Typing a price every time you buy the same thing from the same vendor is wasted effort. Info records and outline agreements exist to make repeat buying efficient.
Purchasing info records
A purchasing info record holds information for a specific vendor and material combination, created with ME11.
| Field | Content |
|---|---|
| Price | Purchase price, held as a condition record with validity dates |
| Planned delivery time | Typical days from order to delivery |
| Vendor material number | The supplier own part number, printable on the order |
| Minimum order quantity | The smallest orderable lot |
| Over/under delivery tolerance | How much quantity variance is acceptable |
| GR processing time | Days from receipt to availability |
With an info record, prices default onto orders, and MRP has the information it needs to select a source automatically.
Outline agreements
An outline agreement records longer-term terms: a thousand units over a year at 800 each, held as a document in SAP.
| Aspect | Contract | Scheduling agreement |
|---|---|---|
| How deliveries are called | Individual release orders reference the contract | Schedule lines on the agreement itself |
| Number of documents | One contract plus many orders | One agreement |
| Suited to | Irregular ordering | Regular or JIT delivery |
| Transaction | ME31K | ME31L |
Two kinds of contract
| Kind | Code | Ceiling | Suited to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quantity contract | MK | A quantity โ a thousand units a year | Clearly defined items with predictable volume |
| Value contract | WK | A value โ five million a year | Many or unspecified items |
Quantity contracts commit to buying a volume of a specific material. Value contracts set a spend ceiling without restricting the items, which suits stationery and consumables where the range is wide.
Either way, release orders reference the agreement and consume against it, with a warning or error when the ceiling is reached.
Scheduling agreements
A scheduling agreement combines the contract and the delivery instruction in one document, with schedule lines appended over time.
It suits JIT supply, as in automotive, where updating the schedule replaces issuing a purchase order for every delivery.
| Kind | Content |
|---|---|
| Forecast delivery schedule | Medium-term expectation, for the supplier own planning |
| JIT delivery schedule | Firm near-term instructions, down to the day or hour |
Quota arrangements
Where a material is bought from several suppliers in set proportions, a quota arrangement defines the split โ sixty per cent from A, forty from B โ and MRP allocates accordingly.
It is used to avoid dependence on a single source and to keep several supplier relationships alive.