Master Data in SAP MM

Master data in SAP MM is the building block of all the logistics business processes. It not only affects MM processes but also PM, QM, SD, FICO, PS and EHS module business processes. There are ten key master data in SAP MM.

SAP MM master data list

Master data are necessary for all the MM business processes. There are ten important master data objects in SAP MM. All the Logistics modules uses Material master therefore its quality must be good.

1. Material Master (Product in S4 HANA)
2. Vendor Master (Business Partner)
3. Service Master
4. Purchase Info Record
5. Condition Master
6. Source List
7. Quota Arrangement
8. Class
9. Characteristics
10. Characteric values

Consulting Tips and recommendations

In a full life cycle implementation project master data plays a critical role. Poor designing of master data and its nomenclature can totally ruin the show. If you load garbage in system, system will throw garbage. You must take care of following tips while designing master data with business:

1. Material Master designing is a joint activity between MM, SD, QM, FICO, PP, PM and EHS.
2. Business Partner is introduced in SAP S4 HANA. It represents vendor master data. Vendor master design is a joint activity between MM and FI.
3. Nomenclature of Material Master, Service Master and Vendor master id and their description should
   • For ex: First 2 characters of material master should indicate material type such as Raw material, spare part or semi finished material. The next character can indicate its Function. Such as it is Air Circuit Breaker, Pump, Shocker, etc. Similarly you can decide the nomenclature of vendor master and service master. But you must do thorough study of master data before giving any recommendation. As per scope of project this activity can be done by client. You can only give consultation by showing examples.
4. Recommend client to develop a Material Cataloguing tools for generating material number.
5. Finalize the Material type at the beginning of the blue print phase. So that purpose of each material type is clear to client. This will help them to prepare material master data in a correct form. Many times its has been observed that client gets confused between different material types.
6. Procedure to create the master data post go live must be defined during implementation itself. Responsible person at client side must be identified and all templates must be in place.
7. Do not forget to ask for material or vendor description in client local language.
   • For ex: If you are working for a German client then client may ask to enable master data uploading program to handle multiple languages such as German, Dutch etc.

Master Data Dependency

Dependency of SAP MM master data includes the other data which must be in place before we upload SAP MM related master data. Please refer below table to understand the dependency:

S. No.	Master Data in SAP MM	Dependency on other master data
1	Characterisitcs	Unit of Measurement (UoM)
2	Class	Characteristics
3	Business Partner (Vendor or Supplier)	GL Account
4	Material Master	Profit Center, UoM,
5	Service Master
6	Purchase Info Record	Material master, Vendor (Supplier)
7	Condition Master	Material master, Vendor,
8	Source List	Purchase Info Record, Material, Vendor
9	Quota Arrangement	Purchase Info Record, Material, Vendor
10	Characterisitc values	Class, Characterisitcs, Material Master. It depends upon where we are assigning the characterisitc values.