Material master
The Material Master is the central master data for materials in SAP, everything about a product, maintained in views by different functions. It underpins procurement, inventory, production, sales and finance, making it one of the most important master-data objects.
Almost every logistics and finance process uses the material master.
- A single material master record describes a material across the enterprise, but its data is organised into views owned by different…
- Basic data: description, unit of measure, material type.
- Purchasing: for procurement (MM).
- Watch out: Missing views blocking a process in a plant.
What the material master holds
A single material master record describes a material across the enterprise, but its data is organised into views owned by different areas: basic data, purchasing, sales, MRP, accounting, storage, quality. Each function maintains its view, embodying SAP’s integration, one object, many departments.
Key views
- Basic data: description, unit of measure, material type.
- Purchasing: for procurement (MM).
- Sales: for selling (SD).
- MRP: for planning (PP).
- Accounting/Costing: valuation (FI/CO).
Why it matters
Almost every logistics and finance process uses the material master. Incomplete views cause failures, a material without an accounting view cannot be valued/posted, without a purchasing view cannot be ordered in a plant. Clean, complete material master data (governed via MDG) is foundational to a working system.
Common pitfalls
- Missing views blocking a process in a plant.
- Wrong material type, wrong behaviour/valuation.
- Poor governance, inconsistent/duplicate materials.