MM
MM Module
The MM (Material Management) module is used for managing materials, inventory, and warehouses. The most commonly used components are Master Data, Purchasing, and Inventory.
Plant
The organizational unit plant generally identifies production units or central warehouses that are relevant for planning purposes. The plant is, in fact, the organizational unit of reference for material management and planning. At the plant level, master data for bills of material (BOMs), routings, and work centers are defined.
A plant can be:
* a production facility
* a central delivery depot
* a regional sales office
* a company headquarters
Storage Location
The storage location is used to manage the flow and storage of materials in a diversified manner within the same plant. A storage location can correspond to a physical area (existing warehouse) or a logical area (virtual warehouse).
Purchasing Organization
The purchasing organization is the main organizational unit for Purchasing. It procures materials and services for one or more plants and defines general purchasing conditions with vendors. A purchasing organization can only be assigned to one company code.
* If a purchasing organization is linked to multiple plants, pricing can be valid for all plants, as price conditions are defined at the purchasing organization level.
* Purchasing authorization is often defined at the purchasing organization level.
Purchasing Group
The purchasing organization is structured into purchasing groups, identifiable with buyers, who are responsible for daily operational activities.
The Purchasing Group, in combination with the Material Group, constitutes the main selection parameter for standard extractions that can be performed in the SAP system, such as:
* List of purchase requisitions
* List of purchase orders
* List of info records
Info Record
Info records are the pieces of information that link a specific material to a vendor. The system suggests this pair during purchases. Information is inherited from the vendor and material master data, while the info record additionally indicates dunning days (if any). They serve as a guide to help choose which vendor to purchase from and can be automatically created/updated from the purchase order.
Source List
A source list, like an info record, creates a material/vendor link. With a source list, the vendor is fixed for a specific material during the automatic creation of orders, delivery schedules, and scheduling agreements. Besides indicating who to buy a material from, it can also be used to indicate who not to buy a specific item from.
Purchasing Flow
The purchasing flow can be:
* Manual: A purchase requisition is generated, then converted into a purchase order upon confirmation. A request for quotation (RFQ) might also occur between these two steps. If a vendor is already known, you can proceed directly with the purchase order.
* Automatic: MRP creates the purchase requisition, which is then converted into an order, enabling Goods Receipt (GR).
Purchase Requisition
A procedure by which users or departments can request the purchase of goods or services. It can be generated by MRP. Useful only for the purchasing department. It is not an official document.
They must be released.
Request for Quotation (RFQ)
This is a market research: a request for quotation is sent to one or more vendors. It has a deadline by which the vendor must report the price and confirm if they can supply the material within the specified time. The RFQ can be created directly from a purchase requisition or a contract.
They must be released.
Purchase Order
The purchase order is a legal and binding document. It can be created from a PR, RFQ, Contract, or directly independently. The purchasing department must be authorized before release. The order can be released by 'n' people in sequence: if it requires confirmations from multiple users, it can be restricted via customizing. Scheduling agreements can be configured for each item in the purchase order.
Delivery Schedule
This is an agreement between the purchasing department and a vendor. It is considered a binding purchase order. It has a start and end validity date indicated for a specific vendor. It can contain schedules created separately. It can be created automatically by the system.
Contract
The contract is an agreement between the purchasing department and a vendor. It can be value-based or quantity-based, depending on the type of purchase desired. It can be created from a PR or an RFQ. However, it is still necessary to create a purchase order as the contract itself does not have legal validity.
Customizing can be used to block purchasing in case of excess. If not all is purchased by the deadline, a debit memo is opened to compensate the vendor for the missing value.
Goods Receipt (GR)
Generating a goods receipt requires a posting date and a delivery note: a numerical code noted on the delivery note. If you enter the purchase order during creation, MIGO retrieves all the data. Once the data is entered, a tab opens to indicate the quantity received (as not all items may arrive). Set the flag to confirm that the goods receipt has been performed.
MIRO Invoice
An invoice created from a Purchase Order or a Delivery Note: in the first case, it proposes the order items with the total quantity received without indicating the individual deliveries; in the second case, it details the different deliveries with the quantity not yet invoiced.