Purchasing info record

The info record contains concise information about a vendor and a material that Purchasing already
procures from that vendor. An info record thus represents a material-vendor relationship.

The info record contains:

 Data such as prices and conditions that you can store for the relevant purchasing organization or
plant

 The number of the last purchase order

 Tolerance limits for over deliveries and under deliveries

 The planned delivery time (lead time required by the vendor to deliver the material)

 Vendor evaluation data

 An indicator showing whether the vendor counts as the regular vendor for the material

 The vendor sub-range to which the material belongs

 The availability period during which the vendor can supply the material

 The info record contains quotation and ordering data. 

# Purchase info record can be maintained at the plant level or at the purchasing organization level.

Info Record

1. General data
Vendor’s material no., reminder data, order unit, etc.
2. Purchasing organization data
Delivery time, minimum quantity, gross price, freight, discounts, price history, and texts
3. Purchasing organization/Plant data
Delivery time, minimum quantity, gross price, freight, discounts, price history, and texts

There are four info records categories in the Info category section:
 Standard
Standard info record for a standard procurement type.
 Subcontracting
Subcontracting info record for a subcontracting procurement type.
 Pipeline
Pipeline info record for a pipeline procurement type.
 Consignment
Consignment info record for a consignment procurement type.
In a special scenario of consumables materials with no material number, purchasing info records are
created based on the material group.

Creating an Info Record

Purchasing info records can be created manually, or they can be created automatically
When you create POs or outline agreements.

Manual Creation
Purchasing info records can be created manually for a purchasing organization and/or plant via
Transaction ME11. Transaction ME12 can be used for updating already-created purchasing info records.
Automatic Creation
Purchasing info records can be created or updated automatically by setting the Info Update indicator
while maintaining a quotation, PO, or outline agreement.

Deleting an Info Record

You cannot delete obsolete info records immediately. You can only flag them for subsequent deletion.
Info records earmarked for deletion in this way are not actually deleted until the archiving program is
run.

Deleting an Individual Info Record

1. Choose Master data Info record Flag for deletion.

2. Enter the info record and press ENTER .

3. Specify whether you wish to delete the complete info record or the purchasing organization
data (if such data exists).

4. Save your data.

Deleting Several Info Records

1. Choose Master data Info record Follow-on functions Deletion proposals.

2. Enter the criteria for the info records to be flagged for deletion.

3. You must narrow down the selection by specifying the date of the last purchasing document to
access the info record, for example. All info records last accessed on or before this date will be proposed
for deletion.
4. To generate the deletion proposals, choose Program  Execute  .

5. Select the info records to be flagged for deletion and choose Edit  Deletion flag.

Archiving Info Records

At certain time intervals, your system administrator archives purchasing info records that have
previously been flagged for deletion. Archived documents are removed from the database.

 You archive info records as follows:

Master data Info record Follow-on functions Archive.

 You can display a list of archived purchase requisitions as follows:

Master data Info record List displays Archived info records .

Updating Info Records (Info Update)

Use

When creating or changing quotations, scheduling agreements, contracts, and purchase orders, you can
use the Info Update field to specify that the info record is to be created or updated.

Activities

If this is the case, the system performs the following actions:

Situation I InfoUpdate in purchasing System action

doc...

Info record already exists Quotation Time-dependent conditions and their supplementary conditions are
adopted

Scheduling agreement Is set as last document; order price history is updated

Contract None ( Note : the contract release order is set as last document)
Situation I InfoUpdate in purchasing System action
doc...

Purchase order I A Is set as last document; order price history is updated

I Info record does not exist Quotation Time-dependent conditions and their supplementary conditions are a
adopted

Scheduling agreement I A Is set as last document; order price history is updated

Contract Time-dependent conditions and their supplementary conditions are

a adopted

Purchase order A Is set as last document; order price history is updated

The order price history is updated even if the Info Update indicator is not set. The values of the Info
Update indicator vary according to the type of purchasing document in question.

In quotations, contracts, scheduling agreements, and in the conventional purchase order (transactions
ME21, ME22, and ME23), the Info Update indicator can have one of four different values:

The info record is not updated.

'A' = If an info record exists at plant level, it is updated. Otherwise an info record at purchasing
organization level is updated.

'B' = If plant conditions are allowed for the plant, an info record at plant level is updated.

'C' = If plant conditions are not necessary for the plant, an info record at purchasing organization level is
updated.

In the single-screen transactions for processing purchase orders (transactions ME21N, ME22N, and
ME23N), the Info Update indicator has only two possible values. Here it determines whether an info
record is updated or newly created.

If the indicator is selected, the following cases are possible:

If just one info record exists (with or without a plant), the record is updated.
If no info record exists and "Plant condition requirement" has been specified in Customizing, an info
record with a plant is created. Otherwise an info record without a plant is created.

If two info records exist, one record with a plant and one without a plant, the info record with the plant
is updated.

What is the significance of the flag info update on material data tab of the purchase order? What does
it update in the purchase info record? What fields? Does it update only General data of the purchase
info record or plant specific purchase organisation data and condition types?

Answer:

We have two options:

1. Create info record manually.

2. System generates the info record.

In second case, when we give the tick in the check box of info update, system generates the info record
when we save the PO.

System copies:

1. General data-Order unit & conversion of base unit of measure & order unit.
2. Pur.Org. data-Pur.group, tax code, latest PO number & its date, PO text maintained in material
master.

Uses of Info record update tick

Determines whether the prices and conditions of this purchase order are suggested in future PO items.

Selecting Info Update causes one of the following situations to occur:

If just one info record (with or without plant) exists, it is updated.

If no info record exists and "plant condition requirement" was specified in Customizing, an info record
with plant is created Otherwise, an info record without plant is created.
If two info records exist (that is, one info record with plant and one without plant) the info record with
plant is updated.

Info Record Condition tab

If you flag the Info update indicator in the PO the info record gets created, but with no conditions tab.

Conditions tab is created only when you create an info record manually.Only the conditions keep getting
updated in order price history table, which retrieves the PO price when you create a PO.

If you tick the info update in PO, the Info record is created for the Conditions you have specified in trxn
OMF0

Configuration Path

Spro -> MM -> Purchasing -> Conditions -> Define Condition Control at Plant Level

How to create a Purchase Info Record

Purchase info records can be created for every type of procurement, and are processed using the
transaction code ME11.

Step 1)

1. Enter transaction ME11 in command prompt.

2. Key for creating the info record is Vendor/Material combination. You can enter purchasing
organization and/or Plant.
3. You have to choose an info category for desired procurement type. Press ENTER to proceed to
the next screen.
Step 2)

 Info Record General Data. This information is maintained for all procurement types (maintained only
once for all: Standard, Subcontracting, Pipeline, Consignment)

1. Reminder 1, 2, 3:
These three fields indicate remainders to be issued to vendor. Negative value indicates that the vendor
should be prior to quotation or delivery date.

2. Vendor Mat.No./ Subrange and VSR Sort No.: 

 Vendor Material Number field is used in case vendor uses the different number for the particular
material that which is use by company, for identification purpose, this number is mention in a
Purchase Order.
 Vendor Sub- range is use to sub divide vendor product into different ranges.
 VSR Sort No. is use in Purchase Order as a default value for the order items number.

3. Vendor Mat Grp/ Points:

 Material group used by the vendor for the particular material.
 If vendor grant points, which can be used for subsequent settlement, you can enter that here.
Salesperson/ Telephone:
Name of salesperson
Contact of salesperson or representative

Return Agmt/ Prior Vendor:

Return agreement specifies the agreement between the client and the vendor for the return of the
material.
The prior vendor is a vendor who is one step back in the supply chain from your vendor. Generally,
prior vendor is a manufacturer of the material.

Order Unit/ Conversion/ Var order unit:

Order unit is the unit of measure in which material is order. This order unit is defaulted from the
material master record and adopted in all purchase orders for this material and from this vendor.
Conversion is useful when the base unit of material differs from the order unit.
Variable Order unit is use when material can be order in more than one unit of measure enter 1 in this
field.

Certif. Cat:
Type of certificate issued to the vendor.

Certificate/ Valid To
Here you can mention certificate number issued in the country of origin.
You can mention the date until which the certificate of origin is valid.

City of Origin/ Region/ Number/ Manufacturer

You can enter the city of origin and region.
In Number field, you can enter customs tariff number.
In the Manufacturer field, you can mention the name of the manufacturer fo the material.  The system
will adopt this name in the purchase order.

Available From/ To
If this vendor can supply the material only during the specific period, specify the date over here.

Regular Vendor
This indicator can be set for only one info record for each material. If the use of a regular vendor is
permitted and is configured for a specific plant in Customizing, the regular vendor will always be
suggested during source determination.
After entering all the desired data, we can click the button Purch. Org. Data 1 to be transferred to the
screen for entering Purchase Organization dependent information.

Step 3) 

This view is maintained separately for every procurement type. We have chosen Standard procurement
type, and we can populate several relevant fields here.

1. Planned delivery time: default time in days in which the material delivery is planned.
2. Purchasing group: purchasing group mentioned in material master lessons.
3. Standard quantity: standard purchase quantity for material.
4. Minimum quantity: do not allow procurement of a quantity less than stated here.
5. Maximum quantity: we do not want to purchase more than this quantity at a time.
6. Net price: net price of material per procurement unit.
7. Incoterms: Commonly-used trading terms that comply with the standards established by the
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
8. No M text: Specifies whether the info record PO text is to be copied into the purchasing document
item.
Step 4) 

Press the Conditions button.

The next screen is used for maintaining pricing conditions and as you can see, price that was entered on
the previous screen was transferred to this screen.

1. Condition type: you can enter a condition type in this field.

2. Amount per unit: in these 4 fields you can enter an amount and amount unit (for example 2.800
EUR) and quantity for which this amount is valid (1 PAL).
3. Valid from
4. Valid to. Fields 3 and 4 represent a validity period for condition(s). It means that this condition is
valid from 10.05.2013. until 31.12.9999. (infinite future validity).
Info Record Note: You can enter info record note, tick on the checkbox of info record note to active it.
Purchase Order Text:  It will get copy to Purchase Order.

Texts in the Info Record

PO text in info record
This text serves to describe the order item and corresponds to the PO text in the material master record.
It is adopted in the PO item and included in the printout.
Short text
For material that has a material master record, the short text (short description) is adopted directly from
the material master record in the PO or the outline purchase agreement.

PO Text in Info Record VS PO Text in Material Master Record

For an info record linked to a material master record, you can specify for each purchasing organization
whether:
Only the info record PO text is to be displayed and printed in purchasing documents
(To do so, set the indicator No m. text in the purchasing organization data of the info record.)
Or

Both the info record PO text and the material master record PO text are to be displayed and printed in
purchasing documents Both texts are displayed and printed if the indicator No m. text is not set.

Q: Is it possible to create info record without material number?

Yes you can create Info record without material no. but you have create it for material group. Go to
ME11 and only enter vendor, Purchasing organization, and Plant don't enter material no. and again
enter maintain material group and require data for Material group.

Q: For items without material number/master I tried to generate an info record for the material
group. When I enter the no. of the info record, everything works fine. But the info record is not
automatically found, if I only enter the material group no?

A: You can do one thing for it....Do try to have a source list with the material group...and make it FIX...so
this it could be possible...
Otherwise from info record only...i don't think it’s possible....And it don't sense because if you have N
number of info record with the same material group then how will it come into PO....

Q: Is it possible to get the info record no to automatically populate in the PO without using a material
master, and if yes, how?
A:

Q: Is it possible to create Info record without plant and purchasing organization?

A: When u create info record without plant and purchase org obviously you cannot maintain purchase
details. U can maintain only general data. SO PUR ORG is mandatory.
If you want to maintain one info rec for all the plants then you should have common pur org (for ex ref
pur org, central pur org) that is to be assigned with all the plants. This is not only applicable for info
record also for one common p.o for all plants. That is one of the purpose of central and ref pur org.

Q: Purchasing info record in customizing?

A: Creation of Info record automatically is not a configuration setting. It is controlled from Transaction of
purchase order. While creating purchase order, in item Details, material tab there is a check box "info
Update". If this check box is enabled system will generate a new info record while saving the PO if there
is no Info record exist for the material vendor combination else it will update the existing info record.
In order to stop this permanently to create info record you need to UN tick this check box by configuring
a buyers group and defining default values as blank for this field.
You can carry out this activity in following configuration node:
SPRO > Materials management > Purchasing >Environment data >Define default values for buyers
>Settings for Default values

Q: To create plant specific info records?

A: If you want to update info records with plant. You need to configure Default values for buyers &
assign the same to the user.
SPRO-> MM-> Purchasing-> Environment Data-> Define Default Values for Buyers-> Settings for default
values
In that for info record Update select the indicator 'B' based on your requirement. Please go through the
other tabs also before assigning to the user. You assign default values that you maintained in
Customizing to a user by entering the key of the default value in the user master record under the
parameter ID "EVO".

Q: Scales in PIR?
A: Scale is used for picking price as per quantity. Scales are divided into levels that have different values.
A scale consists of a scale header, which includes general information about the scale (scale base type,
scale type, rounding rule)
An unlimited amount of scale levels, each of which is made up of a value (such as weight, volume, postal
code or distance) and a calculation type.
Each scale is an independent piece of master data that can be used in many different condition records.
When you create a condition record, you can also maintain the condition rates or condition percentage
rates according to the assigned scales.

Steps to define Scales in PIR:

1. Go to ME12 t code.
2. Enter the PIR number, Organizational data, execute
3. Click on the conditions tab...
4. Select condition and go to scales.
5. Chose the type of scale....Define scales for each single condition....
6. Execute and save...
The scales for the info record are stored in table KONM - Quantity scales
KONW - Value scales.
E.G:
Imagine you have Vendor who has agreed to provide you a material in the following prices:
0-100 - $10
101-250 - $9.50
>251 - $9.00
Based on this the system will fetch the prices into the PO automatically referring the quantity mentioned
in the PO. For instance if the PO has a qty of 300 the system the relevant price of $9 into the PO. You can
test this as well just by changing the qty in the PO.
Now these scales can be maintained for the Vendor and Material combination in the following
transactions:
MEK1 - Pricing Condition Records
ME11 - Purchasing Info Record (conditions tab)
ME31K - Contracts (item conditions)

Q: How to map the scaling condition for every month, whereby, the pricing of the purchase order in
PO is system-dependent.

A:  Not possible with scale maintain