Difference Between "Batch Management" and "Batch Management (Plant)" Fields in Material Master

[SAPSupport]

While maintaining a material in the Create Material app (MM01), I noticed two fields related to batch management:

• Batch Management
• Batch Management (Plant)

Could someone please explain the difference between these two fields?

When should each one be used, and how do they impact material behavior in SAP?

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[SAPSupport · Accepted solution]

Hi,

In SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, the Batch Management level is set as 'Batch unique at material level' by default.

This default setting implies that when you activate "Batch management", the "Batch management(Plant)" indicator is automatically set for the corresponding plants. If you wish to modify this default setting, you have the option to manually select or deselect the indicator.

This flexibility allows you to activate batch management for materials (batch level = material) and, at the same time, deactivate the batch management at the plant level. This means a material can be managed in batches in one plant, while it can be non-batch managed in other plants.

Please take a look at the following KBAs:

• 2564190 - Batch Handling in Product Master
• 3227689 - Same Batch Number for Different Materials

Also, the technical information for the field are the following:

• Batch management:

This indicator can be set in the material master record manually or, if batches are valuated individually, it is set automatically for the plants concerned.

Note that the automatic setting of the indicator is based on the configuration that you make in Customizing for Batch Management under Specify Batch Management Default by Plant,. In this case, if you wish to change this default setting, you can select/deselect the indicator manually.

The indicator cannot be changed if stocks exist in either the current period or in the previous period. The reason for checking the previous period is because stocks can be posted to this period when goods movements are entered.

• Batch management(Plant)

This indicator can be set in the material master record manually or, if batches are valuated individually, it is set automatically for the plants concerned.

Based on the settings that you maintain in Customizing for Batch Management under Specify Batch Level and Activate Status Management -> Batch Level  if the batch level is set to Batch unique at material level, then the field is shown in the display mode, until batches are valuated at material level.

If the batches are valuated at material level, then the indicator is set automatically for the corresponding plants as well. Note that the automatic setting of the indicator is based on the configuration that you make in Customizing for Batch Management under Specify Batch Management Default by Plant. In this case, if you wish to change this default setting, you can select/deselect the indicator manually.

If the batch level is set to Batch unique at plant level, then the field becomes editable.

The indicator cannot be changed if stocks exist in either the current period or in the previous period. The reason for checking the previous period is because stocks can be posted to this period when goods movements are entered.

Thanks and regards.