Item Usage Association

[joanaferreira1]

Hello,

I came across a situation where when making a stock transfer request and the respective guide, the following happened:

1. The guide has several materials and one of them was to fetch the wrong item category "UNL", and when the goods are issued the movement is 603, which is not what was expected.

2. Other material on the guide has the correct category "NLN" and the movement is the expected "647".

3.When querying the material master data, they are the same, use the NORM in the item category group, and are the same material type.

4. When consulting VOV5. for the item category "UNL", the schedule category is "LN - Without MRP" and for the category "NLN" the schedule category is "NN - Replenishment without MRP".

5. When consulting VOV6, for the division category "UNL" there is movement 603 and for "NLN", movement 647.

6. When querying the determination of shipment item categories, in the row for the wrong item category, the "Item Usage" field is empty, while in the row for the correct item category "NLN" there is a "V" in the use of the item.

Therefore, I would like to know why some materials are getting the "UNL" category and others the "NLN" category and what is the impact of the "V" on the item's field of use.

Thanks!

[ericlan]

Hello Joana,

I see you were wondering the item category determination mechanisms and the item category usage function right?

• your first question: item category determination.

in SAP SD, the item category of sales document is a classification that distinguishes between different types of item and determines how the system processes the item. Different item category assignment to line item in sales document means different further processes. The determination of sales document item category is maintained in SPRO -> Sales and Distribution -> Sales -> Sales Documents -> Sales Document Item -> Assign Item Categories.

As you can there are four factors could influence the determination of Default Item Category, which are 1. sales document type, 2. item category group, 3. item category usage, and 4. higher level item category.

Sales document type is the code you entered in VA01 which can be maintained via VOV8.

Item category group is maintained in the material master, in your case is NORM.

item category usage is hard coded indicator for item category, you're able to add new one but it won't work.

Higher level item category doesn't work in your case I suppose.

These four mentioned factor will together determine the item category for you line item in sales document creation.

• Let's back to your second question, item category usage 'V' means 'purchase order' in sales & distribution. For further information you can have a check: Item Category Usage | SAP Community

Regards,

Hsin