MDM Internal number Assignment

[Former Member]

Hi Experts,

Need your guidence on the below scenario.

1. how is the internal number assignment configuration done in MDM ( where the number is generated as soon as you save the records in the repository)

2. ECC has internal number generation for FERT Material, and i am creating a record in MDM which also has internal number generation whose number range match with the ECC number range for material type FERT. what is the configuration required to syndicate the record from MDM to ECC ( as ECC has internal number generation).

Thanks in Advance.

[Former Member]

Hi Sandhya,

Both your queries are well handled in the following blog :

http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/go/portal/prtroot/docs/library/uuid/40155eaa-6437-2e10-afbc-de54b3132...

The number ranges are defined in ECC in SPRO settings depending on Material Type values,corresponding settings are done in SAP MDM using qualified number ranges defining a set of number range sdepending on Material Type.

Hope it helps!

Thanks,

Ravi

[Former Member]

Hi Ravi,

Thanks for the reply.. i have gone through the document which says that the number is generated only when the record is syndicated to the corresponding remote system.

1. my organization has the internal number generation in MDM where the number gets generated as soon as u save the record( much before the record is syndicated to ECC)

2. in ECC the number generation is internal for FERT in my organization ( in the document we are asked to assign an external number range to the material type.) but the records are created in MDM and syndicated to ECC how does this happen as ECC has internal number assignment.

This is the present scenario in my company but i am not sure how the system handels this.

Please let me get a clear picture on how this is being handeled by the system

Rgds,

SS

[Former Member]

Hi Sandhya,

Now i see what do you mean

Yes you are right in ECC we maintain internal number range and SAP recommends that,this is because the number range coming from MDM (in this case) will only have numeric characters like 21000000 to 29999999 and there is better control over the number ranges,there can be no messing up of the number sequence.

Whereas,external number ranges in ECC are generally used where we also have a alphanumeric characters like A to ZZZZZZZ,here consistency has to checked externally.

Also,there is a table in ECC which stores a counter and the number coming from external system.

This table counter only gets updated if there is external number generation,this is by design.

Thanks,

Ravi

[Former Member]

Hi Ravi,

Yes you are right.

Now my question is why does ECC accept the numbers from MDM ( during syndication) even though it has internal number range for the material types?

becaus as per my understanding ECC should not accept the numbers from external source as it has been configured to allocate the internal number for the materials?

[Former Member]

Hi Sandhya

As long as the number generated in MDM is as per the number range defined in ECC for that material type, it does not matter if the number range is Internal or external in ECC.

There is also an alternative approach for handling the situation-

1. We can call ECC BAPIs for assigning the numbers as per ECC number generation logic to generate numbers in MDM.

2. We can also use calculated field based on Auto ID for replicating the number ranges in ECC.

3. Generate numbers on syndication based on remote System key range as explained in link provided.

Thanks-Ravi

[Former Member]

Hi Sandhya,

Its a difficult thing to comment why the design is like this,there is a purpose why it is made such.

Suppose you create a Material in MDM system 100010002000(say) and ECC system is defined for internal number generation.

You send the material through PI to ECC as idoc.

And torrow MDM system goes down or there is a business requirement because of which you have to create Material in ECC.

This will require huge manual intervention and possibility of error is quiet high if Number range is defined as external.

Whereas if it is Internal (as in your case) ECC takes care of the number range and the sequence.

The ALE processing of idoc does not update the status of the current number range used.You can goto MMNR to check this for Material,xkn1 for Vendor.And this is the major concern with external number generation definition in ECC.

For further detaills regarding Material number range please go through :

http://saptechsolutions.com/pdf/MaterialNumberRangesAndFormatting.pdf

Hope this helps!

Thanks,

Ravi

[Former Member]

Hi All,

Thanks for the replies.

My understanding after going through the above thread is

1. Internal number range in MDM and Inter number range in ECC should be same for a given Material type

Eg :Material type - FERT in MDM has 1-1000 number range and in ECC as well FERT should have 1-1000 number range (Internal)

2. when a FERT material is created in MDM and pushed to ECC through XI using IDOCS the syndication happens irrespective of the Number assignment in ECC being internal or External i.e the material is created in ECC even if the material type FERT has internal number assignment in ECC

3. when a FERT material is created in MDM (which has internal number assignment configured through the qualifier field in the remote systme in Console) the number is generated on the spot in MDM even before syndication(through generic number service)

please let me know if my understanding is wrong on any of the above points

Thanks to all for your valuable feedback

Regards

SS

[Former Member]

Hi Sandhya,

please find my comments below:

1.yes this should always be the case to maintain number range consistency.

2.yes idocs flow in and out of ECC to MDM via PI,and this is independent of Internal/External definition of Number generation in ECC.

3.When you create a record in MDM,the Material number is generated in MDM at the time of syndication.

When you create a record Material Number gets created but is stored in Remote Key Value field and Material Number field does not have any data at that point.

In case we are using BAPI function call to some other system for number generation this number gets generated in that system and is updated in MDM.

Please close the thread marking as answered if you are satisfied.

Thanks,

Ravi

[Former Member]

Hi Ravi,

Thanks for the replies.

First two points are clear they third one is clear aswell but...

As told that in my previous company when we create a material customer or vendor in MDM for which the number generation is internal.we save the record after giving the required detils (leaving the material number or customer number field blank) then we.go to a tab called "generic number service" where we click on generate number. and then the number gets generated for the material , customer or vendor. how is this being done?

Rgds

SS

[Former Member]

Hi Sandhya,

In MDM number generated are only populated in the Material number/Customer Number fields after syndication in done.

In Many implementation it is tried to have material number before syndication during the course of approval itself by a workaround in MDM,this is done by a dummy syndication.This dummy syndication will hold value of Material number in Remote Key Value field,that value is captured and is reimported in MDM.

In some implementations there is a 3rdsystem generating Material Number,a BAPI function calls reserves a number in ECC,so a material is created in ECC before being finally approved in MDM.Later when approval is done,that material is updated and is active for PO generation etc.

In other cases,there can be a dedicated system generating Material Number based on particular format.MDM will get that into using any interface/call MDM system.

So on click of that "Generic Number service" any of the cases could be running behind,only your Functionla document can reveal that.

Hope that Helps!

Thanks,

Ravi

[Former Member]

HI Sandhya,

Is there something which you are not clear with?otherwise please close the thread.

Thanks,

Ravi

[Former Member]

Hi Ravi,

I am trying to figureout the exact procedure implemented to achieve the number generation when the record is saved. will close the thred once i can give the explanation on how to achieve it

Thanks

SS

[Former Member]

Hi Sandhya,

Thanks,please let us know your findings.

Thanks,

Ravi

[Former Member]

Sandhya,

Were you able to find a soluiton for generating the number while saving the record. Moreover where is this "Generic Number service" in SAP MDM application.

Best Regards

Manoj

Edited by: PT MANOJ on Sep 15, 2011 5:14 AM

[Former Member]

Well,we are waiting for the thread to be updated Manoj