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Chapter9DiverseSalesandDistributionFunctions
ImplementingSAPERPSales&Distribution
byGlynnC.Williams
McGrawHill/Osborne2008Citation

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CustomerHierarchies
Customerhierarchiesareusedwhenacustomerhasacomplexchainororganizationalstructureandin
whichallorsomeofthepartsofthisstructureshouldbenefitfromanagreementmadeforthecustomers
companyasawhole.Forexample,alargecustomermayhavedependentofficeseachresponsiblefortheir
ownpurchasing,andasindividualswouldnotbenefitfromaglobalpricingscheme.However,aspartofa
customerhierarchytheywouldstillbenefitfrombeingassociatedwiththelargerparentcompany.
Beforesettingoutandmaintainingacustomerhierarchy,youneedtodeterminewhattherequirementforthe
hierarchyis.Ifitistoreportbookingsorbillingsforglobalcustomerswithinahierarchy,thismaybedone
usingastandardreportinghierarchywithinthesalesinformationsystem.
Shouldthedesirebemerelytoofferpricesaccordingtoaspecificgroup,youcouldthinkaboutusinga
customergrouponthecustomermasterrecordratherthanacustomerhierarchy.
If,ontheotherhand,youdesiretohaveacustomerhierarchyinordertoofferspecialpriceagreementsor
rebatesacrossacustomersorganizationthatisona"global"level,thatmaynotbecoveredbyastandard
grouping.Thismaybecoveredbyusingthecustomerhierarchy.
Thecustomerhierarchyintegratesandreliesonthepartnerdetermination,inconjunctionwiththecustomer
hierarchysettings,inordertopromotethelinkingbetweenthecustomers.Thepartnerdeterminationcauses
thecustomerhierarchytoberepresentedinthesalesdocument.
Thecustomerhierarchyisahierarchicalorganizationalstructurethatconsistsofhigherandlowerlevel
nodes.Eachnodeisassignedwithinthestructuretoformagraphicaldiagramofthecustomersorganization.
Anodeisrepresentedbyanaccountgroup.

CustomerHierarchyTypes
Anodemaybeacustomerforexample,asoldtopartythusaccountgroup0001.Oranodemaybea
platform,merelyanorganizationaldepartment,thususingaccountgroup0012.
Acustomerhierarchymayonlyhaveamaximumof26hierarchylevels.Youcreateacustomerhierarchyby
firstdefiningthehierarchytype.
Definethehierarchytypebyusingthefollowingmenupath.
MenuPathSAPCustomizingImplementationGuide|SalesandDistribution|MasterData|Business
Partners|Customers|CustomerHierarchy|DefineHierarchyTypes
InFigure936,wehaveacustomerhierarchytypeA.Thisisassignedtothepartnerfunction1A,whichis
thehighestnodeofpartnerrepresentedinthehierarchy.
Thereshouldnotbeaneedforyoutocreatemorethanonehierarchytype,asyoumayonlyassignone
hierarchytypepersalesdocumenttype,whichwewillseelater.Theonlytimeyoumayneedanew
hierarchytypeiswhenyouuseadifferenthierarchyfordifferentbusinesstransactions.
Youmaynowcreatetheassociatedpartnerdeterminationsforcustomerhierarchies.

SettingPartnerDeterminationforHierarchyCategories
Tosetpartnerdetermination,usethefollowingmenupath.
MenuPathSAPCustomizingImplementationGuide|SalesandDistribution|MasterData|Business
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Partners|Customers|CustomerHierarchy|SetPartnerDeterminationforHierarchyCategories
Youmaydefineacustomerhierarchyforanyofthefollowing:
CustomerMaster
SalesDocumentHeader
SalesDocumentItem
Delivery
Shipment
BillingHeader
BillingItem
SalesActivities(CAS)

Figure936:Customerhierarchytype
Whenconfiguringthehierarchyforpartnersyoushouldconfigureforthesalesdocumentheaderandthe
billingdocumentheader,asyoumayneedthehierarchytoberepresentedinbothdocumenttypes.
Inourexamplewewilllookattheconfigurationforacustomerhierarchytobedefinedforthecustomer
master,asshowninFigure937.
Asyoucansee,thisisthestandardpartnerdeterminationprocedureasdefinedearlierinthischapter.
Youcanassignpartnerfunctionsupto26levels,from1Athroughto1Z.
Becarefulalsotomaintainenoughpartnerdeterminationlevelsasareneededtorepresentthecustomers
structure.Forexample,letssaythecustomerscompanyhadsevenlevelsinthehierarchyincustomer
masterconfiguration,andweonlymaintainedfivelevelsinthepartnerdeterminationforasalesdocument
type.Thesystemwouldonlycopydatarelevanttothefivemaintainedlevelsintothesalesdocument,and
thuswouldonlysearchforconditionrecordsuptothefivelevelsofpartners.

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Figure937:Partnerdeterminationprocedure
Afterthepartnerdeterminationhasbeenmaintained,youneedtomaintaintheassociationbetweenthe
higherandlowerlevelcustomeraccountgroups.Asweknow,thehierarchyisformedbyalinkingof
accountgroups.Weneedtomaintainwhataccountgroupsaretobelinked.

AssigningAccountGroups
Thisisthecontrolbehindthecustomerhierarchy.Asmentionedearlier,ahierarchynodemaybeacustomer
forexample,asoldtoparty,thusaccountgroup0001.Oranodemaybeaplatform,thusmerelyan
organizationaldepartmentusingaccountgroup0012.
RefertoFigure938,whichshowstheassignmentofaccountgroups.Thereareonlytwoentriesinthis
screenshowingthatasoldtoparty(accountgroup0001)maybeassignedtoahierarchynode(0012)anda
hierarchynodemaybeassignedtoahierarchynode.Therefore,ahierarchynodeisnotconfiguredtobe
assignedtoasoldtoparty.
Thisislogicalassigningaccountgroupshowever,shouldwenotintroducesomeformoforganizational
definition,thehierarchycouldeasilyrunoutofcontrol,especiallyasthesystemwouldnothaveadefinitive
organizationalpathtofollowforconditionrecords.Thusyouneedtoassignlowerlevelsalesareastohigher
levelsalesareas.

AssigningSalesAreas
Toassignsalesareas,usethefollowingmenupath.
MenuPathSAPCustomizingImplementationGuide|CustomerHierarchy|AssignSalesAreas
YoucanseeintheexampleinFigure939thatthesalesarea0001/01/01hasbeenassignedtoitselfaswell
astosalesarea0101/OG/01.
Nowthatallthemasterdataismaintained,otherthanthecreationoftheactualhierarchyitself,youneedto
assignthehierarchytypetotheactualsalesdocumenttype.

AssigningHierarchyTypeforPricingbySalesDocumentType
Toassignthehierarchytype,usethefollowingmenupath.
MenuPathSAPCustomizingImplementationGuide|CustomerHierarchy|AssignHierarchyTypefor
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PricingbySalesDocumentType
Thissimpleassignmentofthehierarchytypeforexample,"A"toasalesdocumenttypeforexample,
"OR"meansyoucanthavemorethanonehierarchytypepersalesdocument.Youcanhavemorethan
onecustomerhierarchywithinthehierarchytypethough.
Theonlysteplefttobecarriedoutisthecreationofthehierarchytomatchthatofthecustomer.
Letssaythatourcustomer"International"isaglobalaccount,withbranchesrepresentedinAfrica,the
Americas,Europe,Asia,andAustralasia.Eachbranchintheseareasisfurtherbrokendownintoanational
officeandasubsequentregionaloffice.Duetothesizeofthecustomer,weareofferingallregionaloffices
acrosstheglobeofcustomer"International"thesamepricingdiscountof10percentoffallourproducts.

Figure938:Accountgroupassignment

Figure939:Assigningsalesareas
Thiswouldbeaccomplishedbycreatingthecustomerhierarchyusingthefollowingmenupath.
MenuPathSAPMenu|Logistics|SalesandDistribution|MasterData|BusinessPartner|Customer
Hierarchy|[VDH1N]Edit
(Donotforgettocreatethecustomerhierarchynodesinthesamewayyouwouldcreateallcustomermaster
records,eitherusing[VD01]withtheaccountgroup0012orusingthemenupath:Logistics|Salesand
Distribution|MasterData|BusinessPartners|HierarchyNodes|Create,ortransactioncode[V12].)
AdviceAhierarchynodeusesaccountgroup0012.Thisisthedefaultedaccountgroupwhenyouuse
transactioncode[V12].
Alsodonotforgettoindicatethecustomersornodesasrelevantforcustomerhierarchyspecificpricing
and/orrebates.Thisisdonebysettingtheindicatorsonthebillingscreenofthecustomermasterrecordas
showninFigure940.

Figure940:Customermasterrelevantforhierarchypricing/rebates
Ihavecreatedthefollowingnodesandcustomers:

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Customer:

400MunichRegionalofficeof"International"(accountgroupZ001).

Node:

3200000005GermanyNationaloffice(accountgroupZ012).

Node:

3200000006Europe(accountgroupZ012).

Node:

3200000007Africa(accountgroupZ012).

Node:

3200000008TheAmericas(accountgroupZ012).

Node:

3200000009Asia(accountgroupZ012).

Node:

3200000010InternationalGlobalaccount(accountgroupZ012).

Oncreationofthehierarchynodeusingtransactioncode[VDH1N],youmustselecttheiconthatlookslikea
newpageusedin"createassignment"andthenenterthehigherlevelandtheassignedlowerlevelnodeand
clicktheTransferbutton,asseeninFigure941.
ContinuewithassignmentsuntilthestructurelookssimilartothescreeninFigure942.
Whencreatingasalesorder,youcanclearlyseethecustomerhierarchyinthepartnersoverview,asseenin
Figure943.
TipShouldyounotinitiallyseethehierarchy,notethedropdownbox"DisplayRange"atthebottomofthe
screen,asseeninFigure944.SelectPARALLAllpartners.

Figure941:Maintainingcustomerhierarchy

Figure942:Maintainingcustomerhierarchyexamplestructure
Thisconcludesthedeterminationofthecustomerhierarchy.Itsusefulnessremainsinthatthehierarchymay
beusedinconjunctionwiththeconditiontechniquetoofferdiscounts,surcharges,orspecialpricing.

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