1.

what is the difference between reference and generic article sap retail
2. what does this mean” Generic articles can be created only for reference site”

Differences Between Articles and Materials

In the case of the Retail solution, the central object in all logistics processes is the article, whereas in industry it is
the material.
Retail and industry have different needs in terms of the corresponding master data and maintenance options. For
example, to optimally process all its fashion processes, retail needs variants (such as color and size). Industry,
however, uses bills of material for special requirements in the area of production planning. Due to the large number
of articles in the retail industry, master data maintenance must also be integrated into processing.
To best support the different processes in retail and industry, ECC provides different maintenance transactions for
materials and articles. Unlike the material master, the article master contains the following additional points:
- Specific additional data is integrated, for example, purchasing info records, listings and sales price
calculations.
- Several organizational levels, for example, sites and distribution chains, and for generic articles several
articles, can be processed online in one single maintenance transaction.
In the material master you can process only one material or one plant at a time, but in the article master the
system transfers data from higher levels to the dependent levels, provided you have not maintained these
differently. For example, the system transfers data from a generic article to all its variants. It also transfers data
from reference sites to individual sites.

Standard Functions Used in SAP Retail with Articles

The following standard functions can also be used with articles. However, not all functions support retail-specific
processing of generic articles (for example, matrix maintenance).

We recommend that you do not use materials and articles in SAP Retail at the same time. The functions listed
here were tested as part of individual customer projects, using the existing conditions and system settings.

If there are times when you really cannot keep to this recommendation, ensure that you enlist the help of
experienced SAP consultants in your project and plan and execute comprehensive tests.

- Materials Management (MM)

All functions are available.

In SAP Retail there are two stock overviews for articles and materials.

- ¡ Standard stock overview (transaction MMBE)

It is also possible to use the batch stock here to make selections.

- ¡ Retail stock overview (transaction RWBE) for article selection

It is also possible to use merchandise categories here to make selections.

Batch management can generally be used with single articles. However, some Retail functions (for example,
allocation tables, store orders) do not take batches into consideration.

- Sales and Distribution (SD)

All functions are available.

- Production Planning (PP)

- ¡ PP bills of material with individual articles and variants of generic articles.

- ¡ Product groups

You can assign articles or materials to a product group that you have created with transaction MC84.

- ¡ Product cost calculation

The product cost calculation can also be used as the basis for sales price calculations. You can use the special
procurement key for the calculation (for example, for calculation data from another site).

- ¡ Material requirements planning (MRP)

You can also use the special procurement key for requirements planning, for example, for production in another
plant.

- ¡ Planned orders

- ¡ Conversion of planned orders into production orders

- ¡ Production order confirmation

- ¡ Discreet production of single articles and variants of a generic article

- ¡ Variant configuration with make-to-order production without variants subject to inventory management

- ¡ Repetitive manufacturing

Constraint: You must use the standalone transaction C233 to create production versions for articles.
- Service Management (SM)

All functions are available.

- Quality Management (QM)

All functions are available.

Constraint: You can only access the maintenance screen for QM check data for articles using the standalone
transaction QA08. The display is integrated into the article master.
- Foreign Trade

- ¡ Intrastat/Extrastat

- ¡ Preference processing (vendor declaration)

- ¡ Letter of credit processing for export

- ¡ Foreign trade forms (T1, T2, export declaration)

- Tax handling for Brazil

Additional tax and categorization fields are needed for goods movements in Brazil. These fields cannot be
maintained in the article master, but can be easily integrated into a user-specific article master.

Standard Functions Not Supported in SAP Retail

SAP Retail supports the special function for handling generic articles in Materials Management and Sales and
Distribution only, not in any of the other standard areas.

SAP Retail does not support the following standard functions with articles: You can therefore only use these
functions for materials:
- Variant configuration with inventory-managed variants

You can only use variants of a generic article in the variant configuration as an item in the super bill of material.
You cannot use generic articles in bills of material.

- Long-term planning

You cannot maintain specific data for long-term planning for articles.

- Co-product production

You cannot create specific data for co-product production (for example, apportionment structure for costs) for
articles. You can map production transactions with by-products in the bill of material, using articles with a negative
quantity.

- Foreign Trade

- ¡ Legal controls

- ¡ Preference determination

- ¡ Letter of credit processing for import

- ¡ Forms: Single registration, collective registration

- Production resources/tools

You cannot maintain specific data for production resources/tools for articles. Instead, you should use materials.

- Material ledger

SAP Retail does not support the material ledger. This is due to the likely performance problems that would occur
when dealing with a large number of articles in many stores, and compatibility problems between certain retail-
specific valuation procedures (value articles, RMA) and the material ledger (see also customer message
11192/2002). An enhancement would then be needed in the article master and the material ledger (sales values
must be updated in the material ledger and the data structures and the update must be extended).

- Valuation levels above the plant (company code).

To do this, extensive enhancements may be required in the article master and in other areas.

- Plan article changes (change service)

- Revision level for articles
- Manufacturer part number management
- Proportion unit, active ingredient unit of measure
- Creation of articles using the CAD interface
- Inflation handling for South America
Special handling tool for South American countries that require a revaluation method once a particular inflation rate
has been exceeded. To do this, article valuation data must be updated in a table for this purpose (Inflation MBEW,
same key as MBEW). You cannot currently maintain this data in the article master.
- Requirements planning areas

If a system is primarily a retail system you can generally not activate any requirements planning areas, not even for
materials. The article master does not provide any segments for requirements planning parameters.

For information on deactivation within a Retail system, see Note 163001.

- Transaction parameters and planning parameters (process manufacturing)

The standard article master offers you a choice of the following screen sequences for retail:

1.In SPRO: Logistics general → Material Master → Configuring the material Master →
Maintain order of main and additional screens

Or T code: omt3r
03 and 23 are used mainly
2. Then this screen sequence is assigned to User/Material Type/Transaction/Industry Sector

article numbers: Article numbers can be up to 18 characters long.

Article types group together articles with the same attributes. When you create an article master record,
you must assign it to a single article type. The article type you choose determines:

 Whether the article number can be assigned internally by the system or externally by the user
 Number range interval to which the article number belongs
 Whether the stocks are managed on a value basis and/or on a quantity basis
 User departments whose data you can maintain for articles of this article type

SPRO: Logistics general → Material Master → Basic Settings → Material Types →

Define attributes of article types
COUP: Coupons
FERT: Finished products

HAWA: Trading goods

VERP: Packaging

WERT: Value-only materials

The following article categories are defined in the standard SAP Retail System:

 Single articles
 Generic articles
 Variants
 Empties and full products: Artl Cat: 01, article Type: LEER
 Structured articles

o Sales Sets: Artl Cat: 10

o Displays : Artl Cat: 12
o Prepacks : Artl Cat: 11

 Value-only articles

o Hierarchy articles
o Merchandise category articles
o Group articles

 Merchandise category reference articles

generic article:
Structured articles
Sets
Product presentation & sales
Purpose
enhancement
Group of single articles or variants of
one or more generic articles that is
Definition sold as a separate article and as such
has an article number, sales price,
and sales price conditions.
The components of a set can belong
to different merchandise categories
and can also have different tax rates
but during sales, set will have a single
tax code
grouped at grouped at the retailer's place
Artl
10
Category
Purchased purchased individually but sold as
as/Sold as a set
Stock is managed at component level
Management if the components can also be sold
of Stock individually. The stock can also be
managed at set level
example a pack of shampoo & conditioner
Sales Set & Display Article Components
Prepacks
Logistical Ease
Group of variants of one or more
generic articles that is purchased
as a separate article and as such
has an article number, a purchase
price, and purchase price
conditions.
the components must belong to
the same merchandise category
as the prepack itself.
grouped by manufacturer/vendor
or by retailer
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purchased as a seperete article
but sold in individual articles
In the wholesale trade, prepacks
are purchased and sold, whereas
in the retail trade, only the
components are sold. For this
reason, stock is managed at
prepack level at the distribution
center, and at component level at
the store.
shoes or shirts of different sizes
Displays
Product Presentation
Group of single articles or variants
of one or more generic articles
that is purchased as a separate
article under same article number,
a purchase price, and purchase
price conditions.
The articles are usually presented
in the same packaging. It is split
up into its individual components
for sale to the consumer in the
stores
grouped by manufacturer/vendor
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purchased as a seperete article
but sold in individual articles
In the wholesale trade, displays are
purchased and sold, whereas in the
retail trade, only the components are
sold. For this reason, stock is
managed at display level at the
distribution center, and at component
level at the store.
purchased as boxes of choclate
but sold individually