Supplier

The supplier represents the location that you commission with the delivery of the products sought by the customer.

Initial Location

The initial location represents the location from the sales order. SAP Supply Chain Management (SAP SCM) determines the initial location at the start of the availability check using the rule strategy for determining the initial location from the requirements profile.

Supplier Contract Location

The supplier contract location represents the location for which you have created a purchasing information record for a supplier, in other words, the supplier contract location is the location that receives the invoice from the supplier.

If you execute third-party order processing without rules-based ATP check, the supplier contract location is the initial location.

Consolidation Location

The consolidation location represents the location in which you can consolidate confirmed product quantities from suppliers before you deliver them to customers. As a result, the suppliers do not deliver the products directly to the customers.

For more information, see Consolidation of Suppliers' Products.