A comprehensive guide to understanding, configuring, and utilizing additional vendor data maintenance levels in S/4HANA
In SAP S/4HANA, vendor master data management provides flexibility through a hierarchical structure of data maintenance levels. This allows organizations to configure vendor relationships with the appropriate level of granularity to meet business requirements.
Before we explore the additional data maintenance levels, let's understand the standard hierarchy in S/4HANA vendor master data:
Contains basic vendor information that applies across the entire organization, including name, address, identification numbers, and classification data. In S/4HANA, this is maintained at the Business Partner level.
Contains financial and accounting information specific to each company code, including payment terms, reconciliation accounts, and tax information. This data is relevant for financial transactions.
Contains procurement-related information specific to each purchasing organization, including order currencies, terms of delivery, and incoterms. This data governs how purchasing transactions are handled.
The standard hierarchy follows an inheritance model. General data applies to all company codes, and company code data applies to all purchasing organizations within that company code. This allows for efficient data maintenance while providing flexibility when needed.
Beyond the standard levels, S/4HANA offers two additional ways to maintain vendor-specific data for more specialized scenarios:
Allows you to maintain vendor data specific to individual plants. This extends the standard hierarchy to provide plant-specific settings when vendors interact differently with different plants.
Plant-level data is location-centric, focusing on how vendor relationships vary based on which plant is receiving goods or services.
Allows you to maintain data for categories of materials from the same vendor. This enables you to define different settings based on material categories rather than organizational units.
Vendor subrange is material-centric, focusing on how vendor relationships vary based on what types of materials are being sourced.
Both Plant Level Data and Vendor Subrange (VSR) are optional configurations. They provide additional flexibility for specific business scenarios but are not required for standard procurement processes. They should only be implemented when the standard hierarchy doesn't provide sufficient granularity.
Understanding when to use each additional data level is crucial for effective vendor master data management:
Now that we have a broad understanding of these additional data levels, let's explore each one in detail.
Plant Level Data extends the vendor master data hierarchy by allowing you to define plant-specific settings for vendors. This additional level provides more granular control when vendor requirements or specifications vary by plant.
Plant Level Data is vendor master information that is maintained specifically for a particular plant. It allows you to define different parameters for the same vendor based on which plant is involved in the transaction.
Think of it as asking: "How does this vendor interact differently with Plant A versus Plant B?"
There are several scenarios where plant-level data becomes essential for accurate procurement processes:
When a vendor's ability to deliver varies based on the plant location. For example, a vendor might deliver to a nearby plant in 5 days, but require 10 days for a plant in a remote location.
When payment terms need to vary by region or country where the plant is located. For instance, different banking regulations or currency considerations might necessitate different payment terms.
When orders from different plants need to be sent to different addresses or contacts within the vendor's organization, such as specialized ordering addresses for different regions.
When a vendor has different technical integration capabilities with different plants. For example, EDI connections might be established with one plant but not others.
Vendor V1 supplies materials to two plants:
By maintaining plant-level data, you can set different planned delivery times for each plant, ensuring accurate scheduling and MRP calculations.
Vendor V1 has different payment terms requirements based on plant location:
Plant-level data allows you to configure these different payment terms specifically for each plant.
Vendor V1 has established different technical integrations for different plants:
Plant-level data enables you to configure the confirmation control settings differently for each plant.
S/4HANA allows you to maintain numerous fields at the plant level. Here are some of the most commonly used ones:
Field | Description | Business Impact |
---|---|---|
Planned Delivery Time | Number of days required for delivery to this plant | Affects scheduling, MRP calculations, and delivery date determination |
Payment Terms | Payment conditions specific to this plant | Determines payment scheduling for invoices from this plant |
Incoterms | Delivery and freight terms for this plant | Defines shipping responsibilities and costs |
Order Currency | Currency used for this plant's orders | Especially useful when plants are in different countries |
Minimum Order Value | Minimum purchase amount for this plant | Prevents small orders that may be inefficient for certain locations |
GR-Based Invoice Verification | Whether invoice verification requires goods receipt for this plant | Controls invoice processing workflow |
Confirmation Control | How order confirmations are handled for this plant | Determines if and how confirmations are processed |
MRP Controller | Person responsible for material planning at this plant | Routes planning-related communications |
Beyond purchasing data fields, you can also define different partner functions at the plant level. This is particularly useful when different plants need to interact with different addresses or contacts within the same vendor organization.
A vendor has multiple facilities or ordering addresses:
By defining partner functions at the plant level, the system automatically selects the correct ordering address based on which plant is creating the purchase order. This eliminates manual selection and reduces errors.
When plant-level data is maintained, the system prioritizes it over data maintained at the purchasing organization level. This means that if both levels have data defined, the plant-level data will take precedence when a transaction involves that specific plant.
Vendor Subrange (VSR) provides a different dimension of data maintenance by allowing you to group materials from the same vendor into categories and maintain specific data for each category. This approach is particularly useful when handling vendors who supply various types of products with different terms and conditions.
A Vendor Subrange (VSR) is a logical grouping of materials from a single vendor that share common attributes, conditions, or business rules. It allows you to define and maintain data for categories of materials rather than for individual plants.
Think of it as asking: "How do the terms differ when we purchase paints versus chemicals from this vendor?"
The concept of Vendor Subrange originated in retail industry applications, but has been expanded for use in any industry where material categories from the same vendor need different handling.
There are several compelling reasons to implement Vendor Subrange in your S/4HANA system:
When a vendor supplies different categories of materials with different delivery times, pricing, or terms based on the material type rather than delivery location.
Instead of maintaining data for hundreds of individual materials, you can maintain it once for an entire category, significantly reducing maintenance workload.
When different material categories from the same vendor come from different warehouse locations or departments, requiring different partner functions.
When you want to group similar materials together in purchase orders for better readability and efficiency in order processing.
Vendor V1 supplies both paints and chemicals to your company:
Instead of maintaining these differences at the plant level (which wouldn't work if all plants experience the same difference by material type) or maintaining individual info records for hundreds of materials, you can create two vendor subranges: one for paints and one for chemicals.
Vendor V1 has different payment term requirements based on the type of product:
Vendor subranges allow you to maintain different payment terms based on material category regardless of which plant is ordering.
Vendor V1 offers different discount structures for different product categories:
Using vendor subranges, you can define these discount conditions once for each category rather than configuring them for each individual material, significantly reducing maintenance effort.
Benefit | Description | Business Impact |
---|---|---|
Reduced Maintenance | Maintain data once for an entire category instead of for each material | Lower administrative effort, fewer errors, more consistent data |
Material-Specific Terms | Define different business rules based on material categories | More accurate reflection of vendor relationships by material type |
Simplified Pricing | Apply pricing conditions at the subrange level | Easier maintenance of category-specific discounts and pricing |
Purchase Order Organization | Group similar materials together in purchase orders | More logical organization of items for better vendor processing |
Consistency Across Materials | Ensure uniform settings for all materials in a category | Standardized processes and reduced exceptions |
One additional benefit of vendor subranges is the ability to define sorting criteria for purchase orders through "Sort Numbers". This allows you to control how materials appear in purchase order documents.
When creating a purchase order with mixed items from different categories, you might want them grouped logically:
By assigning sort numbers to your subranges (e.g., Paints = Sort 01, Chemicals = Sort 02), the system will automatically organize the materials in the purchase order document, making it more structured and easier for the vendor to process.
Vendor Subranges can be linked to purchasing info records, enabling you to assign materials to specific subranges. This creates the connection between individual materials and their respective categories.
When vendor subrange data is maintained, the system prioritizes it over data maintained at the purchasing organization level. If both plant-level data and subrange data exist, the system typically prioritizes plant-level data first, then subrange data, and finally purchasing organization data.
Understanding the differences between Plant Level Data and Vendor Subrange is crucial for determining which approach to use in specific business scenarios. Let's compare these two additional data maintenance levels across various dimensions.
Aspect | Plant Level Data | Vendor Subrange (VSR) |
---|---|---|
Primary Focus | Location-specific differences | Material category-specific differences |
Business Question | "How does this vendor work differently with Plant A vs. Plant B?" | "How do terms differ for paints vs. chemicals from this vendor?" |
Key Identifier | Plant (e.g., P1, P2) | Subrange ID (e.g., PAINTS, CHEMICALS) |
Activation Field | Plant Relevant checkbox | VSR Relevant checkbox |
Best For | Different delivery times, payment terms for different plants | Different terms for different product categories |
Applies To | All materials delivered to a specific plant | Specific category of materials regardless of plant |
Number of Entries | One per plant (typically few) | One per material category (can be many) |
Maintenance Effort | Lower (fewer plants than material categories) | Higher initially, but saves effort compared to individual info records |
Pricing Impact | Limited direct impact on pricing | Can define conditions and discounts by category |
In some complex business scenarios, you might need to use both Plant Level Data and Vendor Subrange together to address different dimensions of variability in vendor relationships.
Vendor V1 supplies both paints and chemicals to your Plant A and Plant B:
This combination gives you the flexibility to handle both location-specific and material-specific variations.
When both Plant Level Data and Vendor Subrange are used, the system typically follows this priority sequence:
This means that plant-specific settings will override subrange settings, which in turn override purchasing organization settings.
When deciding between Plant Level Data and Vendor Subrange (or using both), consider these practical factors:
Consider how many plants versus how many material categories you have. If you have few plants but many material categories, Plant Level Data might be more efficient to maintain.
Determine whether location-specific or material-specific variations are more critical for your business processes. Focus on the dimension that has the most impact.
Consider who will maintain the data and how frequently it needs to be updated. Choose the approach that aligns with your maintenance capabilities.
Be mindful that excessive use of additional data levels can impact system performance. Implement only what is necessary for your business requirements.
This section provides detailed, step-by-step instructions for implementing both Plant Level Data and Vendor Subrange in your S/4HANA system.
First, you need to mark the vendor as plant-relevant in the general data:
Navigate to the area where you can create plant-specific data:
Note that both Plant Level Data and Vendor Subrange are maintained in the same area of the system, under the "Vendor Subranges" tab.
Create a new entry for the specific plant:
Enter the plant-specific details for this vendor:
Only maintain the fields that actually differ for this plant. For other fields, the system will use the values from the standard hierarchy.
Save your plant-specific data:
Navigate to the Vendor Subranges area as before
Create a new entry for the specific plant:
Specify which partner functions should be used for this plant:
Save your plant-specific partner functions:
First, mark the vendor as VSR-relevant in the general data:
Navigate to the vendor subranges area:
Create a new subrange for a category of materials:
Choose meaningful subrange IDs that clearly indicate the material category (e.g., PAINTS, CHEM) to make maintenance easier.
Enter the data specific to this material category:
Only maintain the fields that actually differ for this material category. For other fields, the system will use the values from the standard hierarchy.
Save your subrange-specific data:
After creating vendor subranges, you need to assign materials to these subranges through info records.
Go to the purchasing info record:
Link the info record to the appropriate vendor subrange:
Save your changes to the info record:
If you need to assign many materials to vendor subranges, consider using mass maintenance tools or creating a custom program to update multiple info records. Manually updating each info record can be time-consuming for large material portfolios.
Implementing Plant Level Data and Vendor Subrange effectively requires careful planning and adherence to best practices. Here are recommendations to maximize the value of these features in your S/4HANA environment.
Use plant level data and vendor subranges only when the standard data maintenance levels aren't sufficient for your needs. Unnecessary complexity can lead to maintenance challenges.
Maintain clear documentation of which vendors use plant level data or subranges and why. This ensures consistent application and helps with knowledge transfer.
Ensure that materials management and procurement teams understand the concepts and know when to apply plant level data versus vendor subranges.
Regularly review your plant level and subrange configurations to ensure they still align with your business processes and vendor relationships.
When using both features together, be strategic about which data to maintain at each level. Avoid unnecessary duplication or complexity that could lead to maintenance challenges.
While plant level data and vendor subranges provide valuable flexibility, they can impact system performance if not implemented carefully:
Creating too many plant-specific entries or subranges can increase data volume and potentially impact performance. Implement only where there is clear business value.
Periodically review and remove unused or outdated plant level data and subranges to maintain optimal system performance.
Keep track of how many vendors use plant level data and subranges, and monitor the growth of this data over time to ensure it remains manageable.
Include plant level data and subrange configurations in your archiving strategy for vendor master data to manage data volume over time.
Implementing additional data levels requires effective change management to ensure successful adoption:
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