Source Determination
Hint
The EFB user parameter (function authorizations in purchasing) enables you to exclude certain users from manually assigning sources of supply.
Source Determination and Related Transactions or Apps
Source determination takes place when creating a purchase requisition either during the MRP run or manually. Later in the course, we will learn that the logic for source determination differs depending on whether we are talking about the MRP run or the manual creation and processing of purchase requisitions.
The following table lists some transactions (back-end system) or apps (SAP Fiori launchpad) where source determination can be performed:
Source Determination and Related Transactions or Apps
Function Transactions or Apps
Execute planning run
MD01, MD01N, MD02, MD03
Manage Material Coverage, Schedule MRP Runs
Create purchase requisition
ME51N
Create Purchase Requisition - Advanced, Manage Purchase Requisitions - Professional
Assign source of supply to purchase requisitions
ME56
Assign Source of Supply to Purchase Requisitions
Assign and process purchase requisitions
ME57
Assign and Process Purchase Requisitions, Process Purchase Requisitions
Create purchase order, where vendor is unknown
ME25
Create Purchase Order - With Source Determination
Convert a planned order into a purchase requisition
MD14, MD15
Convert Planned Orders - to Purchase Requisitions
Source List Functions
Data in the Source List Record
Each source list record consists of the following data:
Validity period:
This is the period in which the settings made in the source list are valid. The reference date checked against these periods varies:
In manual source determination, the period always refers to the delivery date of a purchase requisition.
In source determination via material requirements planning (MRP), the period always refers to the requirements date.
Note
For materials that are planned according to the reorder point procedure, the requirement date is the current date.
Key source data:
This includes the supplier number and the responsible purchasing organization number. It can also be the item of an outline agreement, such as a scheduling agreement or a contract, representing the source of supply for the material.
Procurement plant:
If the material is to be procured from another plant, enter the plant number in the PPl (Procurement Plnt) field, and do not enter any supplier number or outline agreement item number. The plant is only determined as source of supply for a purchase requisition item with the U (Stock transfer) item type. For purchase requisitions that are created in the planning run, the materials require a corresponding special procurement type in the MRP data of the material master record.
Fixed source:
The Fix checkbox enables you to define a source as a fixed source of supply for source determination. This fixed source is then used in all cases except the planning run. You can mark only one source of the same type, such as info record or outline agreement item, as fixed at one time. If you mark both an info record and an outline agreement item as fixed, the outline agreement item has priority.
Blocked source:
The Blk (Blocked Source of Supply) checkbox enables you to block a source of supply. If you block a source of supply, you cannot use the info record or outline agreement item during the source determination process, and you cannot create a purchase order or requisition with this source.
Hint
If you select the Blk checkbox and do not enter a supplier but only a validity period, the material is excluded from external procurement. This means that you cannot order or request that material in the concerned plant during the specified validity period.
MRP indicator:
The MRP (Use in Materials Planning) field enables you to control whether a source is considered during the planning run. You do this by setting the indicator to 1. If this source is a scheduling agreement item, by setting the indicator as 2, you can also directly generate scheduling agreement schedule lines. You can mark multiple source list entries as MRP-relevant if you want to use them in a quota arrangement.
Note
When working without a source list and having multiple sources for a material, MRP is able to determine a suitable source of supply according to a certain logic that we will learn in the lesson "Identifying Additional Aspects of Source Determination". You can use the source list and the MRP indicator to override this logic.
Caution
The source list does not check whether an outline agreement is already completely exhausted. To enable this check, you can create, together with the source list, a quota arrangement in which you define the outline agreement target quantity as the maximum quantity.
Source List in the SAP Fiori Launchpad
If you want to maintain the source list in the SAP Fiori launchpad, use the Manage Source Lists app, which is located in the Source of Supply Management tile group. The functions are almost identical to the GUI transaction ME01. Only the validity periods are not defaulted automatically.
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