Section 7: Purchase Requisitions

7.0 Overview SAP Purchase Requisitions

A Purchase Requisition (PR) is an internal purchasing document in SAP. It can be
created directly (manually, using Transaction Code ME51N) by a person or indirectly (or
generated) by another SAP component such as material requirement planning (MRP) or
via a shopping cart through SRM (e-requisitioning). It is used to give notification to
purchasing of the requirement for materials. Purchase Requisitions must contain
information such as the SAP material number, the quantity of that material required and
the required date. Whenever possible, the purchase requisition functionality is to be
used to create Purchase Orders.
Purchase Requisitions are then sourced (meaning the vendor is assigned by the
system using information from valid contracts or info records) and then can be used to
create purchase orders.

7.1 Creating a Purchase Requisition

Using the menu tree in SAP go to LogisticsMaterials

ManagementPurchasingPurchase RequisitionCreate

Or, enter Transaction code ME51N in the command field.

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Steps to Create a Purchase Requisition in SAP for Stock or Non-stock materials

Use this procedure to request the purchase of stock materials and non stock material
items. The output result will be a purchase requisition for stock replenishment direct to
inventory or to cost center (account assignment K).

1. Header use Header note section for internal notes to yourself or information to
the buyer. Header note details do not print on the purchase order.

2. Select the check box named "Source Determination" . If

the field is checked and just one source of supply exists for a material, SAP will
suggest this source. If several sources exist the user can chose the desired
source from the list that SAP will propose. See Section 7.6 for the steps to set
up your default to have the Source Determination Check box permanently
selected.

3. Enter Material number or do search to locate the material number needed.

4. Select an Account Assignment from the drop down list for items that need to be
charged directly to a cost center. If the item is a non-stock then SAP will give an
error message if nothing is selected.

5. Enter Quantity required

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6. <hit enter> This will allow SAP to fill in all known details regarding the materials
such as description, base unit of measure, material group, and it will also assign
the vendor and pull in vendor relevant information it finds from a valid contract or
info record for that material such as Vendor Catalogue number.

7. Enter Unit of measure. Note: This may have already been populated
automatically by SAP.

8. Enter Delivery date

9. Enter Material Group. Note: This may have already been populated
automatically by SAP based on information in the material master.

10. Enter plant number Select from the drop down list.

11. Enter your purchasing Group

12. Enter Unloading Point (for direct charge) Put you cursor in Unloading Point and
use drop down search to choose the Unloading point you want. Put your cursor
in Cost Center and use the drop down to choose the cost center needed. Put
your cursor in Recipient field and type the name of the Person that the item is to
be delivered to.

13. Click on enter Icon or just hit <enter> on your keyboard to save the
purchase requistion and receive the system generated requisition number.
Errors:
If your requisition is missing information or has wrong information it will not save.
The system will provide a hard error message (meaning you cannot go forward
without resolving the error). Hard errors must be completed before you can
save. After fixing the error just click on Enter again and the hard error will go
away unless you have more than one that needs to be fixed.

The hard error message icon is red and looks like this .

You can also get a warning message with an icon shaped as a yellow triangle
. This soft error is warning you that you have chosen information that you
may want to check again before saving the requisition. You can get this warning
message if you chose a delivery date as the same day or next day from date
requisition is being created. You can just click on Enter Icon again and SAP will
acknowledge that you have accepted the warning as being acceptable.

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In either case, you can find out more information about what the error is by
clicking on the error Icon. It will provide detail on all hard errors and warnings
for that particular requisition.

In the example below the system has:

Provided a warning for the user to confirm/reconfirm the delivery date-if
the date is acceptable then select enter for this error to go away;
Provided a hard error that the user has forgotten to enter a cost center
on the Account Assignment tab in the footer of the purchase
requisition. The system will not allow this requisition to be saved
without fulfilling this requirement. Once the cost center has been
entered then select <enter> to save.

Additional fields/tabs

The following are additional fields or tabs that are available for use or modification in a
purchase requisition (but are not mandatory).

Click the Material Data tab, review the information and edit the vendor Material
number, add or change as needed.

Click the Quantities/Dates tab and review the information. Note: the closed
box will be empty at this point. When a purchase order has been created there
will be a check in the box to advise closed.

Click the Valuation tab and review information. The pricing is automatically
filled in from the item overview section. Goods Receipt and Invoice receipt
boxes are checked indicating these are both needed for this order. GR Non-Val
is not checked specifying that goods receipt for this item is not to be valuated.

Click Source of Supply tab. If you checked source of supply at beginning of

requisition process and there is a source of supply for this item you will see the

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Fixed Vendor number and vendor name on this tab. If its missing you can click
on the assign Source of Supply button and it will populate now if there is one. If
there isnt a Source of supply set up in SAP you can enter a vendor number in
the Desrd Vndr (desired Vendor) field to advise the buyer where this item can
be purchased.

Click the Status tab. If a Purchase Order or Goods Receipt has been created
for this item the document numbers would appear in a table format and identify
the quantities ordered and received. The Block ID field can be set to prevent
the purchase requisition from being converted to a purchase order. The Blkg
Text field is used to identify the reason for blocking the requisition.

Click on Contact Person tab. It will display who created the requisition. There
is also a location to add details of which requisitioner is and assign a tracking
number to the requisition. Example work order number.

Click on Text tab. Click on Item Text and add additional information regarding
the line item that may be critical for the purchasing team or vendors to be aware
of. Example additional detailed description.

Click on Item note to add any personal notes regarding the item. None of this
information will print or be copied to any other document.

Click Delivery Text to enter any critical information about delivery specifications.

Click Material PO Text In the Material Master record there is a tab called
Purchase Order Text. Any information that is saved in the Material Master
record will be copied into this field.

Click Delivery Address tab. Changing the delivery address can be done two
ways. Manually overwrite the existing address in the text lines or click in the
Address field and choose the icon to perform a search on existing addresses in
the database and selecting the required address. A pop-up will appear asking if
the address should be copied to all lines in the requisition. Click Yes to apply
the address to every line or click No to apply it only to the specified line item.

Again, once all information is entered and all errors have been addressed, you can hit
the SAVE Icon and the system will generate a purchase requisition number.

7.2 Purchase Requisitions for USLs and/or Rush Orders for Central Inventory

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If a material item number is stocked on a USL and extra quantity of that material is
needed, or is in Central Inventory, the Supply Clerk will create a requisition on their
computer for the additional quantities. If the source is determined to be SCI, this
requisition will be converted to a purchase order automatically during the daily AutoPO
automatic job at approximately 4:15 4:30pm. If the item is to be purchased from any
other vendor, the buyer will see the requisition the same day. The Buyer will process
this requisition into a purchase order during regular inventory order processing.

If either of these requirements were rush the Supply Clerk will contact the Buyer and
advise the requisition number so that an order can be created as a Rush type
purchase order (Emergency PO) and issued to the appropriate vendor that same day .
(Please note that for Rush Purchase Orders to SCI there will be an extra handling
charge)

7.3 Purchase Requisitions for Items Without a SAP Material Number

If you need to purchase an item without a SAP material number you follow the above
process but instead of entering a material number you put your cursor in the Short text
field and type the details of the item you need to purchase.

You will need to choose an account assignment from the drop down list and enter all
details such as quantity, unit of measure, delivery date, Material group, plant,
purchasing group, requisitioner, tracking number (if needed), desired vendor, Vendor
material number, cost center, G/L account, unloading point, and recipient. Select the
Valuation tab and enter pricing. Click on Delivery Address tab and enter delivery
address if different than what is displayed.

Once all items are entered select enter Icon to confirm if there are any errors. If no
errors, then it will save and provide you with the system generated requisition number.

Free-texting of orders should only be done as a last resort. Free text orders are
permitted in these circumstances:

a) new material and order must be placed today. (Material master is generated
on that day)

b) material or service that will be purchased only once.

7.4 Changing Purchase Requisitions

Changes can be made to a purchase requisition once it has been saved by either:

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Using the menu tree in SAP go to Logistics Materials Management

Purchasing Purchase Requisition Change

Or, enter Transaction code ME52N in the command field. <ENTER> or select
.

Make the required changes to the purchase requisition and then select save. If your
requisition is free from errors it will save and provide a system message at the bottom of
the screen that changes were saved.

7.5 Displaying Purchase Requisitions

A Purchase Requisition can be displayed once it has been saved by either:

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Using the menu tree in SAP go to Logistics Materials Management

Purchasing Purchase Requisition Display

Or, enter Transaction code ME53N in the command field then <ENTER> or
select .

7.6 Default Settings for Creating Purchase Requisitions

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There are certain updates you can make to your own SAP settings that will save you
steps when creating Purchase requisitions. Use the following steps to set up your own
defaults.

1. Type transaction code ME51N

2. Click on Personal Setting.

3. Click on Default Values

4. Click on the pull down for AccAssCat and select Cost Center.

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5. Click on More Fields

6. Click once on Source Determination (if it is still there) and use the left arrow to put it
on the left table.

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7. Click the Copy button

8. Make sure Source Determination is checked and your screen looks the same as
below and then click the save button at the bottom left hand corner.

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9. Your Purchase Req screen should now have the defaults of Source Determination and the K for cost
center.

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