Using Sales Document Item Categories

Objectives

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
  • Outline the structure of a sales order
  • Determine the item category

Structure of Sales Orders

The image illustrates the structure of sales documents, showing that they contain a header with customer-related data, items with material and quantity information, and schedule lines specifying delivery details for individual items. It provides a visual overview of how sales order information is organized at the item level.

A sales document consists of a header and other items, as required. The items contain important information for handling the sales process, such as conditions, texts, and partners.

Each item contains one or more schedule lines. A schedule line, for example, contains the requested delivery date. If you cannot confirm the order quantity for the requested delivery date, the system proposes delivery dates and confirms quantities.

In the Make-to-Order scenario, the following two manufacturing types are available:

  • Order manufacturing with sales order stock

  • Project manufacturing with project stock

To use project manufacturing, enter a WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) element to the sales order item. The sales order item is not a cost object. You cannot assign a statistical WBS element to a sales order item.

Item Category

The image depicts a flowchart illustrating how the Item Category influences various aspects such as Relevance for delivery Schedule lines allowed, Pricing Relevance for billing, Incompletion log, and Partner texts, demonstrating the interconnected relationships between these elements.

Each item is defined by an item category. Using the item category, it can process the same material for the various sales document types, differently.

Item Category Determination

The image shows a diagram illustrating the relationship between a material master, document types (inquiry and standard order), material item category groups, and material item categories for standard items within an enterprise resource planning or supply chain management system.

The item category is derived from the sales document type and the item category group stored in the material master record in the Basic Data and the Sales 2 view.

Summary

  • Sales orders consist of a header and items containing conditions, texts, and partners.
  • Each item includes schedule lines with delivery dates and confirmed quantities.
  • Item categories define how materials are processed in different sales document types.
  • Item category determination uses the sales document type and the item category group.