There are the following main kinds of purchasing info records:
Info records with a material master record, such as stock material:
You specify the relationship between a material with a material master record and a supplier.
When you create a purchasing info record for stock material, you use the info category to specify the type of procurement for which the info record is relevant:
Standard
Subcontracting
Pipeline
There is no purchase order in pipeline processing. Here, the price from the info record is used to calculate the liability when withdrawing from the pipeline.
Consignment
Consignment orders do not contain any price. The condition from the consignment info record is used to calculate the liability when withdrawing the consignment stock.
Note
The consignment and pipeline processes are discussed in detail in the S4510 (Inventory Management and Physical Inventory) course.Info records without a material master record, such as consumable material:
You specify the relationship between a material group and a supplier.
When you create a purchase requisition item manually without a material master record, a purchasing info record for the material group can be proposed automatically as a source of supply.
When you create a purchase order, however, the system does not automatically propose info records for material groups as a source of supply. However, you can select and assign them: In the item overview of transaction ME21N, use the search help Info Records per Material Group (Non-Stock Material) on the Info record field. The purchase order unit and the material group are used as search criteria.
When you create a purchasing info record without a material, you use the info category to specify the type of procurement for which the info record is relevant:
Standard
Subcontracting
Note
Pipeline and consignment info records are only possible with material.Note
Info records without material can also be created for external processing. These can have the Subcontracting or Standard info category and are used in routings. When a production order is created with an external processing operation for which an info record has been entered, a purchase requisition with account assignment is automatically generated for external processing.