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Material Master
MM / P2Padvanced

MM Material Master Part 4: How Material Master, Info Records and Source Lists Work Together

Key takeaway

Procurement data works as a chain: the material master defines what and when to buy, purchasing info records define supplier prices and delivery times, source lists and quota arrangements define allowed and preferred suppliers, and contracts define negotiated terms — together they drive automatic source determination and PO defaults.

Explanation

📌 KEY POINTS
✅ Info record (ME11): supplier–material price, delivery time, tolerances per purchasing org (and plant).
✅ Source list (ME01): allowed suppliers per plant and period; fixed and blocked sources; can be mandatory.
✅ Quota arrangements split requirements among suppliers.
✅ Source determination uses these to assign suppliers to requisitions and default PO data.
⚠️ Source list required but not maintained → requisitions can't be assigned or POs error.

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▶ WHERE WE ARE
Part 3 covered accounting. Now the procurement data chain.

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▶ 1. MATERIAL MASTER

  • What, how much, when (MRP), purchasing group, source list requirement.

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▶ 2. INFO RECORDS

  • Categories: standard, subcontracting, pipeline, consignment.
  • Prices/conditions, planned delivery time, tolerances, order unit.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
▶ 3. SOURCE LISTS

  • Validity periods, fixed source, blocked source, MRP relevance.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
▶ 4. QUOTA ARRANGEMENTS AND CONTRACTS

  • Quotas split volume; contracts as sources.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
▶ 5. SOURCE DETERMINATION

  • Requisitions get suppliers automatically; POs take prices from info records/contracts.

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▶ STEP BY STEP

  1. Create an info record and a source list with a fixed source.
  2. Run MRP; check requisition source.
  3. Convert to PO and check defaults.

✅ CHECKPOINT: the PO gets supplier and price without manual entry.

Code example

ABAP Code
===== STEP 1: master data =====ME11 info record: supplier 300100, material R-100, POrg 1000, plant 1000, net price 12.00, planned delivery time 10 daysME01 source list: plant 1000, supplier 300100 fixed, valid 01.01–31.12, MRP relevant 1 ===== STEP 2: quotas =====MEQ1: supplier A 60%, supplier B 40% ===== STEP 3: result =====MRP → requisition with source 300100 → ME59N automatic PO with price 12.00

Real project scenario

MRP generated unsourced requisitions although buyers had maintained info records. The materials required source lists (plant setting), but none existed for the new plant. Generating source lists from info records and contracts and keeping them in the plant extension process let automatic PO creation run again.

Common mistakes

  • Source list required but missing.
  • Info records with expired conditions.
  • Conflicting fixed sources.
  • Quotas not maintained.
  • Manual supplier assignment as routine.

Best practices

  • Maintain info records for regular buys.
  • Generate source lists from contracts/info records.
  • Review fixed sources yearly.
  • Use quotas for multi-sourcing.
  • Monitor unsourced requisitions.

Interview angle

Questions: "How do material master, info record and source list interact?", "What is a fixed source?", "Why are requisitions unsourced?"
Strong answer: roles of each object, info record categories, source list fixed/blocked/mandatory, quotas and contracts, automatic source determination and PO defaults.

Practice this lesson

Quick check

1. What does a fixed source in a source list mean?

2. MRP creates unsourced requisitions although info records exist. The plant requires source lists. What is missing?

3. A material is extended to a new plant but purchasing fails because the purchasing view was never maintained for that plant. Which statement best explains why this occurs?

Interview questions

1. A buyer creates a manufacturer part number (MPN) material to procure a component from an approved manufacturer, but the purchase order cannot display the manufacturer part field and instead processes against the internal material number only. What is the likely root cause and how do you resolve it?

Answer it in your own words first, then compare.

2. Buyers enter suppliers and prices manually on most POs. How do you set up the material master, info records and source lists to automate this?

Answer it in your own words first, then compare.

Practice more with Interview AI →

Reference-verified: the steps are checked against official SAP documentation and tutorials, and object and field names in the sample code are checked for consistency. The code has not been compiled or run on an SAP system by ERPClimb. Syntax marked release-dependent varies by SAP release, so check it in your own system.

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