SAP Transaction Code for: IAA Enter Other Periods

SAP Transaction Code: KB27

Report used to generate KB27 is: SAPMK23B

Goods Receipt Forecast Reporting in Purchasing MM

Use

This analysis allows you to determine the number of anticipated deliveries (e.g. for each plant on a certain date). This data, and data on volumes and gross/net weights, enables you to schedule your Goods Receiving manpower more effectively.

Features

You can aggregate (summarize) the information at the following levels:

• General overview
• Per day
• Per hour
• Per document (e.g. purchase order)

Activities

1. To display the expected deliveries, choose Purchase order ® Analyses ® GR forecast.
2. Enter the necessary data and choose Program ® Execute.

You get an overview of expected goods receipts in accordance with the chosen aggregation level.

Inbound deliveries against shipping notifications are not taken into account because this would have a detrimental influence on system performance.

Analysis of Order Values Reporting in Purchasing MM

Use

This section describes analysis options available in the system.

• Totals analysis
• ABC analysis
• Analysis using comparison periods
• Frequency analysis

You can choose one of the four options, combine several of the analyses, or use all the options in one analysis.

Features

Running an Analysis of Order Values

You invoke all four of the above analyses as follows:

1. Choose Purchase order
® Reporting ® Order value analysis.
2. Enter your selection criteria and press ENTER.

The screen is subdivided into four parts. The first is the totals analysis part. However, it also contains the fields for the sort and output sequence to which the other three analyses refer.

To run voluminous analyses in the background, you must create a variant. In this variant, you must delete the Interactive analysis indicator. All results of the analysis are then printed successively in a list.

In the left part of the screen you can specify the totaling (summary) levels:

• Purchasing organization
• Purchasing group
• Vendor
• Plant
• Material group
• Material

In the part of the screen to the right, you specify which values (e.g. net order value) you wish to have, and the sequence in which they are to be displayed in the list.

Totals Analysis

Totals analysis affords you an overview of the value and number of POs.

Procedure

To run a totals analysis, proceed as follows:

1. Choose Purchase order
® Reporting ® Order value analysis. The initial screen for order value analysis appears. Maintain the data.
2. Choose Edit
® Selection options
3. Specify the sort sequence. For example:

– Purchasing organization 1

– Plant 2

– Material 3

4. In the part of the screen on the right, enter the values you wish to have for the specified criteria. For example:

– Net order value 1

– Average value per PO 2

5. Run the analysis.

You will obtain a list of all materials ordered for a plant, the net order value, and the average value per PO. Below this, the following data is displayed for each plant and purchasing organization:

• Total net order value
• Total average value per PO

ABC Analysis

The ABC analysis is used for classifying vendors or materials by order value. The ABC indicator has the following characteristics:

A Percentage with a high order value.

B Percentage with a medium order value.

C Percentage with a low order value.

The ABC analysis allows you, for example, to determine the relative importance of the individual vendors in your vendor base. It provides you with an overview of any changes that may occur in your relationships with vendors.

Procedure

To run an ABC analysis, proceed as follows:

1. Choose Purchase order
® Analyses ® Order value analysis to display the initial screen of the order value analysis. Maintain the data.
2. Choose Edit
® Selection options.
3. The ABC analysis pertains to the organizational level that you have marked in the upper left part of the screen with
1.

For example, select the Vendor field by entering 1 in the uppermost left-hand part of the screen.

4. In the right-hand part of the screen for the ABC analysis, select the value according to which the analysis is to be carried out. You can select one of the following values:

– Net order value

– Average value per purchase order

– Number of purchase orders

On the right, select the Net order value field, for example.

5. Run the analysis. It will provide you with the totals list of the vendors.
6. Choose Goto
® ABC analysis to display the ABC analysis.

The default value distribution for ABC analyses is 70-20-10 percent. The system adds the net order values of the vendors in descending order until 70 percent of the total order value is exceeded. This group of vendors is classified in the MM Purchasing component as "A" vendors.

The addition is continued until a further 20% of the total order value has been exceeded. This group is classified as "B" vendors.

The vendors accounting for the remaining 10 percent of total order value are the "C" vendors.

The % shr. column shows the vendors’ share of the total order value. These shares are added together in the Cum. % shr. column.

Analysis Using Comparison Periods

This analysis allows you to easily detect changes in purchasing activities. For example, you can determine how much was ordered from which vendor by which purchasing organization or purchasing group, and by how much the total order value of one period differs from that of a comparison period

In this analysis, you can display all the data that you previously displayed in the totals analysis.

Procedure

To compare two periods, proceed as follows:

1. Choose Purchase order
® Analyses ® Order value analysis to display the initial screen of the order value analysis. Maintain the data.
2. Choose Edit
® Selection options.
3. Enter the two periods you wish to compare in the Order date 1 from - to and Order date 2 from - to fields.

Fast entry:

You can enter the dates for the following comparisons particularly quickly because the system sets the missing dates on the basis of one date specification:

– Comparison of years

– Comparison of the first half of a year with the second half

You can overwrite the dates set by the system.

If you enter one date in the Order date 1 to or Order date 2 from fields, the system sets the remaining dates automatically.

4. Enter the date 06.30.98 in the field Order date 1 to, for example. The system then sets the dates for a half-year comparison:

– 01.01.98 - 06.30.98

– 07.01.98 - 12.31.98

5. Choose Program
® Execute® Goto ® Comparison of periods. The system will generate an overview of the relevant purchase orders.

You can also compare overlapping periods (for example, 01.01. - 03.31. : 03.01 - 05.31).

Frequency Analysis

Use this analysis to determine which net order values most frequently occur for which purchasing organizations.

The frequency analysis can be used as a basis for negotiations with vendors. For example, you may find that you have issued many individual purchase orders with a value greater than $2000 to vendor X, and an individual percentage quantity discount would be more favorable than the existing period-end rebate based on total business volume over a period.

Procedure

To run a frequency analysis, proceed as follows:

1. Choose Purchase order
® Reporting ® Order value analysis to display the initial screen of the order value analysis. Maintain the data.
2. Choose Edit
® Selection options.
3. For example, enter the following intervals in the fields Net value 1 to 4:

– Net value 1 to 500

– Net value 2 to 1000

– Net value 3 to 2000

– Net value 4 to 5000

4. Run the analysis. The totals list appears.
5. Choose Goto
® Frequencies to have the system calculate how often these PO values occur.

General Analyses Reporting in Purchasing MM

Use

This section describes the analyses you can create, how you define the layout of the information in the list yourself by making certain settings, and how to actually run the analysis.

Purpose of General Analyses

You can run analyses of certain purchasing documents and create various sum totals. For example, you can determine the order value for a single material over a certain period, or which purchasing organization is responsible for the largest portion of the total order value for all materials.

You can determine the layout and content of your analysis yourself through the line items and totals display.

To do so, proceed as follows:

• Select criteria for the analysis
• Define the list display by making the appropriate settings
• Run the analysis

Activities

To generate an analysis, proceed as follows:

1. Choose Purchase order
® Reporting ® General analyses. A screen allowing you to enter the following main selection criteria appears:

– Vendor

– Material

– Material group

– Purchasing group

2. Enter a vendor and a purchasing organization and choose which of the following purchasing documents the system is to analyze:

– Purchase orders

– Contracts

– Scheduling agreements

– Requests for quotation

In the Document date from and Document date to fields, you can limit the period to be analyzed (for example, October 20 - 22).

If you select the W/o material field, the system selects only the items that do not contain a material number.

Choose Settings ® List begins with to obtain a box in which you can specify whether all the documents determined by the system are displayed individually or in total.

With Edit ® Choose you can access a box containing additional selection fields.

You can determine the nature of the list display as described under "Settings".

3. Press
ENTER to display the basic list of all purchase orders issued to the vendor in the specified period.

Settings

You can determine the content and layout of your list with the aid of the Settings menu and its submenus Line structure (line layout), Line structure totals, and Totals variants.

As a rule, your system administrator predefines certain standard settings. If you need other settings, please contact this person.

Line Structure

To choose a line structure (this may also be referred to as the "line layout") for your list choose Settings ® Display variant. A box containing standard line structure variants appears. Depending which settings have been predefined by your system administrator, you can choose, for example, whether or not to have the following lines displayed:

• Document header and item data
• one-line
• two-line
• Schedule lines for items
• Purchase order (PO) history

List Display

Before running the analysis, you can check your settings by choosing Settings ® Display format.

Creating Totals, Sorting, and Searching

This section explains how to create totals from the basic list in order, for example, to compare various purchasing organizations with each other.

It also describes how to sort a list and search for specific data in the list

Procedure

To create totals, proceed as follows:

1. Choose Edit
® Total from the basic list (individual display). A dialog box with the following totaling options appears:

– Sum total per purchasing group

– Sum total per purchasing document number

– Sum total per material

– Sum total per vendor

– Sum total per material group

2. Position the cursor on Purchasing group totals and press
ENTER. This gives you the totals per purchasing group.

Via Edit ® Preview, you can display the purchase orders together with the result of the summation.

3. You have the option of displaying the list with the various subtotals. To do so, choose Goto
® List+subtotals. You will obtain the subtotals for individual purchasing groups.

Sort
You can sort the data in the basic list in different ways. Choose Edit ® Sort and select the desired sort fields in the box.

Search
Choose Edit ® Find to obtain a box allowing you to search in the list. For example, you can choose whether you wish to search for a certain purchasing organization, a purchasing group, or a plant.

When you press ENTER, another box appears. Here you can enter either an individual value or an interval for search purposes.

4. Return to the basic list.

Selecting Fields

You can select individual fields for summation or search purposes not only in boxes but also by positioning the cursor appropriately. For example, if you position the cursor on the Material field and choose Settings ® Totals variant, the system then calculates the total value of all fields for which totals can be calculated per material from the basic list. Click on Edit ® Choose to pick out all purchase orders for the chosen material from the list.

Displaying a Document

To display a purchase order, double-click on the document number in the basic list. You branch to the document display.

Overview of List Levels

After creating various subtotals, sorting your list and searching for data, you can obtain an overview of the individual sort and summation steps that you have carried out. To do this, choose Goto ® List levels overview .

Adjusting List Analyses Reporting in Purchasing MM

Use

This section describes how to change the scope and layout of a list in accordance with your requirements. The following two parameters determine which information is displayed or omitted:

• Selection parameter
• Scope-of-list parameter

Prerequisites

The keys for the scope-of-list and selection parameters must be maintained in Customizing for Purchasing. (Reporting ® Maintain purchasing lists.)

Features

Selection Parameter

This parameter allows you to determine which purchasing documents the system analyzes. For example, you can run analyses to create lists of

• Open purchase orders
• Expired scheduling agreements
• Scheduling agreements or purchase orders with

GR quantity less than order quantity

• Purchase orders with invoice value greater than the order value
• Purchase orders with late deliveries

Scope-of-List Parameter

This parameter determines which data is displayed for a document (that is, which lines appear in your report or analysis). You can decide whether you wish to have a list in short form, or whether the list should contain more information (for example, lines including the open PO quantity and value, or the validity period of outline agreements).

Furthermore, you can also display the PO history or the documentation of previous release orders as additional lines in the list.

The more comprehensive list contains not only the individual items, but also the name of the vendor and the material description (short text) for each purchase order. In the lower part of the list, the documents for goods receipt and invoice receipt are also displayed. In addition, the list contains lines with the following information:

• Conversion of base unit into SKU
• Schedule lines
• Total of goods receipts
• Total of invoices
• Open delivery quantity
• Open invoice quantity

Creating and Running Reports and Analyses Reporting in Purchasing MM

Using an example, this section explains how to enter criteria for a report or analysis, and then run it and print out the results.

Prerequisites

Consider which information you need, then delimit the report by entering the appropriate selection criteria so that the information provided is as concise and pertinent as possible.

You can define the layout and content of your list via the scope-of-list and selection parameters.
These two parameters are described in the section Adjusting List Analyses.

Procedure

Suppose you discovered quality defects in a material procured from one of your vendors. To identify which purchase orders are currently outstanding with the vendor, you could perform the following steps.

1. From the Purchasing menu, choose Purchase order ® List displays ® By vendor. The Purchasing documents for vendor screen then appears, allowing you to enter criteria delimiting the scope of your report.

You can select the following criteria to narrow down the information provided by the report:

– Vendor

– Purchasing organization

– Purchasing group

– Plant

– Item category

– Account assignment category

Enter several criteria to delimit the list in a sensible way. The resulting data will then be clearer and easier to process.

To see whether deliveries against purchase orders were received on time, enter the relevant date in the Delivery date field. The system then displays the status of the purchase order(s) you are interested in.

2. Enter your selection criteria. For example, if you enter vendor ACME in the first column, the system will select all purchasing documents for this vendor.

3. Enter a scope-of-list parameter, if applicable.

Validity key date
If, for example, you wish to know which scheduling agreements are valid as at a certain date, enter this date in the Validity key date field.

Range of coverage to
To determine the scheduling agreements under which you can obtain a certain material on a certain date, enter this date in the Range of coverage to field. The system calculates which agreements still have open quantities as at this date on the basis of the date and the already-delivered quantity.

Exclude/include documents
Choose Choose... to call up a dialog box in which you can specify the purchasing documents - apart from those of the standard setting - to be covered by the report.

4. Run the report. The list display containing the data you are interested in appears on the screen.

To print the list, choose List ® Print.

You can branch from the report to the following functions:

• Display document
• Display schedule lines
• Display changes
• Monitor PO history

Selecting Intervals

In addition to the entry of individual values on the initial screen of a report or analysis, you have the option of selecting intervals. For this purpose, you will find a further column next to the first entry column, in which you can enter a second vendor, a second purchasing organization etc.

Selecting several intervals
To select several intervals, position the cursor on the desired field and perform the multiple selection function.

You get a screen containing several input lines, on which you can select either several individual values or several intervals.

Choose Multiple selection... to have the possible entries displayed. Adopt your data and then return to the selection screen.

Selection options
With certain fields, you can specify whether the listed data is to lie within or outside the specified interval.

Position the cursor on the desired field and choose Edit ® Selection options. Press ENTER to return to the selection screen .

Displaying a Document

To display details on a certain purchase order from within the list display, position the cursor on the PO number and choose Environment ® Display document. The system branches to the PO display. Return to the report.

Displaying changes
To find out whether anything has been changed in a PO, choose Goto ® Changes from within the list display. The system displays a change document listing the changed data, the date of change, and the name of the user who made the change.

Monitoring the PO history

You can monitor the PO history of an item by positioning the cursor on the item and selecting Goto ® PO history. All goods and invoice receipts involving the item are displayed. Return to the report.

Reporting in Purchasing MM

Use

Those with ultimate responsibility for purchasing operations within an enterprise frequently need to obtain an overview of their vendors and purchasing organizations. Among other things, they have to know:

• Which purchase orders were issued to a certain vendor during a given period
• For how many purchase orders goods have already been received
• Whether a vendor delivered ordered materials in full or only in part
• Which vendors did or did not adhere to their delivery dates
• Whether goods received from vendors conform to requirements and invoices submitted are correct
• The average value of purchase orders issued by a given purchasing organization or purchasing group

The reports and analyses available in the SAP System provide this overview in a fast and straightforward manner, allowing senior executives to react appropriately to given situations.

Your system administrator is responsible for setting up reporting and analysis parameters. Contact this person if you need other settings.

Activities

You run reports by clicking on the purchasing document that interests you (e.g. purchase order or RFQ) in the Purchasing menu. Choose Purchase order ® List displays to obtain a choice of reports listing POs as follows:

• By vendor
• By material
• By material group
• By tracking number
• By PO number

The selection options are based on the relevant purchasing document. That means that the list can vary to some extent from document to document.

The more information the list contains, the more time it will take to be processed. In extra wide lists, scroll using the horizontal scroll bar and enlarge your window.

Run and print out voluminous reports and analyses only in the background.

For more information on reporting see Getting Started with the R/3 System. There you will obtain details on:

• How to find reports and analyses
• The steps you must perform to print out lists

Layout of Purchasing Documents Entering Text, Printing and Transmitting Documents MM

Use

This section describes how purchasing documents are formatted for communication purposes (that is, for outputting as messages). Specifically, it explains:

• The basic functions of the purchasing form (layout set), and
• The positioning of text and data in a purchasing document

In this section, it is assumed that you have a basic knowledge of SAPscript forms. (Note terminology change: prior to Release 4.0, "forms" were referred to in the BC area as "layout sets".) For more information on this topic, refer to the SAPscript documentation BC Printing Texts Using Forms.

Features

What is a Form?

In SAPScript, a form is a medium for defining the format and content of documents. The form determines what information is to be printed and where it is to be printed in a purchasing document that is to be outputted as a fax, EDI message etc., or hardcopy. It is thus similar to a paper form, which determines where required information has to be written.

The following elements in a form control the formatting process:

Page
Determines the layout of each page in a document. Each page consists of one or more windows.

Page window
Defines an area of information on a page. For example, the vendor address is one page window.

Text elements
Determine the contents of a page window. Text elements can contain text or references to text (that is, INCLUDE statements). The text elements may also contain references to the purchasing print program, which provides the information to be printed in a given page window of a printed document (for example, the order quantity, price, or material number.)

Paragraph formats
Define the print formatting within a page window, such as the type of font to be used and the level of indentation.

General Information on the Purchasing Form

In the standard system, the purchasing form is called "MEDRUCK". MEDRUCK is a multi-purpose form controlling the output of RFQs, POs, outline agreements, delivery schedules, reminders/urging letters, rejection letters, change notices, and order acknowledgment expediters.

The upper part of every form should normally have a uniform structure. This means, for example, that a purchase order, an RFQ, a sales order, or an invoice document of your company should always have the company logo at the same point.

For this purpose, the same windows are used in all forms (for example, the letterhead and - where applicable - the company logo are located in the window HEADER, whereas the PO number and "Your reference" are located in the window INFO).

Page Formats and Page Windows

The purchasing form offers two page formats: FIRST and NEXT . The page format FIRST defines the format of the first printed page (for example, the header information, which is only printed at the beginning of the document). The page format NEXT defines the format of all subsequent pages.

The purchasing print program recognizes the page window names of the standard form only. Thus if you change the standard form, you must use the page window names.

The MAIN Window

The MAIN page window controls the printing of items, including quantities, prices, delivery schedules, etc.

The text elements of the MAIN page window contain specifications used by the system when printing. From these specifications, the system determines the following:

• The printing position of database fields (for example, the order quantity, material number, etc.)
• Which texts are to be printed on the relevant page (the item header, for example)
• Text elements refer to database fields, via which the heading (for example, "Purchase Order") and the type of document (for example "change document") are determined. The text for these fields is maintained in Customizing.

Each text element has the paragraph tag /E. The lines after each /E tag contain the information to be printed in each text element. For example, the text element ITEM_HEADER_F describes column headers for the items to be printed in a purchase order.

Each text key must contain at least one line of text, even if the line is a comment line (that is, paragraph format /*).

You can change the content of a text element. However, do not change the name of the text element in the form, otherwise the print program will not be able to find the text.

Activities

Changing the Purchasing Form

This section describes how to tailor the output of your purchasing documents to suit your requirements by changing the standard form MEDRUCK.

Prerequisites

Before you make any changes to the standard form, you should consider the following.

Change Existing Form or Create New One?

You can either change the standard form or create a new form by copying the standard one.

When you change the standard purchasing form, you must first create a correction number, because changing the standard form represents a customer modification. Thereafter, the system maintains both your changed version and the SAP version of the form.

If you create a new form, you must assign it to the appropriate message type (PO, rejection letter, etc.) before the system is able to use the form for printing purposes.

We recommend that you always create your own form. This makes it easier to distinguish between your customized form and the standard form provided by SAP.

Document Type

The standard form contains formatting specifications for all purchasing documents to be outputted as messages. You also have the option of creating your own forms for individual message types (for example, if you wish to output outline agreements and purchase orders on different forms).

If a number of separate forms are needed, you must first create them and then assign them to the appropriate message types.

Layout for Purchasing Documents

Before changing an existing form or creating a new one, carefully consider which information is to be included on the form. Design your layout using the page window structure of the standard form as a guide.

Measure the exact position on the form in which the information is to be placed. You can position information using various units of measurement (characters and lines, centimeters, etc.). If your form uses varied type face sizes and proportional fonts such as Times Roman or Helvetica extensively, you should position fonts using an absolute unit of measurement (that is, one other than characters or lines).

You should also check that the page format of the printer corresponds with that of the form (for example, A4 or 8.5x11 paper).

Field Names

You should also identify the field names of the data you want to include on the form.

Creating Forms for Purchasing Documents

1. From the system menu, choose Tools
® SAPscript ® Form.
2. Enter the name of the new form to be created. Choose Form
® Create.
3. Enter the transport/correction details in the dialog box that appears. The form header appears.

Check the header information, such as the page format and orientation.

4. To copy the standard form, choose Form
® Adopt, enter the name of the standard form (MEDRUCK), and press ENTER.

The standard form is adopted as the new form.

5. Make any necessary changes to the form. Refer to the example below for further tips on making changes.
6. Choose Form
® Activate to activate the form with your changes.
7. If you created a new form, you must assign it to the appropriate message type. (For further details, refer to the section "Assigning Forms".)

If you have modified the standard form and the standard form is currently being used for purchasing documents, you need not assign the form.

Assigning Forms

When you have adapted your forms, they must be assigned to the relevant message type. This is done in Customizing under Messages ® Forms for Messages ® Assign Form and Output Program for .

Urging Submission of Outstanding Acknowledgments Entering Text, Printing and Transmitting Documents MM

Use

You can require a vendor to submit an acknowledgment for each individual item of a purchasing document (PO, scheduling agreement, contract). This function allows you to select for expediting purposes purchasing documents for which no acknowledgment has yet been received.

Prerequisites

• The external messages have been set up in Customizing for Purchasing.
  You can also work with the standard settings. For further information, see
Tips for Fast Message Determination Set-Up in the Implementation Guide (IMG).
• Message records must have been created through master data maintenance in the Purchasing menu.
• The Acknowledgment required indicator has been set in the relevant item of the purchasing document.

See Confirmations from the Purchasing Viewpoint

• The purchasing document involved must have previously been transmitted to the vendor.

Activities

You first generate messages for all purchasing documents for which acknowledgment expediting is necessary and then output these messages.

Generating a Message

1. Choose ® Messages ® Monitor order acknowledgment.
2. Enter the criteria for selecting the purchasing documents to be checked with regard to outstanding order acknowledgments.
3. Choose Program
® Execute.

You will see the purchasing documents your vendor has not yet acknowledged.

4. Select the documents for which you wish to issue order acknowledgment expediters.
5. Save your selections.

If you have set up the message determination process in such a way that the acknowledgment expediter is outputted immediately the application document is posted (transmission time-spot 4), you need not perform the following steps.

Outputting Messages Urging Submission of Overdue Acknowledgments

1. To output the message, choose
® Messages ® Print/transmit.
2. Enter the same selection criteria as in step 2 and specify message type
AUFB for acknowledgment expediters.
3. Choose Program
® Execute.

Procedure in System

The procedure depends upon whether you are working with or without a confirmation control key.

Without confirmation control key

The system suggests a purchasing document for acknowledgment expediting if

• The vendor has not yet delivered (only in the case of Pos) and
• No acknowledgment number exists (in the case of POs and outline agreements).

With confirmation control key

The system suggests a purchase order for acknowledgment expediting if

• The vendor has not yet delivered and
• The acknowledged quantity is less than the quantity ordered.

The system takes into account the monitoring period you have defined in Customizing for Purchasing (Confirmations ® Set up confirmation control ® Confirmation sequence).

The system suggests outline agreements for acknowledgment expediting if no acknowledgment number has been entered.

See also:

Outputting Messages

Reminders and Urging Letters (Expediters) Entering Text, Printing and Transmitting Documents MM

Use

If you have specified reminder levels under the item details of a purchasing document, the system is able to generate reminders and urging letters (expediters) automatically.

You can enter up to three reminder levels. For example, the reminder levels 10-20-30 mean that urging letters are issued 10, 20, and 30 days after the due date for submission of a quotation or for the delivery of ordered goods. (Note: in the SAP System the term "reminders" is often used to denote such messages issued before the due date, whereas the term "urging letter" or "expediter" commonly stands for a perhaps more strongly worded admonitory message issued after the due date. However, this distinction is not consistent, and may not apply outside the SAP environment. The corresponding term for "urging letter" in the FI component is "dunning letter", and relates to overdue payments.)

A negative number means that a reminder is to be issued prior to the deadline for submission of quotations or the delivery date for ordered goods. For example, if you enter 5- as the reminder level, a reminder will be sent 5 days prior to the quotation submission date .

Prerequisites

· The external messages have been set up in Customizing for Purchasing.
You can also work with the standard settings. For further information, see Tips for Fast Message Determination Set-Up in the Implementation Guide (IMG).

· Message records must have been created through master data maintenance in the Purchasing menu.

· The purchasing document involved must have previously been transmitted to the vendor.

Activities

You first generate messages for all purchasing documents for which reminders or urging letters need to be issued and then output these messages.

Generating a Message

1. Choose ® Messages ® Urging/reminders.

2. Enter the selection criteria for the documents that should be checked with regard to the necessity of issuing reminders or urging letters.

Enter a reference date. The system takes this date as the basis for calculating the periods after which reminders or expediters are due.

Select the List untransmitted messages field to ensure that the list also includes those reminders and urging letters that are in the message queue but have not yet been outputted.

3. Choose Program ® Execute.

You see the documents in respect of which due dates are approaching or have been exceeded.

4. Select the items for which you want to generate reminders or urging letters. Then choose Edit ® Generate messages.

5. Save your selections.

Outputting Reminders or Urging Letters

6. To output the reminder or urging message, choose ® Messages ® Print/transmit.

7. Enter the same selection criteria as in step 2 and then execute the program.

8. Select the messages to be outputted (printed or transmitted) and then choose Edit ® Output message.

Generation of Messages: System Procedure

The system checks which documents require expediting on the basis of the reference date. In the process, it also takes account of vendor confirmations. A prerequisite is that the confirmation category has been flagged as "subject to reminder" (expediting) in Customizing for Purchasing.

You have ordered 100 tons of Steel 1 for 05.15. You have specified 10-20-30 as the reminder (urging) levels. The vendor confirms that delivery of the 100 tons will take place on 05.17.
If you then wish to expedite this item and enter 05.26 as the reference date, the item will not be suggested for expediting. However, if you enter 05.28 as the reference date, it will be suggested.

In the case of RFQs, the deadline for submission of quotations is taken as the basis for expediting, not the delivery date.

In the case of purchase orders, the delivery date is taken as the basis.

In the case of scheduling agreements with release documentation, the dates from the last-transmitted SA release are taken as a basis, not the dates shown in the current overall delivery schedule stored in the system.

See also:

Outputting Messages

Re-Outputting of Messages/Change Messages Entering Text, Printing and Transmitting Documents MM

Use

You can re-output a message that has already been outputted (printed or transmitted). Various options are available to you, including the following:

• "Repeat message" function

You use this function if you wish to print out or transmit again a complete purchasing document that has already been outputted. Note that the system takes account in the message of any changes made to the purchasing document since it was last outputted - i.e. the system always outputs the current status of the document. If you wish to have old statuses available, you must optically archive the purchasing document. (See BC Storing Outgoing Purchasing Documents (MM-PUR)).

• Change message

You use this function if you only wish to output the changes made to the purchasing document since the last message output. Note that these changes must be output-relevant, otherwise, although the system generates a message in the queue, it is not outputted because there are no print-relevant changes. The status of the message is then "successfully processed".

Print-relevant (output-relevant) changes are changes made to the fields listed in table T166C.

Activities

1. You invoke the Messages screen as follows:

– Via the purchasing document itself (Header ® Messages) or

– Via <Purchasing document> ® Messages ® Print/transmit.

Enter the processing status 1 (successfully processed) and display the messages.

Select the desired message and choose Goto ® Message details.

2. Choose Edit
® Repeat message or Change message.

The system inserts the new message. If a change message is involved, the system sets the Change indicator.

3. Save your data.

Changing Output Criteria Entering Text, Printing and Transmitting Documents MM

Prerequisites

The message output queue must contain messages.

Procedure

1. You invoke the Messages screen as follows:

– Via the purchasing document itself (Header ® Messages) or

– Via <Purchasing document> ® Messages ® Print/transmit.
Display the messages.
Select the desired message and choose Goto ® Message details.

2. On the overview screen, change the transmission medium or the partner, for instance.
   If the message is to be printed out or faxed, you can change the printer address or the fax number via Edit ® Means of communication.
   You change the transmission time-spot via Edit ® Additional data. You can also enter a date and time here.

Outputting Messages Entering Text, Printing and Transmitting Documents MM

Prerequisites

The message output queue must contain messages.

Procedure

1. You invoke the Messages screen as follows:

– Via the purchasing document itself (Header ® Messages) or

– Via <Purchasing document> ® Messages ® Print/transmit.
Display the messages.
Select the desired message and choose Goto ® Message details.

2. On the overview screen, change the transmission medium or the partner, for instance.
   If the message is to be printed out or faxed, you can change the printer address or the fax number via Edit ® Means of communication.
   You change the transmission time-spot via Edit ® Additional data. You can also enter a date and time here.

Creating Message Records Entering Text, Printing and Transmitting Documents MM

1. Choose Master data ® Messages ® ® Create.
2. Enter the message type (e.g. NEU for purchasing documents that are to be outputted for the first time) for which you wish to specify criteria such as the transmission time-spot, transmission medium etc.
3. Choose Edit ® Key combination, select the level at which you wish to create message records, and then choose Continue.
4. Enter your criteria.
   If data on the transmission time-spot etc. has been maintained for the message type in Customizing for Purchasing, this is pre-set.
   If the message is to be transmitted via fax, teletex, or telex, and data on the fax, telex, or teletex number is available in the vendor master record, this is pre-set.
   If you have chosen Print or Fax as the transmission medium, you can enter a printer address or a fax number via Goto ® Means of communication.
5. Save your data.

You have maintained the message type NEU for purchase orders and have entered Print as transmission medium, the printer xyz as means of communication, and Immediately as the transmission time-spot. When you next save a newly created purchase order, the system will immediately output the message for this PO on the printer xyz.

Output of Purchasing Docs. (Message Determination) Entering Text, Printing and Transmitting Documents MM

Purpose

The system always carries out the message determination process when you create an RFQ, a purchase order, a contract, an outline agreement, a scheduling agreement release, or a standard delivery schedule under a scheduling agreement. "Message determination" means that the system searches for a message record whose default values match up with the values from the relevant purchasing document.

Prerequisites

• The external messages have been set up in Customizing for Purchasing.
  You can also work with the standard settings. For further information, see
Tips for Fast Message Determination Set-Up in the Implementation Guide (IMG).
• You must have created message records via master data maintenance in the Purchasing menu. (See
Creating Message Records.)

Process Flow

1. You create a purchasing document.
2. The system carries out the message determination process. This is based on the condition technique. (See CA
Message Control for more on this topic.)
1. The system assigns the message determination schema that is valid for the purchasing document. The schema contains the message type.
2. The system searches the condition tables for a valid message record (e.g. for the document type) via the access sequence assigned to the message type.
3. If a message record is found, the system generates a message for the purchasing document using the data of the record (transmission medium, transmission time-spot etc.) and places it in the message queue.

You can view an analysis log of the message determination process as well as the message itself in the purchasing document via Header ® Messages. At this point, you can also change the output criteria for the message (see Changing Output Criteria).

Note that the analysis log is not saved and is only available immediately following the message determination process.

4. The message is outputted from the message queue in accordance with the specified transmission time-spot. (See
Outputting Messages.)

If the associated document is subject to a release procedure and has not yet been released (approved), the system will generate the message but you will not be able to display or output it.

Message Record Entering Text, Printing and Transmitting Documents MM

Definition

A message record is a data record belonging to a condition table containing default values relating to how, when, and to whom a message is to be outputted.

Use

In order for the system to be able to generate a message for a purchasing document, a message record must exist whose default values match up with the values from the purchasing document.

In the standard system, you can define default values for a message type (e.g. output of new document, urging message) at the following levels:

• Document type

(e.g. NB (standard purchase order), AN (RFQ))

• Document type/purchasing organization/vendor
• Purchasing organization/vendor for EDI

You can also define other levels in Customizing for Purchasing under Messages, Condition Tables.

You can create message records for the following situations:

• All new purchase orders to the vendor Meyer Co. are to be transmitted via EDI immediately the PO is saved.
• All new RFQs issued to the vendor Miller Corp. are to be placed in the message queue after being saved. From there, they are to be printed out manually.

You create message records as master data via the Purchasing menu.

See also:

CA Message Control

Message Type: Fine-Tuned Control Entering Text, Printing and Transmitting Documents MM

Use

For each message type you create, you must specify the purpose for which it is to be used. For example, outputting (printing/transmission) of new documents, outputting of change documents, outputting of urging messages (expediters).

Activities

You make the settings for fine-tuned control with regard to the various message types in Customizing for Purchasing.

Message Type Entering Text, Printing and Transmitting Documents MM

Definition

The message type is a means of classifying messages, determining which information is outputted in which format.

Use

You can use different message types for new purchase orders and expediters, for example. Or you can use different message types to determine that one copy of a document is faxed to the vendor and another is printed out for your files.

The following message types are supplied in the standard system:

Message type	Meaning
NEU	New documents. The complete purchasing document is outputted as a message. Change document. Changes to an existing, already-outputted document are outputted. The change indicator is set in the message.
LPET LPFZ LPE2 LPF2	Delivery schedules with already delivered quantity. Delivery schedules with cumulative quantities. Delivery schedules including the open GR quantity. Delivery schedules with cumulative quantities.
LPH1 LPH2	Forecast (FRC) delivery schedules (type of SA release) per EDI. Forecast (FRC) delivery schedules (type of SA release) as printout.
LPJ1 LPJ2	Just-in-Time (JIT) delivery schedules (type of SA release) per EDI. Just-in-Time (JIT) delivery schedules (type of SA release) as printout.
VNEU	Distributed contracts.
LPMA LPMF	Reminders and urging messages relating to delivery schedules with cumulative quantities. Reminders and urging messages relating to delivery schedules without cumulative quantities.
MAHN	Reminders and urging messages relating to a purchasing document.
AUFB	Acknowledgment expediter (message urging submission of order acknowledgment).

You create message types (external messages for communication with vendors) in Customizing for Purchasing. You can define default values for each message type (e.g. the transmission medium or the transmission time-spot).

You maintain a print program and a layout set for each message type. You can define a different form layout for each company code, for example, by defining separate message types for each company code.