Purchase contracts in a multicompany structure

In a multicompany structure, you can specify central contracts and corporate purchase contracts.

Central contracts

Central contracts can be used by various purchase offices from different logistic companies.

Central contracts include these features:

  • The central purchase office maintains the purchase contract and purchase pricing.
  • Price and logistic agreements are specified on a central level, by purchase contract line.
  • Each separate logistic company purchases goods directly from suppliers, handles receipts, and pays invoices.
  • The local purchase orders are based on the conditions, prices, and discounts laid down in the central contract.
  • The local companies' purchased quantities are aggregated to the central contract.
  • In the company that maintains the central contract, you cannot use delivery schedules to update planned inventory transactions, because the inventory is available in other companies. You can only use the delivery schedules to display information.
  • LN records the supplier performance information in the local companies that issue the purchase orders.
Note: 

Before you can use central contracts, the companies must share the contract tables by means of logical table linking or by replication.

If you share the contract lines table, the Use Corporate Purchase Contracts check box in the Purchase Contract Parameters (tdpur0100m300) session must have the same value for all companies.

For more information, refer to:

  • User's Guide for Multicompany Structures (U9504 US)
  • User's Guide for Multicompany Table Sharing (U9505 US)

Corporate purchase contracts

Corporate purchase contracts can be used to centrally specify price agreements (by purchase contract line) and to decentrally specify logistic agreements (by purchase contract line detail).

Corporate purchase contracts allow you to make keen price agreements on a corporate level and to use these prices on local level. You can use corporate purchase contracts only for push schedules.

Note: Corporate purchase contracts are not specified on contract header level, but on line level. Therefore, a purchase contract can include both lines of the Total type and lines of the Contract Line type. Total lines have linked contract line details, which can apply only to corporate purchase contracts. Contract lines apply to regular purchase contracts.