A customer fulfills a contract by issuing releases to the contract.

Because the contract does not contain any schedule lines with delivery dates, the released goods are issued using an order. When you create a contract release order, you refer to the relevant contract and the system automatically updates the released value in that contract.

When you create a release order, the system checks whether:

• the released materials conform to the rules of the value contract
• the release order is within the contract’s validity period
• the released value (in the value contract) or the released quantity (in the quantity contract) exceeds the remaining open value or the remaining open quantities in the contract

If you have a contract with your customer and you create a sales order without referring to the contract, you can set the system so that it proposes the contract automatically. To do this, use the settings in Customizing for document type (Contract messages field)