Supress Material types

[Former Member]

Hi Friends,

Is there any way we can supress the unused material types from MM01 screen.

Best Regards

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Short of deleting the material types- no. Don't go this route.

There are a whole bunch of transactions for different types of materials where the user does not have to enter the material type at all:

MMR1 - Raw Material

MMB1 - Semifinished Product

MMF1 - Finished Product

MMI1 - Operating Supplies

MMH1 - Trading Goods

MMU1 - Non-Valuated Material

MMN1 - Non-Stock Material

MMV1 - Packaging

MML1 - Empties

MMS1 - Service(s)

MMK1 - Configurable Material

MMP1 - Maintenance Assembly

MMW1 - Competitor Product

MMG1 - Returnable Packaging

The config for this - that is if you wish to change it any further than already delivered - is:

IMG>LO-Gen>MM>Basic Settings>Material Types>Assign material types to special "Create" transaction.

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Keerthi,

I thought that somebody would say not to delete them, but can you think of any genuine reason why not?

I agree it sounds like you should not do this but if there is no valid reson then it is a fair option to consider.

I await your reasons for saying do not delete them, even if they have not yet been used..

Steve B

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Dear Steve B,

What if the material types that she's trying to restrict were used earlier and still exists in transaction data.

There could be a huge inconsistency in the data. Do not delete them if they were used at any point of time.

Regards,

Naveen.

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi,

I quite clearly stated that it is safe if they HAVE NOT YET BEEN USED.

It would be crazy to delete them if they have been used.

It is easy enough to check, MM60 can give you the answer in seconds, if there are no materials with this material type then deleting them is not a problem.

I can understand your concerns, I too do not like deleteing ANY entries, let alone standard SAP entries, but sometimes this is an option if it provides a solution to a problem and avoids the need for modifications and user exits.

Steve B

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Stephen,

Agree with you. If they have not been used, nuke them - not much harm done. But I never delete any standard artifacts delivered by SAP because I might use them as reference in the future.

Thanks,

Keerthi.

[Former Member]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts friends ..... We are using separate transaction codes for each material type as Keerti suggested and restricting the authorization to MM01 transaction.

[Former Member]

Dear Jaya,

What do you mean by 'supress the material types from MM01 screen'.

1. Is it that you do not want to display unused material types while searching for value help (i.e.F4)

If it so, you can restrict the same with the help of SearchHelp Exit or adding a new searchhelp for that matter.

2. Is it that you want to throw an error message if unused material type is entereed.

You will need to search for a suitable BAdi/Enhancement.

In either cases, you should be able to identify unused material types.

Regards,

Naveen.

[Former Member]

Hi Naveen,

I suspect that it is point one of your assumptions and your suggestions would work well, thanks.

One other thing to do to prevent them from being used (if they are not going to be deleted) is to unflag all of the views for each of the material types, this too sounds risky but it is perfectly safe.

This does not do exactly what you asked (i.e. to hide them from the selection) but if you don't want to do as Naveen has suggested this would be another option to prevent their use even if they were still displayed.

Steve B

[Former Member]

Hi,

If they have definitely NOT been used then you can delete them from config. This is not as risky as it sounds (as long as you are sure that you have no materials under the material type).

Other than that you don't have much choice, they cannot be surpressed by config, the best you can do is to give them blank descriptions or the words "do not use".

But I would delete them after a thorough check (even the std SAP ones).

I wouldn't mind betting that I get replies stating that this is too dangerous, but that is a personal choice and so it is up to you.

Steve B