Source of supply

Source of supply is determined based on the data maintained in Quota arrangment, purchase info record, source list.

The system determines the source of supply of a requested material on the basis of the following factors (in the order shown):

1. Quota arrangement
The system first determines whether a quota arrangement within whose validity period the delivery date in the requisition falls exists for the material.
If a quota arrangement exists, the system determines the vendor from whom the material is to be procured according to the quotas assigned to the vendors and then suggests the source.

If no source can be determined this way, the system checks the source list.

2. Source list
The system determines whether an entry in the source list within whose validity period the delivery date of the requisition falls exists for the material. The source in question may be a fixed vendor or an outline agreement (contract or scheduling agreement).
If the source list contains a unique source, the requisition is assigned to that source.

If several sources are found, a box appears for selection purposes.

If no source could be determined, the existing outline agreements and info records are examined.

*3. Outline agreement and info record*The system searches for contracts, scheduling agreements, and info records for the material and suggests these.
(If info records with more than one purchasing organization exist, all info records of the purchasing organization(s) that is/are responsible for procurement for the requesting plant are also suggested.)

If several outline agreements and perhaps info records exist, all possible sources are offered for selection in a box.

When an info record is found, the following two additional checks are carried out:

Check of supply region
The system checks whether a certain supply region is specified in the associated vendor master record. If so, the system checks whether the plant in the purchase requisition belongs to this region. If not, the info record is discarded as a possible source.

Check of regular vendor
The system checks whether a regular vendor has been specified for the material (that is, a vendor valid for the entire corporate group, or client). If this is the case, and it has been specified in Customizing that the regular vendor takes precedence, the info record for this vendor will be preferred as the source.