Articles: Article Numbers (SAP Library

Articles: Article Numbers

Use

The article number uniquely identifies an article master record, and thus an article. Article numbers can be assigned in one of the following ways:

Externally

Since mnemonic article numbers are common in retail, article numbers are usually assigned externally; that is, you enter the required (usually mnemonic) character string on the screen when creating an article master record.

Internally

With this type of number assignment, you do not enter the article number on the screen. The system assigns a consecutive number automatically.

The numbers of generic articles can be assigned internally or externally. The same number range is used as for single articles. The numbers of variants are assigned internally, the system determining the number of the variant from the number of the generic article and a suffix.

Integration

Further options are provided by SAP Enhancement MGW00002. It contains three customer exits that you can use for the following purposes:

To modify article numbers entered externally by users, for example, by appending a check digit
To assign article numbers internally by customer programs
To assign numbers for the variants of a generic article internally by customer programs

Activities

Defining the Length of Article Numbers

You can define the length of your article numbers to suit your company’s requirements. Your system administrator does this in Customizing for the Article Master in Define Output Format of Article Numbers. Article numbers can be up to 18 characters long.

Defining the Type of Number Assignment

Your system administrator defines the required type of number assignment in Customizing for the Article Master in Define Number Ranges. After defining a number range, your system administrator can flag it, if external number assignment is required, as an external number range and assign it to one or more article types. As a result, when creating an article master record, the type of number assignment allowed depends on the article type chosen. In the standard SAP Retail System, one external number range and one internal number range can be defined for each article type or group of article types.