Articles: EAN Management (SAP Library

Articles: EAN Management

Use

EANs

An article can be managed in different units of measure. For each of these units of measure, you can define an International Article Number (EAN) that uniquely identifies the article. Of the many uses of EANs at a company, identifying an article at the point of sale (POS) by its bar code is very likely the most important. For more information, see POS Interface - Outbound: Articles.

Since the EAN and the relevant bar code are normally printed on the article label and frequently on shelf-edge labels, their use makes it possible to implement scanning in all logistics processes such as:

Merchandise logistics

If the units to be moved in merchandise logistics are identified at your company by their EAN, the EANs must be correct and known to the system. For this reason, the bar code can be checked in goods receipt. For more information, see:

Goods Receipt: Identification

Goods Receipt: Checks

Upon goods receipt, the system uses the EAN to determine all purchase orders containing at least one item with the specified EAN as the main EAN for the order unit.

Sale in different sizes of packaging such as pallets, cartons, boxes, and pieces

Though possible to configure the system to allow the same EAN to be assigned to more than one article, this is not recommended in retail since the EAN would no longer identify the article uniquely.

EAN Categories

The EAN category distinguishes between the different types of EAN such as perishables EANs and instore EANs. SAP Retail supports all EAN categories. The EAN category defines the following attributes of the relevant EAN:

Whether the EAN may be assigned internally and/or externally, and whether it may be alphanumeric

Check digit algorithm determining whether a check digit is required

Prefix in the case of perishables EANs

Length of the EAN

You can maintain these attributes for existing EAN categories, and define new EAN categories in Customizing for the Article Master in Define Attributes of EANs/UPCs.

Integration

If you specify an EAN, but not an EAN category, when creating an article master record, the system determines the EAN category automatically. If you specify the EAN category, but not an EAN, the system determines the EAN automatically if internal number assignment is allowed for the EAN category.

If the EAN has the EAN category UPC-E (Universal Product Code displayed in a contracted form), you must also specify the EAN category, but only if the EAN category for normal UPCs is also used in your system. For more information on UPC-Es, see Define Attributes of EANs/UPCs in Customizing for the Article Master.

Activities

Assigning EANs

The EAN you assign to an article is valid for a single client. It is not possible to restrict an EAN to certain distribution chains or stores. You can also assign more than one EAN to an article for a given unit of measure. In this case, you must flag one of the EANs as the main EAN. This EAN is used whenever an EAN is required for the article in a given unit of measure.

For each article, you can assign one or more EANs for each unit of measure to a vendor. This assignment does not have to be unique since different vendors can supply the same article under the same EAN. When assigning different EANs to a vendor, you must also flag one of them as the main EAN.

Additional Information

International Article Numbers (EANs) in Customizing for the Article Master

Additionals