Getting Started with Master Data Maintenance

Customers and vendors that you transfer from your feeder system to the SAP GTS system are stored there automatically in the form of business partners. Business partners are used in a number of different SAP systems. They are part of the cross-application functions in SAP ECC and SAP S/4HANA, but they are also used in SAP EWM, for example.

You define the function or functions that a business partner performs for your company by assigning one or several business partner roles to it in the system. A number of specific business partner roles are supplied for SAP GTS in delivery Customizing.

Business partners for customers and vendors transferred from the feeder system are automatically assigned the corresponding business partner roles "Customer" (SLLCPC) and "Supplier" (SLLCPS) respectively in SAP GTS. Banks are created as business partners in the "Bank" (SLLBNK) role; contact persons are assigned the "Contact Person" (BUP001) role.

Basically for the purposes of document replication, you have to map all feeder system company codes and plants that are relevant for SAP GTS as business partners. You create business partners that represent company codes in the "Foreign Trade Organization" (SLLFTO) role. The same business partner may also assume the role of a "Provider of Information" (SLLPOI) in Intrastat declarations. Plants relevant to SAP GTS correspond to business partners in the "Legal Unit" (SLLSIT) role. The "Administrative Unit for Vendor Declarations" (SLLMGR) business partner role is intended for preference management.

The foreign trade organization maps your company with regard to customs and foreign trade law in SAP GTS. It is recommended that you create a separate business partner for each of the company codes and plants that are relevant for SAP GTS. In Customizing of your SAP GTS system, you assign the business partners in the foreign trade organization and legal unit roles to their feeder system counterparts, company codes and plants respectively.

In addition to business partners in the foreign trade organization and legal unit role, you might have to map customs offices, other authorities or government agencies, and data providers as business partners in SAP GTS-specific roles:

• Customs Office (SLLCOF)

• Government Agency (SLLAUT)

• Data Provider (SLLDAP)

Like a material in an SAP ECC or SAP S/4HANA feeder system, a product also consists of various data screens or views.

You can access all tabs using the Manage Products app. This app is assigned to several SAP Fiori launchpad spaces predefined by SAP.

On the Commercial Description tab, you can enter a description of the product that meets the requirements of customs authorities. This description is automatically copied from the product master to the customs declaration’s line items, where it can still be changed. If a commercial description does not exist, the SAP GTS system uses the product description, that is, the short text of the material in the feeder system. It is thus useful to add a commercial description whenever this short text does not allow unique identification of the goods for customs purpose.

On the Classification tab, you can enter customs tariff numbers and commodity codes for customs processing. The Legal Control tab is structured in a similar way: You can classify the product for import or export control.

The Preference Statements tab displays the results of preference determination or the aggregation of long-term supplier’s declarations.

For the purposes of re-export control and preference management, you can transfer the prices entered in the Accounting 1 view of the material master from the feeder system to SAP GTS. You can display the transferred information in the Manage Products app on the Prices and Values tab.

If you want to manage long-term supplier’s declarations in SAP GTS, you have to transfer two pieces of information for all relevant materials from the feeder system:

• Can the material be sold? (Does the material have sales views?)

• How is the material procured? (Which procurement indicator is entered in the MRP 2 view?)

The information is stored in the product master and can be displayed on the Procurement tab.

For some of the special procedures in the EU and for manufacturing or processing goods in a foreign-trade zone in the United States, you maintain BOMs directly in the product master on the Bill of Material tab. As a rule, only a smaller portion of the components of a product are relevant for these customs procedures. Only these components are assigned to the BOM in the product.

When maintaining a BOM on the Bill of Material tab, you establish the relationship between a component and a finished product. You therefore only maintain BOMs in the master data of finished products. The BOM provides information about the components required for the production of the product in the special procedure or in a foreign-trade zone.

For preference determination and re-export control, you transfer BOMs from your feeder system to SAP GTS. You can use the change pointer function for the transfer of new or changed data during operation as is the case with material, customer, and vendor master data.

In SAP GTS, you will find the replicas of your BOMs in the SAP Fiori launchpad using the Display Bills of Material app. This app is assigned to the Preference space delivered by SAP (Master Data page). If you transfer BOMs for re-export calculation purposes, use the Display BOMs for Re-Export app instead. You can find this app in the Compliance space on the Legal Control page.

The prices of the components and their procurement indicators are also transferred to SAP GTS when BOMs are transferred from the feeder system. Depending on price control, either the moving average price or the standard price from the Accounting 1 material master view is used.