Entering content frameFunction documentation Centrally Agreed Contract Locate the document in its SAP Library structure

Use

It is possible to create contracts that do not relate to just one particular receiving plant. In this case, a centrally agreed contract is created without specification of a plant. The plant is not specified until a contract release order is created.

You can maintain different conditions for individual plants in the central contract or different ordering addresses or goods suppliers in the vendor master record, for example.

An enterprise with a central purchasing department (= Reference Purchasing Organization) buying materials for several plants can agree a high-level contract which may apply to a vendor's entire corporate group and which can be utilized by other purchasing organizations within the enterprise. The use of such centrally agreed contracts usually results in more favorable conditions of purchase. (Outside SAP, such contracts may also be referred to as "national", "group", or "corporate" contracts.)

A centrally agreed contract is involved if:

Features

Plant Conditions

The centrally agreed contract allows prices and conditions to be determined individually for each receiving plant via the Plant conditions function. One advantage of this is that differences in transport costs due to varying distances between vendor and receiving plant locations can be taken into account.

Note

When you create contract release orders for plants without plant conditions, the conditions of the contract item are used.

If certain plants are not to issue release oders against the contract, you should block the central contract from use as a source of supply by these plants in the source list.

Partner Roles

Vendors may assume different roles (partner roles) in the procurement process. Partner roles (sometimes also referred to as "partner functions") include the roles of "ordering address", "goods supplier", and "invoicing party".

The partners you can store in the vendor master record in the Partner Roles view apply to a certain purchasing organization.

In addition to the partners that are valid at purchasing organization level, you can maintain different partners for individual plants or vendor sub-ranges. In this case, the system will determine a different ordering address in a purchase order for your Atlanta plant than the one determined in a purchase order for your Minneapolis plant, for example.

 

The following graphic shows how partners are determined at the time Contract Release Orders are created:

 

This graphic is explained in the accompanying text

Example

Two individual vendors belonging to the vendor corporate group X supply receiving plants in different regions. In the vendor master record, the receiving plants have been assigned as follows: vendor X2 supplies plant 0001 only, and vendor X3 plant 0002 only.

If a buyer wishes to release material 4711 against the centrally agreed contract with vendor corporate group X, he or she enters the key for the plant for which the material is to be procured.

If he or she enters plant 0001, the system determines vendor X2 as the ordering address on the basis of the assignment in the vendor master record.

If he or she enters plant 0002, the system determines vendor X2 as the ordering address on the basis of the assignment in the vendor master record.

 

You can also assign several partners with the same role to a plant (e.g. two ordering addresses). When you create the release order, you are then asked to decide on one of them.

For more information on partners, refer to the sections Partner Roles in Purchasing and Maintaining Different Data.

 

Note

If you use a reference purchasing organization in the contract, it is also possible to use vendors (= partners) of the purchasing organizations assigned to this reference organization in the partner roles.

If you do not use a reference purchasing organization in the contract, the Purchasing organization field is not ready to accept input at the time the different partner roles are maintained.

 

For more information on reference purchasing organizations, refer to the section Organization of an Enterprise in the SAP System.

Activities

Maintaining Plant Conditions

  1. When maintaining the centrally agreed contract, choose Edit ® Plant conditions ® Overview.
  2. On the overview screen that then appears, enter the desired plant and choose This graphic is explained in the accompanying text Plant prices.
  3. An item overview screen appears, starting from which you can maintain conditions.

    4. Choose Item ® Conditions to access the condition maintenance screen.

  4. Return to the overview and repeat the process for all plants for which you wish to store plant-specific conditions.
  5. Save your input.

Maintaining Partners

You can maintain the different partners either in the vendor master record or individually in the contract. If the partners have been maintained in the vendor master, they are suggested in the contract.

Maintaining partners in a contract

  1. In the contract, choose Header ® Partners.
  2. The Data Retention Level: Partners screen appears. Enter the plant and/or vendor sub-range, and choose ENTER. The Maintain Partners screen appears.

    3. Note

    To see which partners have already been maintained, select the desired item and choose This graphic is explained in the accompanying text Level.

  3. Enter the desired partner and return to the item overview for the contract.
  4. Save your input.

Maintaining partners in the vendor master

  1. Choose Extras ® Different data on the Partner Roles (partner functions) screen in the vendor master record.
  2. On the Create Different Data screen, enter the plant or vendor sub-range and select Partner Roles.
  3. Click This graphic is explained in the accompanying text. The Change Vendor: Partner Roles screen appears.
  4. Enter the desired partners and click This graphic is explained in the accompanying text to save your input.

 

 

 

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