A compound master data type in SAP IBP is essentially a higher-level master data type that combines several individual master data types. This concept allows businesses to create and efficiently manage complex, hierarchical business structures.
Our example considers the connection between "Customer" and "Product" in a company. Usually, "Customer" and "Product" would be individual master data types in SAP IBP, each with its attributes. For instance, "Product" could have the key attribute "Product ID" and additional assigned attributes like "Product Description" and "Product Category", while "Customer" might have the key attribute "Customer ID" and additional assigned attributes like "Customer Segment" and "Customer Region."
Although these individual master data types can provide important information, combining them in real business scenarios can lead to more effective decision-making processes. This is where the compound master data type comes into play. As not all products are sold to all customers, to represent the valid combinations of products and customers, you could create a compound master data type called "CustomerProduct," which combines the master data types "Product" and "Customer." This allows for a holistic view of the relationship between customers and the products they buy. The key attributes of the assigned master data types "Product" and "Customer" will be automatically assigned as key attributes for the compound master data type "CustomerProduct", and an additional attribute, "Market Segment", can be selected for these combinations. When key figure data containing the key product ID and customer ID is loaded, the system checks against the compound master data type for valid combinations and stores data only for those.
Instead of performing isolated analyses, the company can now analyze the consolidated master data type of "CustomerProduct" to gain comprehensive insights. This could help identify the preferences of certain customer segments for specific product categories or identify sales trends.
Ultimately, the compound master data type aims to integrate related master data types to represent complex business structures better.
Note the following about compound master data types:
They are made up of two of more master data types.
They validate the data of the master data types that they are comprised of.
They define the combinations of planning attributes that can be planned.
You can specify simple, compound, reference, and external master data types as component master data types. Also, make sure that the status of the master data type you select is active or inactive.
The key attributes of the component master data types you selected are automatically added as key attributes under Assigned Attributes.
Note that a decimal attribute can't be a key attribute in a compound master data type.
You can select additional attributes other than those that are automatically included from the compound master data types.