Vendor Evaluation uses the following master data:

• Vendor master record
• Material master record
• Purchasing info record

The vendor master database contains information on an enterprise's vendors. This information is stored in individual vendor master records. As well as the name and address of the vendor, a vendor master record contains the following information:

• Vendor's currency
• Terms of payment
• Contact persons (sales personnel)

Since, as a rule, vendors are simultaneously creditors of the enterprise, a vendor master record also contains accounting data (for example, a control account).

Vendor master records are therefore maintained by both Accounting and Purchasing.

The material master database contains descriptions of materials that an enterprise procures, produces, and stores. The material master record is an enterprise’s central source of information on a specific material. The individual material master records contain data such as the order unit, responsible purchasing group, and over/underdelivery tolerances.

Purchasing info records (also referred to simply as info records) are used as a source of information for Purchasing. A purchasing info record represents a specific vendor-material relationship.

It enables buyers to quickly determine:

• Which materials have been previously offered or supplied by a certain vendor
• Which vendors have offered or supplied a certain material

An info record includes:

• Current prices and pricing conditions
• Number of the last purchase order
• Tolerance limits for overdeliveries and underdeliveries
• The vendor’s planned delivery time for the material

An info record also contains quotation and ordering data.