Material Containers

Definition

A group of several material planning objects (MPOs).

Use

To plan the authorized materials for force elements or positions, you can assign force elements material containers (MCs) instead of MPOs, and use the MCs as the basis for subsequent procurement processes. The use of MCs makes it easier to assign MPOs quickly because they provide predefined, recurring groups of MPOs that typically belong together, in terms of function, for instance.

For information about editing MCs, see Editing Material Objects .

Structure

Technically, the material container is implemented as the iPPE node S_DFMC.

An MPO can be contained in multiple MCs. Material containers, however, cannot contain other material containers.

Status

MCs have their own status but no validity period (in contrast to the assignment of the MC to a different object).

A material container can have the following statuses from SAP status management: Planned, Requested, Released by Material Owner, Approved, Locked, Flagged for Deletion, Deletion Requested, Obsolete , and Rejected . See also Status Networks .

Properties

You can assign properties to MCs using the following header data, tab pages, fields/field groups, and pushbuttons in the application Authorized Materials and Material Packages :

Header Data
- Material Container
  
  The unique object ID of the MC.
- Description
  
  The long name of the MC.
Basic Data tab page
- Material Owner
  
  The organizational unit (force element), position, or person that is responsible for this MC.
- Status
  
  You can use this pushbutton to change the status of the MPO.
Material Plng Object tab page
- MPO/Description
  
  The assigned MPO.
- Number
  
  The number/quantity of the materials planned on the basis of the MPO.
- Minimum Number / Maximum Number
  
  The minimum/maximum number/quantity of the materials planned on the basis of the MPO that are to be assigned.
- Material Ind.
  
  The material indicator used for the assignment.
- Status
  
  The status of the assignment of the MPO to the MC. The assignment can have the following statuses: Planned , Requested , Approved , Rejected, Locked, and Obsolete . You can choose this pushbutton to change the status of the assignment.
  
  If an assigned material planning object has component parts, you can also assign these. For more information, see MPOs as additional parts .
Classification tab page

On this tab page, you can assign an MC a class from SAP R/3 classification. For more information, see SAP Library at SAP ERP Central Component Cross-Application Components Classification.
Equipment Packages tab page

Displays the equipment packages to which the material container is assigned as a reference object (template).
WBS Elements tab page

The WBS elements assigned to the MC.
Documents tab page

As in the case of force elements, you can also assign documents to MPOs. See also Documents .
Texts tab page

In the Description field, you can define one name for each language required, if necessary. The name assigned when the MPO is created is transferred automatically for the logon language.
Force Elements or Positions/Jobs tab page

Displays the objects to which the MC is assigned as authorized materials. On this tab page, you can also make assignments. To do so, choose Create .

Storage

The properties of MCs are stored in the following tables:

Material Container

Table	Data
PNODID	iPPE node identification
PNODTX	iPPE node texts
/ISDFPS/PNMPOC	Material container basic data
/ISDFPS/PRMPOCID /ISDFPS/PRMPOC	Items

Note Note

For this object, you can define your own fields , without the need for any extra modifications. To do so, use the include CI_PNMPOC in table /ISDFPS/PNMPOC.

End of the note.