9.5 Material Determination, Material Listing, and Material Exclusion

Material Determination, Material Listing, and Material Exclusion

In dynamic commercial environments, the products ordered by a customer do not always align perfectly with the materials shipped by the warehouse. A consumer electronics manufacturer phases out an older television model in favor of a newer generation; a customer places an order using a European Article Number (EAN/GTIN) rather than an internal SAP material code; or a regulatory restriction prohibits hazardous chemical shipments to specific geographic zones.

SAP S/4HANA provides three foundational Basic Functions driven by the Condition Technique to govern these operational requirements:

1. Material Determination (VB11): Automated or dialog-driven substitution of products.
2. Material Listing and Material Exclusion (VB01): Positive product catalogs and negative blacklists.
3. Free Goods (VBN1): Commercial trade promotions providing inclusive or exclusive bonus quantities.

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Material Determination Architecture (Transaction VB11 / VB12)

Material Determination enables the automated exchange of an entered material for an alternative substitute material during sales document processing. Like pricing, it is built upon the Condition Technique:

                     Condition Technique Architecture
                                    │
  ┌─────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┐
  ▼                                 ▼                                 ▼
Field Catalog               Condition Table                 Access Sequence
(allowed fields             (Table 001 - Mat Entered)       (Sequence A001)
  │                                 │                                 │
  └─────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┘
                                    ▼
                             Condition Type
                            (Standard: A001)
                                    │
                                    ▼
                      Material Determination Procedure
                             (Standard: A00001)
                                    │ Assigned to VOV8
                                    ▼
                         Sales Document Type (OR)

Primary Business Use Cases

• Product Life Cycle & Supersession: Material M-100 reaches end-of-life and is automatically substituted by next-generation product M-200.
• Promotional Packaging: Replaces individual retail units with bundled promotional gift packs during seasonal sales.
• Customer Barcode / EAN / GTIN Translation: Allows external buyer EDI orders containing international GTINs to map seamlessly to internal materials.
• Plant or Packaging Variations: Automatically substitutes products based on customer delivery preferences.

Master Record Maintenance (Transaction VB11)

When creating a material determination condition record (VB11), the user maintains:

• Input Material: The material number entered by the order processor or sent via EDI.
• Substitute Material(s): One or more target replacement materials.
• Validity Period: Effective start and end dates.
• Substitution Reason: Controls how the substitution behaves.

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Substitution Reasons and Line Item Outcomes (Table TVSU)

The substitution reason in the condition record decides how the substitution behaves in VA01. It is defined in Customizing (table TVSU) with these settings:

• Entry: whether the material entered or the substitute material is printed on outputs.
• Warning: whether the user receives a warning that the material is substituted.
• Strategy: blank means the entered material is replaced automatically; A displays the substitutes for manual selection; B selects automatically based on the availability check (ATP-based substitution).
• Outcome: blank means the substitute replaces the entered material in the item; A keeps the entered material as the main item and adds the substitute as a sub-item.

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Material Listing vs. Material Exclusion (Transaction VB01 / VB02)

Assortment control allows an enterprise to control exactly which products a customer is permitted or forbidden to purchase:

   ┌────────────────────────────────┐     ┌────────────────────────────────┐
   │    Material Listing (VB01)     │     │    Material Exclusion (VB01)   │
   │        "Positive List"         │     │        "Negative List"         │
   │ • Customer can ONLY buy items  │     │ • Customer CANNOT buy items    │
   │   present on the list.         │     │   present on the list.         │
   │ • Condition Type: A001         │     │ • Condition Type: B001         │
   └────────────────┬───────────────┘     └────────────────┬───────────────┘
                    │                                      │
                    └──────────────────┬───────────────────┘
                                       ▼
   ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
   │                           PRECEDENCE RULE                             │
   │  Material Exclusion ALWAYS takes absolute precedence over Listing!    │
   │  If a material is on both lists, order entry is strictly BLOCKED.     │
   └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Material Listing (Positive Assortment List)

• Business Concept: The customer is legally or commercially restricted to purchasing only materials explicitly listed in their master record.
• Transactional Effect: If a sales representative attempts to enter an unlisted material, the system issues a hard error message: "Material X is not listed for customer Y and cannot be sold." Order entry is terminated for that line.
• Condition Customizing: Standard listing condition type A001 with procedure A00001.
• Typical Application: High-end luxury retail agreements (where boutique stores are only authorized to carry specific product lines) or medical supplies distribution.

Material Exclusion (Negative Blacklist)

• Business Concept: The customer is prohibited from purchasing specific materials.
• Transactional Effect: If an excluded material is entered, the system issues a hard error message: "Material X is excluded for customer Y."
• Condition Customizing: Standard exclusion condition type B001 with procedure B00001.
• Typical Application: Environmental/chemical compliance (barring hazardous substances from customers lacking valid storage permits) or market territorial exclusivity.

Assignment and Precedence in Sales Documents

Listing and Exclusion procedures are assigned directly to the Sales Document Type in transaction VOV8:

• Field Listing Procedure: e.g. A00001
• Field Exclusion Procedure: e.g. B00001

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Free Goods Processing (Transaction VBN1 / VBN2)

Free Goods represent commercial trade bonuses where free merchandise is granted to a customer upon reaching a qualifying purchase threshold. Free goods are powered by the Condition Technique using condition type NA00 and procedure NA0001.

Inclusive Bonus vs. Exclusive Bonus

                             Customer Orders 10 Units
                                        │
                ┌───────────────────────┴───────────────────────┐
                ▼                                               ▼
      INCLUSIVE BONUS (Pay for 9)                     EXCLUSIVE BONUS (Get 1 Free)
                │                                               │
     10 Units Delivered Total                        11 Units Delivered Total
                │                                               │
   Main Item: 9 Units (TAN, charged)               Main Item: 10 Units of Material A (TAN)
   Sub-Item:  1 Unit (TANN, free)                  Sub-Item:   1 Unit of Material B (TANN)
   Billed for: 9 Units                             Billed for: 10 Units of Material A

1. Inclusive Bonus ("Buy 10, Pay for 9")

• Mechanics: The free quantity is part of the ordered quantity.
• Example from the official course: The customer orders 100 pieces of M1 and 10 of them are free. The system reduces the main item to 90 pieces (charged) and adds a free-of-charge sub-item for 10 pieces with the main item as higher-level item.
• System Implementation: Main item TAN for the charged quantity, sub-item TANN (usage FREE) for the free quantity.

2. Exclusive Bonus ("Buy 100, Get 10 Free")

• Mechanics: The free quantity is delivered in addition to the ordered quantity.
• Example from the official course: The customer orders 100 pieces of M1 and receives 10 additional pieces free of charge. The main item stays at 100 pieces (charged), and a sub-item for 10 free pieces is added. The free goods can be the same product or a different product.
• System Implementation: Main item TAN, free sub-item TANN.

Sub-Item Category Determination for Free Goods

When an exclusive free-goods sub-item is generated, the system determines its item category via transaction VOV4:

$$\text{Sales Doc Type (OR)} + \text{Item Cat Group (NORM)} + \text{Usage (FREE)} + \text{Higher-Level Cat (TAN)} = \text{Item Category TANN}$$

• Item Category TANN Characteristics:
  • Pricing: Active, but evaluates condition type R100 (100% free-goods discount), yielding a net financial value of $0.00.
  • Billing: The free goods item is copied into the billing document as an item free of charge (zero net value).
  • Logistics Relevance: Fully relevant for delivery creation, warehouse picking, and Post Goods Issue (PGI) to update inventory valuation and COGS.

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Comparison of Assortment & Substitution Basic Functions