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Set Up Confirmation Control

In this step, you make the following settings:

In this step, you define the different categories of vendor confirmation that exist in your SAP System.
For example, you can specify that your system handles order acknowledgments, loading confirmations, and shipping notifications.
External confirmation categories
Here you can specify which confirmation categories you wish to use.
You can maintain any number of external confirmation categories.
The SAP System provides for internal confirmation categories in addition to external categories.
Internal confirmation categories
By internal categories is understood all confirmations that enter the system automatically (i.e. via Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).
Three internal categories are supplied in the standard system. The internal category 1 corresponds to the business transaction order acknowledgment, category 2 corresponds to the shipping notification/inbound delivery, and category 3 corresponds to the rough goods receipt.
To each internal confirmation category you can assign an external category of your choice. This assignment enables the system to identify which confirmation category is used in the case of incoming order acknowledgments and which in the case of incoming shipping notifications. As a result, purchasing documents can automatically be updated with data from the relevant confirmations.
Example
If you assign shipping notifications to the internal confirmation category 02 (shipping notification/inbound delivery), the system will create an inbound delivery when a shipping notification is received, at the same time updating the confirmed quantities and dates in the purchasing document confirmation overview.
In the case of POs to be processed using vendor confirmations, a confirmation control key must be assigned. In this step, you can specify which different categories of confirmation are expected with regard to a purchase order.
Example
You can define a confirmation control key with just one confirmation category (shipping notification) and a key grouping together several confirmation categories (order acknowledgment, loading confirmation, and shipping notification).
This allows you to specify the chronological order in which the individual confirmations within a confirmation control key are expected and which confirmation categories are to be automatically monitored.
For all confirmation categories, you can also specify whether they are for your information only or whether they are to constitute a basis for goods receiving and materials planning activities.

Activities

To set up the confirmation monitoring facility, proceed as follows:

1. To define confirmation categories, choose External Confirmation Categories or Internal Confirmation Categories.
2. To define confirmation control keys, choose Confirmation Control Keys.
3. To define the confirmation sequence, choose Confirmation Sequence.
Specify the sequence and define which categories of confirmation are relevant to goods receiving and materials planning.
Specify the monitoring period in the column Monitoring period and set a key in the column Reference date.
The following keys are available:
Key Meaning
1 Order date plus monitoring period
2 Delivery date less monitoring period
Example
If you enter the value "10" in the column Monitoring period and set the key "2" in the column Reference date, the system will select all items that were not yet confirmed/acknowledged 10 days prior to the delivery date in the PO.
The relevant items are shown with the date in the confirmation monitoring analysis.