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SAP Materials Management Sample Chapter Purchase Requisition Release by ERPtips
SAP Materials Management Sample Chapter Purchase Requisition Release by ERPtips
Release Procedure
The following four-step process leads you through the setup and implementation
of the Release procedure. Each step offers tips so you can you tiptoe through the
potential minefield of “gotchas.”
If you require the cost center on the requisition, you do not have to require
the general ledger (G/L) account number; but you should, because most users
do not know how to select the correct G/L account.
If you do not require the G/L account on the purchase requisition, it is not
required on the purchase order (without a custom developed user/field exit).
If your purchasing agent forgets to add the G/L account, the receiving
department gets an error when it tries to receive because SAP does not know
how to post the material document.
The table below illustrates the example I will follow here. I determine the release
strategy with two values:
1. Purchasing group
2. Overall value of purchase requisition
Step 2: Configuration
These 6 tasks are performed in configuring a release procedure:
1. Create characteristics
2. Create class (assigning characteristics to class)
3. Create release groups
4. Create release codes
5. Create release indicator
6. Create release strategies
7. Workflow: Assign release codes to a release point
The following sections guide you through each of these tasks.
Create Characteristics
Earlier in Step 1: Determine the Corporate Purchasing Approval Matrix, you
probably developed an approval matrix in Excel or on a napkin. Now you need to
translate that release strategy. Ask, “What parameters determine who
approves?”
In the scenario approval matrix table, the parameters that determine the approval
person are:
• Department requesting the purchase
• Overall amount of the purchase.
These two parameters equate to characteristics. The characteristics must be
represented by values entered in the purchasing document. In this scenario, the
characteristics are:
• Purchasing group (representing the department)
• Overall value of requisition
The following numbered tasks will guide you through everything necessary to
configure your release procedure.
1. To determine what parameters are available as characteristics, run
transaction SE11 and view table CEBAN. This table stores the fields that are
available in the release strategy determination. The Characteristics screen
shows where to correlate the characteristic from the CEBAN table to the field
used for determination.
SAPTip 3
If the field you want to use for the release strategy does not exist in the
CEBAN communication structure (a custom field, for example), you can use the
following user exits:
• M06B0003 – For item-wise release
• M06B0005 – For overall release
2. Navigate to the IMG and follow the menu path:
Materials Management Æ Purchasing Æ Purchase Requisition Æ Release
Procedure Æ Procedure with Classification Æ Edit Characteristics
Or Transaction Code: CT04
3. Enter a name for the first characteristic in the Characteristic field and click
the Create icon:
4. Review the field definitions in the table below and enter the appropriate
information on the Basic Data tab as shown:
Field Value
Description Purchase Requisition Value
Data Type CURR
Number of Chars 15
Currency USD
Template (click enter and it will default)
Value assignment Select Single-value and Interval vals
allowed
Field Value
Table Name CEBAN
Field Name GFWRT
The Reference to Table field is what links the fields on the Purchase
Requisition to the characteristic value. This is the information you gathered when
reviewing table CEBAN in transaction SE16 which is the Data Browser for SAP
Tables.
SAPTip 4
If you are working in a release Pre-ECC, notice that the box Not Ready
for Input is checked in the Procedure for Value Assignment area. (I cannot tell
you how many times this has stung me!) Make sure you deselect it. Otherwise, it
stops assignment of a value to your characteristic causing your release strategy
to fail!
Having the Not Ready for Input box checked does serve a purpose – when the
value is inferred by object dependencies, which is only applicable in the Sales
SAP carries over default values from the field definition in the CEBAN
table to the value assignment portion (shown on the Basic Data tab). Pay close
attention to whether SAP allows intervals (needed for a range of values, like
value of requisition) and whether it allows multiple values (needed if you plan to
use one release strategy for multiple departments or purchasing groups). Using
one release strategy for multiple departments has many advantages, including
easier configuration and security role setup.
Repeat the same steps for all characteristics that you need to maintain for
your release strategy. In this example, we repeated steps 1-6 to create
characteristic PURCHASING_GROUP with Table Name CEBAN and Field
Name EKGRP.
Create Class
Now that you have created your characteristics, you must assign them to a class.
To create the class, do the following:
1. Navigate to the IMG and follow the menu path:
Materials Management Æ Purchasing Æ Purchase Requisition Æ Release
Procedure Æ Procedure with Classification Æ Edit Classes
Or Transaction Code: CL02
2. Enter the following data on the Class screen and click the Create icon:
Field Value
Class purchase_release
Class type 032 – this is the class type for release
strategies
3. Enter this data on the Basic Data tab:
Field Value
Description Purchase Requisition Release Strategy
Status 1 Released
Field Value
Char. Enter the characteristics you have defined
to be used for your release strategy
3. Click on
4. Enter the following data:
Field Value
Rel.Grp You can have multiple release groups
utilizing the same class. Each release
group can have different release strategies
assigned to it.
Here, we entered G1 and G2 since we will
have two release groups in our Release
Strategy.
Rel.Obj. 1
OvRelPReq Check the OvRelPReq (Overall Release of
Purchase Requisitions) box
Class Enter PURCHASE_RELEASE. This is the
name of the class you created in the
previous step.
Description You can use a generic description or a
specific description here. In this example, I
made a specific description of the
department to which the Release Group
applies – but release groups can be shared
across departments.
You can only have a single class per release type. Release type is
defined as “overall release” or “item-wise release.” This can be quite limiting if
you have a complex approval structure. You can have characteristics that are
assigned to the class but not utilized in the release strategy.
3. Click on
4. Enter the following data:
Field Value
Grp This is the release group(s) created in the
previous step.
Code This is the release code, which represents
the 'level' of approval.
Workflow See SAPTip 7 below
Description Describe the level of the approver. You can
make this description generic if the release
strategy will be used across multiple
departments.
SAPTip 7
You can utilize a customer user exit for purchase requisitions, M06B0001,
to define the workflow and generate notification and work list objects for the
person responsible for the approval.
Field Value
Field Selection Key In the standard system, SAP will not allow
changes to the quantity, unit of measure, or
price when an approver is executing the
release transaction. If you require that other
fields, such as delivery date, plant, etc., not
be modified via the release transaction,
follow SAPTip 8.
Field Value
Changeabil. It is possible to configure the release not to
be restarted if the amounts have only
changed a specified percentage. Option 4
allows the user to change the purchase
requisition and requires any existing
approvals to be re-approved only if the
value change (maintained in the next field)
exceeds a specified percentage change.
SAPTip 8
If you want to allow changes to certain fields during or after a release, you
can modify the field selection key. To modify the Field Selection Key, follow the
menu path in the IMG:
Materials Management Æ Purchasing Æ Purchase Requisition Æ Define Screen
Layout at Document level.
The standard field selection key is FZ01. You can copy it and maintain your
changes. Once you create a custom field selection key, you should also create a
custom release indicator by maintaining a new entry in the Create Release
Indicators screen.
3. Click
4. Enter the following:
Field Value
Release Group Enter the identifier for the release group you
configured in the Create Release Group
section of this unit.
Release Strategy Enter a 2-digit code for your release
strategy.
Field Value
Release codes List all the releases required for this level of
release.
5. Click on
This level only has one release code, so the screen will look like this:
6. Click . When you have more than one Release Code, see the
following note.
A director usually wants the manager to approve the expense before having
to approve it. Completing the Release Prerequisites screen is easy even
though it is confusing at first – I just check the boxes in the lower left corner
to note the prerequisite approvals, as shown below:
7. Click on
Review the release statuses. If you configured a new status, change it here
and click .
SAPTip 9
10. Click on .
There is nothing really to simulate here since there is only one level. The
following screen shot shows a release strategy with 3 levels.
Clicking the button on the final release code (R4 here) returns
this simulation screen:
Step 3: Security
Security can be the most time consuming activity in developing release
strategies, particularly if you have multiple characteristics defining your release
strategies along with multiple release levels. Here is where our recurring theme
“Keep it Simple” counts.
You may want the job security for your Basis Security Administrators, but you
also want the change process to be simple so you can react quickly when that all
too common company reorganization happens.
SAPTip 10
In this unit, we laid the groundwork and provided some advanced tips to help a
SAP MM Configurator’s journey to developing a purchasing approval solution.