A standard procurement process for stock material typically includes the following phases:
Requirements Determination
Typically, requirements for stock materials are determined automatically through Material Requirements Planning (MRP). MRP generates purchase requisitions or delivery schedules for externally procured materials, ensuring timely replenishment based on demand and stock levels.
Source of Supply Determination
The system supports business users in identifying potential sources of supply by referencing existing purchase orders, outline agreements, and purchasing information records. During an MRP run, the system can automatically assign a relevant source of supply to a procurement proposal - provided that a valid source exists and is eligible for automatic source determination.
Purchase Order Processing
Purchase requisitions are reviewed, adjusted if necessary, and then converted into purchase orders. This conversion can be carried out in various ways, such as individual conversion, mass conversion, or automatic conversion via background jobs.
The purchase order is the central document in the procurement process. Each purchase order item may reference a purchase requisition, a purchasing info record, or a contract (in which case it is known as a contract release order). Additionally, each item contains control data that influences subsequent process steps, for example, whether a confirmation or shipping notification is required, or whether automatic goods receipt settlement should occur. Much of this data is derived from related master data, such as the material master record, supplier master record, and purchasing info record.
Purchase orders can be modified either directly or through a change request. The change request process allows you to confirm with the supplier whether changes to quantity or delivery time are feasible before applying them.
Purchase Order Monitoring
With reference to a purchase order, you can control and monitor the overall status of the procurement process.
It allows you to track delivered and invoiced quantities, as well as monitor outstanding confirmations and pending deliveries. This visibility ensures that all steps in the procurement cycle are transparent and manageable.
Goods Receipt
The goods receipt is posted with reference to the purchase order. This posting updates the purchase order history, as well as the stock quantity and stock value. When posting the goods receipt, you can choose to post all or part of the quantity to one of the following stock types: unrestricted-use stock, stock in quality inspection, or blocked stock.
Invoice Verification
The posting of the supplier invoice also refers to the purchase order and updates the purchase order history accordingly.
This step can be automated using the automated invoice settlement procedure, which streamlines the process and reduces manual effort.
Payment Processing
Payment processing finalizes the procurement process and is handled by the finance department.
The following SAP Best Practices scenarios are based on this basic process and will be covered in the current unit:
Procurement of Direct Material (J45)
This scope item represents a basic procurement process. We recommend that you become familiar with this scenario, as it is the basis for process variants. We focus in this lesson on the following main process steps:
- Automatic creation of purchase requisitions via MRP
- Conversion of purchase requisitions into purchase orders
- Monitoring of outstanding deliveries
- Creation and processing of change requests
- Goods receipt posting
- Monitoring of stocks
- Invoice entry
Direct Procurement with Inbound Delivery (2TX)
This is also a procurement process for stock materials. The basic procurement process we discovered with the J45 scope item is extended to include the inbound delivery process. We also take the opportunity to introduce the Situation Handling framework. In this lesson, we focus on the following topics:
- Request and monitor order acknowledgments or shipping notifications from your suppliers
- Use Situation Handling to automatically detect and report critical situations regarding outstanding deliveries
- Create and process inbound deliveries
Automated Invoice Settlement (2LH)
This scenario is intended to further automate the procurement process and, therefore, the supply chain. In this scenario, supplier invoices are not sent by the supplier and entered in the system, but are generated automatically at regular intervals.
This lesson focuses on the following:
- Complete the prerequisites for the use of automated invoice settlement
- Execute a streamlined procurement process with automated invoice settlement
Return to Supplier (BMK)
To execute a supplier return process, you have two process variants that we will investigate in this lesson:
- Basic Return to Supplier
- Advanced Returns Management