MATERIAL MASTER

MASTER DATA- Master data contains information, stores in a database for longer period of time and it is used for different application.

MATERIAL- Materials are the goods that are subject of business activities. Materials can be traded, used in manufacture, consumed, or produced.

MATERIAL MASTER- Material Master is a Master file which contains information of a particular material, depending upon the views selected from the user departments.

All the data on a material that is independent of specific vendors, customers, or production routings, for example, should be stored in a central master record. Each user department does not have to create its own material master record as this would result in unnecessary data redundancy. In order for individual departments to be able to access the data relevant to their needs as easily as possible, the data should be grouped according to area of use. This can also mean that a piece of information (data field) is displayed in different views.

The material master record is an enterprise's main source of material-specific data. It is used by all areas of logistics. The integration of all material data in a single database object eliminates the problem of data redundancy. All areas, such as purchasing, inventory management, materials planning, and invoice verification, can jointly use the data stored. The data stored in the material master record is required for many purposes, including the following:

1.    Purchasing data is required for ordering purposes

2.    Inventory management data is needed to post goods movements and carry out physical inventories

3.    Accounting data is required for material valuation

4.    Materials planning data is needed for material requirements planning

Since different user departments within an enterprise work with one material, and each department enters different information relating to it, the data in a material master record is subdivided according to area of use. Each user department thus has its own view of a material master record and is responsible for maintaining the data covered by this view. The data screens used to process material master records can be subdivided into the following types:

1. Main data- These are the screens for the individual user departments, such as basic data, materials planning, and so on

2. Additional data- These are the screens on which you find additional information, such as alternative units of measure, material short descriptions, and consumption values

The data maintained within a view may be valid for different organizational levels. Some material data is valid for all organizational levels, while some is valid for certain levels only. So that the material data can be administered centrally, without unnecessary load on the database due to redundant information, the material master is organized in such a way that it reflects the structure of an enterprise. For example, a distinction is made for:

1. Data at client level: General material data that is valid for the whole enterprise is stored at client level

2. Data at plant level: All data that is valid within a plant and for all storage locations belonging to it is stored at plant level

3. Data at storage location level: All data that is valid for a particular storage location is stored at storage location level

The above-mentioned organizational levels are relevant for the external procurement process. Client, plant, and storage location play a role when you enter data for purchasing, inventory management, and accounting. Other organizational levels can be relevant for other departments. For example, the sales and distribution data is entered depending on the sales organization and the distribution channel and you must specify a warehouse number and storage type for the warehouse management data.