Order Unit in SAP S4/HANA

In SAP S4/HANA and older SAP versions, the field Order Unit in the purchasing view under MM serves a very particular purpose when it comes to buying. In this article, I will define the field and show you an example of how to use it.

Definition

First of all, you can see that this setting is only available to the combination of the plant and the material. The field tells the system that if used, to not use the default Unit of Measure in the Basic View when ordering materials from an external vendor. The basic UOM might be stored as Each, but if you use the Order Unit let’s say Carton (CAR). Then the system will default this to CAR when purchasing the item.

If you leave the field empty, the system will just use the base UOM you defined for the material.

Use-Case

This field is usually used when you have a situation where you store material in a unit of measure different than how you usually order it.

What is VAR. OUn?

The Variable Order Unit is used to allow the purchasing folks to order this material in any UOM they see fit. The UOM can be changed in the PO or the Source list.

If you are interested in other SAP Material Master topics, you can check the following related articles:

WHAT IS X-Plant Mat.Status in SAP?

What is Purchasing Value Key in SAP