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 External Release for Purchase Requisition

 

Technical Data

Technical Name of Business Function

LOG_MM_EXT_REL

Type of Business Function

Enterprise Business Function

Available From

SAP Enhancement Package 6 for SAP ERP 6.0

Technical Usage

Central Applications

Application Component

Materials Management – Purchasing – Release Procedure – Release Procedure with Classification (MM-PUR-GF-REL)

Required Business Function

Not relevant

You can use this business function to pass release procedures for purchase requisitions in ERP systems to an external system, so that you can maintain your entire release procedure in one system.

Classification-based release procedures in the ERP system already enable you to define release strategies using freely definable characteristics of a purchase requisition. You can create release strategies for entire purchase requisitions (overall release) or for individual items (individual release). This business functions is an enhancement to the release procedure with classification. It enables you to send purchase orders to an external system for release.

The external release procedure allows you to standardize your concern-wide release processes and thereby to define them more efficiently and at less cost. The benefits are as follows:

  • You can set up release procedures for ERP purchase requisitions centrally, according to consistent requirements and guidelines.

  • You can release purchase requisitions from different ERP systems centrally in one place.

This is especially important in a distributed system landscape where many ERP systems are connected to the central release system.

Integration

Note that an external system is required in addition for this business function. You might require a separate software license for this system.

Prerequisites

You have installed the following components as of the version mentioned:

Type of Component

Component

Required for the Following Features Only

Software Component

SAP_APPL 606

Customizing Activities

You must perform the following Customizing activities in order to use this business function:

  1. Create your release strategy under Start of the navigation path SAP Reference IMG Next navigation step SAP Implementation Guide Next navigation step Materials Management Next navigation step Purchasing Next navigation step Purchase Requisition Next navigation step Release Procedure Next navigation step Procedure with Classification Next navigation step Set Up Procedure with Classification Next navigation step Release Strategies End of the navigation path. In the release strategy, select the External Release checkbox.

  2. Create purchase requisitions with the external release strategy.

Note Note

Keep to the recommended sequence in Customizing. We recommend that, once you have defined an external release strategy, you do not change it to an internal release strategy.

Once purchase requisitions are in release, the following changes to the release strategy are critical:

  • From external to internal release

    • You can release purchase requisitions immediately in the ERP system, but first you should cancel the release in the external system.

  • From internal to external release

    • You can no longer release purchase requisitions in the ERP system. You must use the external system for this. You can use transaction ME_EXT_REL_PR to analyze purchase requisitions for external release and manually send release requests to the external system.

Implement organizational measures to ensure that an employee cannot both create purchase requisitions in the ERP system and approve them in the external system.

End of the note.

Features

Create Management of Purchase Requisitions

You can define whether a purchase requisition is to be released in the ERP system or in the external system. You can thereby manage purchase requisitions from all of your ERP systems in the external system.

If the purchase requisition is subject to an external release strategy, the ERP system and the external system communicate via SOA messages. For this purpose, the following new enterprise services are available:

  • PurchaseRequestERPReleaseRequest_Out

  • PurchaseRequestERPReleaseConfirmation_In

Analysis of Purchase Requisitions

You can use transaction ME_EXT_REL_PR to analyze purchase requisitions for external release and manually send release requests to the external system.

Purchase Requisitions from the MRP Planning Run

Purchase requisitions from the MRP planning run remain in internal release, even with an external release strategy. If you want the release of these purchase requisitions to be processed externally, you can effect this by using a BAdI implementation: You must implement method POST_AFTER_SAVE of BadI MD_PURREQ_POST. In the implementation, you must call method CHECK_AND_SEND_MRP of class CL_MMPUR_PR_EXT_RELEASE.

Process

Release Purchase Requisitions Externally

You can release purchase requisitions externally.

The following graphic illustrates the process flow of a release procedure.

When you save a purchase requisition, the ERP system uses the purchase requisition data and Customizing settings to determine the release strategy (external or internal).

  • External release has the following effects:

    1. The internal release procedure in the ERP system is blocked. For example, purchase requisitions can no longer be released with transaction ME54N (Individual Release).

    2. The ERP system sends a release request to the external system.

    3. The release procedure runs in the external system.

    4. The external system sends the result of the release procedure to the ERP system.

    5. In the ERP system, the status is set to either Released or Rejected.

  • Internal release runs as usual in the ERP system.

More Information

For more information, see Release Procedure with Classification (Purchase Requisitions and Purchasing Documents).