The SAP S/4HANA self-service requisitioning functionality allows employees to search and request goods or services. It does so by using a cross-catalog search or by creating items with or without using material master records.
Self-service requisitioning provides a simplified process for casual users and employees. Employees can purchase goods and services directly, while ensuring that they are following purchasing policies and pricing agreements and using preferred suppliers. This variant of the purchasing process is automated, tightly controlled, and streamlined. It uses a cross-catalog search, catalog-driven pricing logic, contract logic, and also supports an approval workflow.
If a user requests certain consumable materials only occasionally, they can use the SAP Fiori app called My Purchase Requisitions - New instead of using the SAP GUI transaction ME51N (available via the app Create Purchase Requisition - Advanced).
Self-Service Requisitioning in SAP S/4HANA
Self-Service Requisitioning is a functionality that was introduced with SAP S/4HANA. It replaces the shopping cart functionality of the SAP ERP system, which was available as of Enhancement Package 6 for SAP ERP. In SAP S/4HANA, the self-service requisitioning functionality has been completely integrated into the existing purchase requisition data structures.
In SAP S/4HANA, several SAP Fiori apps are available for an employee to carry out a self-service requisitioning process:
My Purchase Requisitions - New
Confirm Receipt of Goods - New
Note
This SAP Fiori app was introduced with SAP S/4HANA release 2020. The app Confirm Receipt of Goods was deprecated with the release of SAP S/4HANA 2021.Upload Supplier Invoices
Note
As stated before, the app Create Purchase Requisition - Advanced can also be used to create purchase requisitions, but this is not a self-service app.Cross-Content Search
In the app My Purchase Requisitions - New, an employee can search for the requested goods via a cross-content search in SAP HANA, and select the relevant item to be moved into the shopping cart. In addition to this, material master records can be used, or free-text items can be created if no relevant content is available. If necessary, small changes can be made to items, such as accounting data or delivery address changes. If no change is required, the employee can order the items directly from the screen they are working on.
Before a user orders the items which were added to the cart, they can open the item details to review or change data. It is also possible to directly order items without first reviewing the details. Ordering the items of a cart means creating a purchase requisition. For stock materials, it is possible that a reservation is created instead of a purchase requisition. This functionality must first be set-up in Customizing. Choose the menu path: SAP Customizing Implementation Guide → Materials Management → Purchasing → Purchase Requisition → Reservation → Define Material Group and Purchasing Group for Reservation.
The My Purchase Requisitions - New app has many additional features. Some examples:
Maintaining user defaults
Creating limit items
Copying, confirming, returning items
Deleting items
Maintaining the address type for an item
The address type indicates the type of the delivery address of a purchase requisition item. It can be Plant or User Entry.
It is possible to mass delete items in a particular purchase requisition by selecting multiple items and choosing Delete.
After receiving the ordered goods, the employee can confirm the receipt of the goods or services with the SAP Fiori app called Confirm Receipt of Goods - New. In this app, only the open requisitions of an employee are shown.
With the SAP Fiori app called Upload Supplier Invoices, it is possible to upload electronic invoice documents that have been stored as files in a directory. The system creates one invoice draft per file. Each uploaded file is linked as an attachment to the corresponding invoice.
All the process steps in the self-service requisitioning process are executed using SAP Fiori apps. User-specific default settings can also be maintained with a separate app: Default Settings for Users - Purchase Requisitions. Example data that can be set using this app includes:
Organizational data such as plant, storage location, company code, and purchasing organization
Account assignment category and cost center
Currency
Note
Since SAP S/4HANA 2020, a procurement catalog can be set as the default catalog for a user. This is done when the user settings and catalog information are uploaded using the Excel-based data exchange feature.
Expert mode can also be enabled for an employee, and it is also possible to choose the purchasing document type of the connected system.
As already stated, in addition to the mentioned SAP Fiori apps, the Web GUI transaction for creating purchase requisitions (ME51N) can also be called from within the SAP Fiori launchpad. This can be done using the app Create Purchase Requisition (ME51N).
Benefits of Self-Service Requisitioning
Improved employee productivity by delivering an easy-to-use and simple procurement process.
Optimized procurement process efficiency by providing catalog-based navigation.
Reduced procurement costs by providing an employee self-service solution for procurement.
Increased automatic purchase order creation rate by providing a cross-catalog search with a higher chance to automatically find the appropriate source of supply.
Decreased operational costs by integration of SAP Ariba sourcing capabilities.
Material master record does not need to be uploaded into the used catalog(s).
Manage Purchase Requisitions - Professional
If a user wants to create a purchase requisition for a lean service they can, for example, use the SAP Fiori app called Manage Purchase Requisitions - Professional.
Besides service items, it is also possible to add limit items to a purchase requisition. These limit items receive the item category Extended Limit.