SAP MDG-S integration with 3rd party onboarding system

[Gaurav_Gautam]

Hello Gurus,

We are planning to add SAP MDG classic mode separate new instance in addition to SAP S4HANA on prem( replacement from ECC and SRM) new instance along with Ariba Catalog & Business Network ( currently linked to SAP SRM)

Now, we have a 3rd party supplier onboarding system ( non-SAP system). What are the different ways of integrating 3rd party applications to SAP MDG for suppliers and material?

Regards

Gaurav

[Jeremy_Deo · Accepted solution]

Dear user,

And thank you for asking your question on the SAP Community blog.

Here are the main ways you can integrate a 3rd-party system with SAP MDG (for Suppliers and Materials):

1. Web Services / SOA (Service-Oriented Architecture)

• MDG provides standard Enterprise Services (ES) that are available via SAP SOA Manager.
• You can consume MDG services such as:
• BusinessPartnerSUITEBulkReplicateRequest_In (for suppliers)
• MaterialERPBulkReplicateRequest_In (for materials)
• BusinessPartnerSUITEBulkCreateRequest_In
• These services allow create/update/replicate operations.
• Good option for real-time or near-real-time integration.
• Can be used by your third-party system to push onboarding data into MDG.

Tip: These services follow SAP's data model, so mapping may be needed between the third-party system’s data and MDG’s structures (like BP, LFM1, LFA1, etc.).

2. IDoc-based Integration

• Use standard IDocs such as:
• CREMAS (for supplier master)
• MATMAS (for material master)
• This is more batch-oriented but very stable and widely used in legacy scenarios.
• Can be triggered from SAP PI/PO or even from a flat-file converted to IDoc format.

3. SAP PI/PO or SAP Integration Suite (Cloud Integration)

• Acts as a middleware layer between the third-party system and MDG.
• Enables message transformation, routing, and protocol mediation (e.g., HTTPS to SOAP).
• Preferred if your 3rd-party onboarding tool doesn’t speak SOAP natively or needs additional logic/transformation.
• You can build custom iFlows for inbound create/change requests or for validations before MDG processing.

4. File-based Import (Staging via Data Import Framework)

• You can import data into MDG using:
• MDG Data Import Framework (available in MDG Classic)
• Staging tables → Data replication
• This is good for bulk loads (e.g., periodic onboarding from third-party source).
• You can use:
• CSV files, Excel files
• Or custom reports to process the input

5. Custom APIs (OData / REST-based)

• In case your 3rd-party onboarding tool prefers modern APIs, you can expose:
• Custom OData Services via Gateway
• Or build REST adapters in SAP BTP/SAP API Management that wrap MDG's standard SOAP services
• Best for more flexible integration and newer platforms that don't support SOAP.

6. SAP Master Data Integration (SAP MDI) / Master Data Hub (optional)

• If you're already using or planning to use SAP MDI as a centralized governance tool across cloud/on-prem systems, it can integrate MDG and your third-party system via a hub approach.
• However, this adds an additional layer and is relevant mainly in a multi-SAP landscape.

I hope this will help you with finding the right fit for your business needs.

Best regards,

Jeremy