Setting up the Transfer of Master Data and Documents

You transfer all customer, vendor, and material master data, and if applicable, bills of material (BOMs) relevant for preference determination and re-export control, from your feeder system to the SAP GTS system using Remote Function Calls (RFC).

A distinction must be made between the initial data transfer when the SAP GTS system is set up and regular transfers of new or changed data during operation. For the initial data transfer from SAP ECC or SAP S/4HANA, you use transactions Initial Transfer of Material Masters to SAP GTS (transaction code /SAPSLL/MATMAS_DIRR3), Initial Transfer of Customers to SAP GTS (transaction code /SAPSLL/DEBMAS_DIRR3), Initial Transfer of Vendors to SAP GTS (transaction code /SAPSLL/CREMAS_DIRR3) and, if necessary, Initial Transfer of Bills of Material (transaction code /SAPSLL/BOMMAT_DIRR3).

In an SAP S/4HANA system, you can use SAP Fiori apps to schedule the transfer of master data for background processing instead.

After the initial transfer of all relevant master data, you use an Application Link Enabling (ALE) service, the change pointers, for regular automated master data transfer.

The change pointer creates a connection between change documents and the corresponding message type. When creating or changing a master record, the application program checks whether the change pointer function is activated. If the function is activated, the system saves a change pointer to the database.

For SAP GTS purposes, so-called reduced message types are used. Message types denote the data that can be exchanged between systems in ALE or EDI scenarios, for example, MATMAS for material masters, CREMAS for vendor masters, and DEBMAS for customer masters.

In the delivery Customizing of your SAP ECC or SAP S/4HANA system, you find the following message types for the replication of master data relevant for SAP GTS using change pointers:

• /SAPSLL/BNKMAS_SLL (banks)

• /SAPSLL/BOMMAT_SLL (BOMs)

• /SAPSLL/CREMAS_SLL (vendors)

• /SAPSLL/DEBMAS_SLL (customers)

• /SAPSLL/MATMAS_SLL (materials)

If the change pointer function is used for a reduced message type, only changes made to the selected fields generate change pointers.

As a rule, the change pointers are evaluated in the background using the RBDMIDOC program. In ALE scenarios, this program generates IDocs for all new and changed data records. The function modules assigned to the reduced message types for master data transfer to SAP GTS generate RFCs instead.

By scheduling the RBDMIDOC program regularly as a periodic background job, you ensure that all new master data and all relevant changes to existing master data are promptly available in SAP GTS.

Before you can use the application areas within Compliance Management and Customs Management, the documents that are created in the feeder system prior to or during an import or export process (such as purchase orders, sales orders, and billing documents) require counterparts in the SAP GTS system. Therefore, these documents must be replicated in SAP GTS in the form of customs documents, customs shipments, and customs declarations, depending on the application area they are meant for.

To ensure that all documents required for the various application areas in SAP GTS are transferred, you have to flag the respective document types as relevant for SAP GTS in the feeder system. In the Customizing of the SAP ECC system, choose Sales and Distribution → Foreign Trade/Customs → SAP Global Trade Services - Plug-In → Control Data for Transfer to SAP Global Trade Services → Configure Control Settings for Document Transfer. In SAP S/4HANA, choose Integration with Other SAP Components → Integration with Governance, Risk and Compliance → SAP Global Trade Services → Control Data for Transfer to SAP Global Trade Services → Configure Control Settings for Document Transfer.

In an SAP S/4HANA feeder system, you can restrict document transfer using the company code in addition to the document type (Activation Level field). You specify the relevant company codes in the Document Type/Company Codes subfolder.

You will find three application levels for each basic process: MM0A, MM0B, and MM0C for inbound processes; and SD0A,SD0B, and SD0C for outbound processes. Each application level groups together document categories according to their respective function in the process. For example, MM0A is the application level of purchasing documents.

From the details of each application level, you can see for which group of application areas in SAP GTS the documents can be used. For example, you can transfer sales documents (application level SD0A) to SAP GTS to allow the replicas to be checked in Compliance Management. The option to transfer documents for Risk Management (letter of credit and restitution application areas) is only relevant for SAP GTS 11.0.