SAP MM (Material Management) Module is a SAP ERP component that helps organizations with material management, inventory management, and warehouse management in the supply chain process. It is a part of SAP ECC’s logistics functions which consists of several components and sub-components. The most prominent and widely used components are Master Data, Purchasing, and Inventory. 

All of these components have their subcomponents that are essential in specific business processes, and all of the processes are executed by using transactions in SAP MM process flow.

Transaction (in SAP) means processing of certain information in order to complete business process requirement. For example, if you have purchased 10 pieces of litter buckets, you can perform particular transaction code (t-code) that will reflect those changes in SAP. Most of the business processes involve multiple SAP transactions to be accomplished and are spread over one, two or more modules.

Now in this SAP MM basics tutorial, let’s briefly talk about the various sub-modules in SAP Materials Management:

The objective of Materials Management is to provide the customers with an unbroken chain of manufacturing components to deliver products on time. The materials department is paid to release goods to a supply base, making sure that the goods are shipped to the customers on time using the appropriate carrier.

SAP Materials Management simplifies the Procurement Process, Valuation of Material & Account Determination, Invoice Verification, Inventory Management, Material Requirement Planning, Master Data (Material & Vendor Master), etc.

Management of materials is often charged in certain industries with the procurement of materials through the establishment and management of a supply base. In other organizations, a separate buying department is responsible for the procurement and management of the supply base. The purchasing department is then responsible for variances in purchased prices from the supply base.