Item Category
Definition
The item category determines whether the material defined in a purchase order item:
Requires a material number
Requires an account assignment
Is to be managed as a stock item
Requires a goods receipt (GR) and/or an invoice receipt (IR)
The following item categories are defined in the standard system:
Standard Item Categories in POs
Item Category | Characteristics |
Standard | Goods and invoices can be received |
Consignment | Material number necessary No account assignments Material kept in stock GR necessary Invoice receipt not necessary |
Subcontracting | Goods can be received Invoice receipt necessary |
Stock transfer | Material number necessary GR necessary No invoice receipt |
Third-party | Account assignment necessary GR and IR can take place |
Limit | Account assignment not necessary GR not necessary IR necessary Document tyoe FO necessary |
Standard
Items of the category Standard
are goods that are to be procured externally. In this case, both goods and invoice receipts are possible.
Consignment
Items of the category Consignment
are items procured on a consignment basis. Account assignments cannot be made for material ordered on consignment. Consignment stocks are managed separately and are not valuated.
Consignment stocks are discussed in the Consignment section of the MM Inventory Management
documentation.
Subcontracting
Order items of the category Subcontracting
may represent finished assemblies ordered from a subcontractor, for example. Any components the subcontractor requires from you to produce such an assembly are entered as “material to be provided” items.
Subcontracting is discussed in the Subcontracting section of the MM Inventory Management
documentation.
Stock Transfer
Stock transfer items occur in connection with stock transport ordering. Stock transport orders are a mechanism for the transfer of stock from one plant to another (that is, transfers involving transport over a longer distance).
The stock transport order is one of the special order types in Purchasing, and is discussed in the section Stock Transfers Using a Stock Transport Order of the MM Inventory Management
documentation.
Third-Party
Third-party orders are orders placed with vendors as part of a triangular business deal, instructing the latter to supply goods to or perform a service for a third party (for example, a drop-shipment to one of your customers). This means that the goods recipient is in this case the customer. “Third-party” can be specified in the item category field of a requisition or purchase order.
The third-party order is one of the special order types in Purchasing, and is discussed in the section Third-Party Processing of the MM Inventory Management
documentation.
Limit
Limit items occur in connection with blanket purchase orders (which hence may also be referred to as “P o s with limits” or "limit orders"). Blanket P o s can be used to procure a variety of materials or services up to a certain predefined maximum value (the value limit) from a vendor. The nature of the materials or services in question is generally such that the cost of and administrative effort involved in processing individual purchase orders is regarded as disproportionately high in relation to their value (e.g. purchase of office supplies and minor services required during the course of the year).
Blanket P o s have the document type FO
. Instead of a specific delivery date, you can specify a validity period for the order.
Goods receipts or the entry and acceptance of services performed are not necessary in the case of a blanket PO and limit items. The invoices are posted directly with reference to the purchase order, provided that the specified value limit is not exceeded.
The account assignment need only be specified at the time of invoice entry.
For detailed information on the subject of value limits, refer to the documentation External Services Management (MM-SRV).