material Master transaction. The Material Master transaction is structured so that there are
entry screens for different functional information such as Purchasing, Sales, or Accounting, but there is also an organizational dimension to data entry.
The material information can be entered at each level of the organization, for example, at the levels of plant, storage location, or sales organization.
Material Master Records are represented at different organization levels (Purchasing Organization, Plant, Storage Location). For example:
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Global Data (Company Code):
Material Number
Descriptive Texts
Material Group
Units of Measure
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Data Valid for one Plant:
Purchasing Data
MRP parameters
Forecasting Data
Valuation
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Data Valid for a Storage Location:
Storage Bin
Picking area
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Numbering System
Numbering and Number Ranges:
A material number can have a maximum of 18 characters
Output to screen with or without leading zeros
A different number range can be assigned to different Material Types (e.g. 000001 to 009999 for office supplies, 010000 to 019999 for spares
etc).
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Number Range Intelligence:
Internally (SAP) Assigned Numbers (no intelligence): In this case, a number within the allowed number range interval is assigned by SAP
Externally Assigned Numbers (intelligent numbers): The user assigns a number within the allowed number range interval
Different number ranges for different material types or group of types
In standard SAP system one external number range and one internal number range can be defined for each Material Type or a group of Material
Types
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SAP recommends using internal number assignment! (since you can use matchcodes to select materials according to any desired criteria, it is not
normally necessary to use an intelligent external number)
Other Material Numbering Attributes:
Use of UNSPSC Codes as a material attribute
Use of Material Group and/or SAP Classification as an alternative identifier
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Recommend use of UNSPSC Classification Standard/Numbering Scheme
Why use UNSPSC?
analysis by drilling down or rolling up to analyze expenditures
spend analysis becomes very easy due to hierarchical structure (uniform view of all spend across enterprise)
Procurement can keep an eye on how much is spent buying what
Managers can run reports based on Material Segment, Family, Class
Spot buying patterns across departments or business units
Resource discovery- (identification of relevant suppliers for specific products and services)
Allows listing of similar products and services under a single category
Cost-effective procurement optimization
You can use Business Intelligence or Data Warehousing more effectively.
Full exploitation of electronic commerce capabilities
single global classification system, Uniformity Vendor/Vendee independent;
Eliminates confusion; Material description same across all geographies and languages
Easy and standardized searches
You can embed UNSPSC classification standards into your SAP system. As a result
All your documents (objects) across the organizations will have standard/intelligent numbering and descriptions (purchase orders, invoices,
electronic documents, product catalogues, websites)
All your Business Partners (vendors, service providers, customers etc) benefit by the use of same Material Classification system, #s and
descriptions
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UNSPSC is a hierarchical classification
XX Segment
XX Family
XX Class
XX Commodity
Short Text Field:
Long Text Description:
Are printed in PO (along with short text description) only when they are maintained in Material Master.
Not mandatory and used only when short text is not sufficient to describe or cannot accurately describe the material.
Unlimited length
Used to spell out all other attributes so that the vendor can ship right item.
Write it Generic-to-Specific ex. Airconditioners, Domestic, Split, 1.5T
