Assigning Material Components to a Project

Direct procurement is initiated for the following:

• Components with item category N

• Components with item category L that have Direct procurement set in the Special procurement field either globally in the material master or individually in the BOM item

Item category non-stock item (N) is used for components that are not procured by way of warehouse stock or project/sales order stock, but are procured directly by a network activity. Purchase requisitions are passed directly to purchasing.

When goods are received, they are not placed in inventory, but instead are consumed immediately upon receipt by the requesting activity. The costs of purchased components are debited to the network activity at the time of the goods receipt.

SAP standard item category L (stock item) is entered for materials that are kept in stock (warehouse or project/sales order stock). Based on the settings in the material master, BOM, and settings and assignments in the Project System, the system generates a reservation, a reservation and purchase requisition, or only a purchase requisition. Stock items must be identified by a material master.

The stock item’s material master record includes procurement parameters that identify whether the material can be purchased, produced, or both. During the MRP run, the system nets the requirements for the material against available stock. If necessary, MRP proposes a purchase or production process to satisfy the demand.

There are various ways to assign material components to network activities. You can manually assign components or you can assign and explode the BOM. An efficient and convenient way to assign components is the BOM (transaction code CN33). In this process, the system uses common reference points that are maintained for both components in the BOM and activities for the project.