Standard Material Types 

Definition

See Material Types.

Use

The standard R/3 System comes with the following material types. The ID used to identify the material type internally appears in parentheses. It is sometimes necessary to know this ID, for example, when defining the attributes of material types in Customizing for the Material Master.

Additionals are assigned to a material to be sold to ensure its effective presentation to customers.

For more information on the retail side, see Additionals in the SAP library documentation SAP Retail.

Means of presentation used in advertising, grouping together advertising messages about a number of materials.

Observing and evaluating the activities of your competitors is essential for optimum market analysis. You can enter basic data on the products of your competitors in material master records of this material type. By specifying a competitor number, you can assign the product to a particular competitor. For more information, see Competitive Products in the SAP library documentation SD Sales Support: Computer-Aided Selling (CAS).

Configurable materials are materials that can have different variants. For example, an automobile can have different types of paintwork, trim, and engine. The Material is configurable indicator is already set for this material type in Customizing for the Material Master in Define Attributes of Material Types. For more information on configurable materials and variants, see the SAP library documentation LO Variant Configuration.

Empties are a type of returnable transport packaging generally subject to a deposit. They can consist of several components grouped together in a bill of material (BOM) that are assigned to a full product. For example, an empty crate and the empty bottles are assigned to the full product beer. Each of the components in the BOM has a separate material master record. For more information on the retail side, see Articles: Empties and Full Products in the SAP library documentation SAP Retail.

Finished products are produced in-house. Since they cannot be ordered by Purchasing, a material master record of this material type does not contain purchasing data.

Full products are the counterpart to empties. For example, with a crate of lemonade, the full product is the lemonade itself, while the empties are the individual bottles and the crate. For more information on the retail side, see Articles: Empties and Full Products in the SAP library documentation SAP Retail.

Intra materials exist only temporarily between two processing steps. A material master record of this material type contains neither purchasing nor sales data.

This material type is recommended for creating KANBAN containers as a material. In the standard R/3 System, only the Basic Data view is offered. Using this material type makes it easy to search for KANBAN containers.

Maintenance assemblies are not individual objects, but logical elements to separate technical objects into more clearly defined units in plant maintenance. For example, an automobile can be a technical object, and the engine, gearbox, chassis, and so on the maintenance assemblies. A material master record of this material type can contain basic data and classification data.

Manufacturer parts are materials that can be supplied by different manufacturers and/or vendors who use different manufacturer part numbers to identify the materials. For more information, see Manufacturer Part Numbers (MPNs) in the SAP library documentation MM Purchasing.

Nonfoods are items sold in grocery stores, other than food.

Nonstock materials are not held in stock because they are consumed immediately.

Nonvaluated materials are managed on a quantity basis, but not by value.

Operating supplies are procured externally and required for the manufacture of other products. A material master record of this material type can contain purchasing data, but not sales data.

Packaging materials are used to transport goods and come with the goods free of charge. A material master record of this material type is managed on both a quantity basis and value basis.

Goods that are perishable in an assortment.

Materials such as oil, power, or water that flow into the production process directly from a pipeline, line, or other type of conduit. Since pipeline materials are always available, they are not planned.

Process materials are used in the manufacture of co-products. They are not physical entities, but represent production processes. They are useful if production is initiated by the availability of input materials and capacities, and not by material requirements planning.

Product groups aggregate materials according to certain freely definable criteria. For example, the products may be similar to each other in some way, or they may be finished products that were produced on the same machine.

Production resources/tools are procured externally and used in production or plant maintenance. A material master record of this material type can contain purchasing data, but not sales data. It is managed on a quantity basis.

Raw materials are always procured externally and then processed. A material master record of this type contains purchasing data, but not sales data since they cannot be sold.

Semifinished products can be procured externally and manufactured in-house. They are then processed by the company. A material master record of this material type can contain both purchasing and work scheduling data.

Services can be performed internally or procured externally (outsourced). They cannot be stored or transported.

Spare parts are used to replace defective parts. They may be kept in stock. A material master record of this material type can contain purchasing data, but not sales data.

Trading goods are always procured externally and then sold. A material master record of this material type can contain purchasing data and sales data.

A value-only article represents a group of articles whose inventory is not managed on an article basis. All goods movements for this group of articles are posted to the value-only article. For more information, see Articles: Value-Only Articles in the SAP library documentation SAP Retail.