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Function documentationProduct Category Hierarchies and Supplier Hierarchies Locate this document in the navigation structure

 

You can use hierarchies to group together related product categories and suppliers, making them easier to find and report on. SAP Supplier Relationship Management (SAP SRM) has three types of multilevel hierarchy:

  • Product category hierarchies

  • Supplier hierarchies

  • Central contract hierarchies

    Central contract hierarchies are specific to central contract management and are described separately under Central Contract Hierarchies.

Prerequisites

  • You have activated each type of hierarchy in Customizing for SAP Supplier Relationship Management under   SRM Server   Cross-Application Basic Settings   Activate Hierarchies for Product Categories, Suppliers, and Contracts  .

  • You have made all necessary configuration settings for the relevant hierarchy types in SAP Solution Manager under   <project name>   Configuration   SAP SRM <release>   Basic Settings for SAP SRM   Cross-Application Settings   Hierarchies  .

Features

You can use product category hierarchies and supplier hierarchies for reporting within SAP NetWeaver BI. To access the reports, go to the SAP NetWeaver documentation in SAP Help Portal at http://help.sap.com  SAP NetWeaver   SAP NetWeaver <release> Library   SAP Library   SAP NetWeaver Library   SAP NetWeaver by Key Capability   Information Integration: Key Areas   BI Content   Supplier Relationship Management   Contract Management  .

Product Category Hierarchies

Product category hierarchies provide the following:

  • Extended search of product categories

  • Import of product category hierarchies into the SAP SRM system, for example:

    • Back-end material categories from SAP ERP

    • Standard product category hierarchies (such as UNSPC, eClass)

    • Customer-defined product categories

    For information about importing external product category hierarchies, see SAP Solution Manager under   <project name>   Configuration   SAP SRM <release>   Basic Settings for SAP SRM   Cross-Application Settings   Hierarchies   Define Product Category Hierarchies  .

  • Automatic determination of supply sources

    During the sourcing process, the system selects all sources of supply that are assigned to the product category of a contract item or a supplier list entry. If no source of supply can be selected from the product category, the next superordinate product category level in the product category hierarchy is used.

Supplier Hierarchies

Supplier hierarchies provide the following:

  • Structure and model of supplier relationships

    In the back-end system, use transaction BPH to structure and model supplier relationships (for example, you have a superordinate supplier and want to assign dependent, local subsidiaries to it). For more information about how to use transaction BPH, see SAP Help Portal at http://help.sap.com  SAP ERP   SAP ERP Central Component   Cross-Application Components   SAP Business Partner (SAP BP)   Concepts   Business Partner Group Hierarchy  .

  • Hierarchy upload and download

  • Import of external supplier hierarchies into the SAP SRM system

    You can import external data sources, such as D&B family trees or your own existing supplier categories. This means that you can incorporate the latest market information into your supplier hierarchies. For example, new mergers and acquisitions in the supply base can immediately be taken into consideration in reporting. For information about importing external supplier hierarchies, go to SAP Solution Manager under   <project name>   Configuration   SAP SRM <release>   Basic Settings for SAP SRM   Cross-Application Settings   Hierarchies   Define Supplier Hierarchies  .