Let’s say that Customer 15 in your SAP system buys products from your company.  It sends inbound EDI Orders to you using three different partner IDs because they have 3 internal divisions and they want all transactions to be separate.  You want to keep all sales data for this customer under one customer number in your SAP system and just separate them by a different division.  You are required to send out EDI invoices to this customer, but they must go to the correct EDI Partner ID.  Let’s say you would normally use the Standard SAP Output Type RD00 and  Access Sequence 0003 (Sales Org, Distribution Channel, Division, Customer Number) for producing your INVOIC IDOCs.

Your first step would be to make three copies of the RD00 Output Type (ZRD0,  ZRD1, ZRD2) using transaction V/40.  We will need to make three copies because the Standard RD00 Output type uses Access Sequence 0004.   Select Change mode for this transaction and find the RD00 entry.  Select the RD00 entry and click on the ‘Copy As’  icon on the Menu bar or press the F6 key.

Change the Output Type to ZRD0 and the Access Sequence to 0003 and hit your Enter key.

A prompt will appear with three options.  Copy all, only copy entry, or cancel.  Select the copy all option.

An information message will appear displaying the number of dependent entries have been added.

Hit the enter key and the main Output Type screen will appear with your new output type.  Select the entry and double click the Processing Routines option in the left hand column.  Make sure that the EDI Medium is listed under the Processing Routines.  If not, add it as shown below.

Double click on the Partner Functions option in the left hand column.  Make sure the Partner Function you will be using is listed for the EDI Medium.  In this case we will be using the BP (Bill-to Party) Partner Function.

Hit the save button to save the new output type.  Repeat this process for the other two new output types.  If the Access Sequence you require is not available a new one can be created.  Creating a new Access Sequence is not covered in this blog.

Now we can set up the Partner Profiles for this customer using transaction WE20.  On WE20, expand the Partner Type KU folder and select customer number 15.  Under the Outbound parmtrs section click on the ‘Create Outbound Parameters’ icon.

Fill in the proceeding screen with the as follows.  If you are using an IDOC Extension enter that also.  For this example we are just using the Standard INVOIC02 IDOC.  As you can see I have entered 10 in the Message Code field.  This represents one of the Divisions for this customer.  You can use this field and the Message Function field to differentiate between Divisions or other criteria you wish to use.

Select the Message Control tab and click on the Insert Row icon.

Your Application will be V3 (Billing), your Message Type will ZRD0 (the new output type), and your Process Code will be SD09 (Invoice).  Enter these three values and save the entry.

You will create two more Outbound Parameter entries for the other Divisions.  In these two new entries you will place the other divisions in the Message Code field and the other output type field in the Message Control Message Type field.  Everything else will be the same.

When you are done, the Partner Profile for this customer will look like this.

Finally we will need to create the output determination so the output is created automatically once the invoice is completed.  For invoicing, the transaction for output determination is VV31 for create and VV32 for changes.  We will use VV31 since this is the first time this output type will be used.  Enter ZRD0 as the Output Type and hit Enter or click the Key Combination button.  If more then one Key Combination is available then a pop up window will appear asking which one you want to use.  Once you select one and click the Green check the key fields will appear.  If there is only one, then the key field will appear immediately.  Select the SOrg/Distrib Ch/Division/Customer option.

Enter the Sales Org, Distribution Channel, and Division data.  Then for each customer you will be using this Output Determination for you would enter the Customer Number, Partner Function, Medium (6 = EDI), Date/Time (This represents when/how the output will be processed), and Language (EN = English).  Then hit the save button.  Repeat this process for the other two output types.

Once this is completed every time an invoice is created for this combination of Sales Org, Distribution Channel, Division, and Customer number an Output will be created using the specified Output Type.  Once the output is processed an IDOC will be created with the Division in the Control Record of the IDOC which can then be used in the EDI Software to determine which EDI Partner the data should be sent to.

How do you convert these external customer numbers into your internal SAP customer numbers?

Some may hard code these conversions into their EDI maps.  This approach can be very high maintenance as customers can add new ship-to locations or reorganize their internal numbers which would require changes to your maps.

Others may set up a cross reference table within their EDI translation table to perform the conversion.  This works well at times, but then you are at the mercy of your EDI group to update the table with any new additions or changes to existing entries.

I find the best way to perform this conversion is within your SAP system.  Mainly because SAP has given you a standard utility to perform the conversion.  All you need to do is populate a few fields of the incoming IDOC and populate the EDPAR table using transaction VOE4 with the internal and external customer numbers.  The Function Module used to process the IDOC takes care of the rest.  SAP uses the Sender Partner Number of the IDOC Control record along with the PARVW and LIFNR elements from the E1EDKA1 segment to look up the correct entry in the EDPAR table.  In your EDI maps you would populate the PARVW element with the partner function code for the external customer number (AG = Sold-To, WE = Ship-To) and populate the LIFNR field with the external customer number received in the EDI file from that partner.  All other fields would remain blank in the E1EDKA1 segment.

Sender Information Partner Number from the Control Record:

E1EDKA1 Segment for the Sold-To Partner (AG):

E1EDKA1 Segment for the Ship-To Partner (WE):

Use transaction VOE4 to populate the EDPAR table.  You enter the value from the Sender Partner Number in the IDOC control record in the Customer field, the function code for the partner in the Ext. Function field.  Note: The Ext. Function field will not be the same as the Partner Function (PARVW) element of the IDOC.  (AG in IDOC = SP on VOE4, WE = SH).  The External Partner is the number received in the EDI data from the customer which is also the number in the LIFNR element of the IDOC.  Int. no is the SAP customer number associated with the External number.

VOE4 transaction with required entries for the Sold-To and Ship-To for IDOC information above:

Using the EDPAR table for customer conversion allows this function to remain in control of those responsible for customer accounts.  Users can be trained to use the VOE4 transaction to update the EDPAR table so when new ship-to or sold-to numbers need to be added they can be done in a timely matter and not rely on other departments.  It also takes this responsibility away from the EDI group so they don’t have to maintain maps or tables for this function.

This function can be used for other incoming IDOCs as well.  You will need to check the Function Modules used to process incoming IDOCs to determine if EDPAR can be used for customer number conversion and on which IDOC segment you would send the external number.

Outbound IDOCs can use either the EDPAR table or the PUMA table to cross reference external customer numbers.  Again, it depends on the IDOC type.  I will cover this topic in a separate blog.

Let’s look at how this process works.  Let’s say we have created an invoice document in SAP.  In this case, the Sold-to, Ship-to, and Bill-to partners are all SAP customer number 15.  If we want to create an INVOIC02 IDOC on which the external customer numbers are populated for all three of these partners we would have to set up three EDPAR entries as displayed on the below screen shot.  The Customer field will contain the SAP partner number (Sold-to, Ship-to, Bill-to).  The Ext. Function field will contain the Partner Function (SP = Sold-to, SH = Ship-to, BP = Bill-to).  The External Partner field will contain the external partner number that the customer is expecting on the EDI file.  And the Int. no. field will contain the SAP partner number (Same as the Customer field).

After we have set up the Partner Profile (WE20) for the INVOIC for this customer we can produce the output through transaction VF02 to create the IDOC.  The INVOIC02 IDOC will display the Sold-to and the Bill-to partners at the Header level in the E1EDKA1 segments, but because we could have multiple Ship-tos on an invoice the Ship-to partner(s) are located at the Item level in the E1EDPA1 segments.  In both segments, the external partner numbers will be populated in the LIFNR element.  The segments for the three partners are displayed below:

As you have probably noticed, the Partner Functions on the IDOCs do not match the Partner Functions in the EDPAR table.  Those would translate as follows: SP in EDPAR = AG in the IDOC, SH = WE, BP = RE.  As you can see the LIFNR field is populated with the values in the External Partner field of the EDPAR table.  These values can now be used in the EDI mapping tool to send the value to the customer.

This is a useful tool as new partners can be added easily using the VOE4 table by a customer service representative.  It also keeps the cross reference within SAP so that the EDI group does not have to build their own functionality to convert the partner numbers and maintain it as new customers are added or locations are changed.

This table can be used for other partner types and other outbound IDOCs.  You would need to check the function module that processes the output to see if it uses the EDPAR table and for which partners.  Another internal SAP table that is used for partner cross reference is the PUMA table.  This is used when creating DELVRY and SHPMNT IDOCs whose function modules do not use the EDPAR utility.  The use of the PUMA table will be discussed in a separate blog.

Cross Reference To SAP Sales Area From External Customer Number – SAP EDSDC Table

If you have ever converted an external file into a SAP Sales Document IDOC (ex: ORDERS05) you may have hard coded the E1EDK14 segments of the IDOC which specify Sales Area and order type for the SAP Sales Document.  However, these segments are not required if you populate the E1EDKA1-LIFNR segment of the IDOC with the External Customer Number and populate the EDSDC table with the Sales Area and Order Type for the customer.  Your SAP system contains a standard utility that converts the External Customer Number to the Sales Area values and Order Type value contained in this table.

Sales Area Cross Reference From IDOCs ORDERS05 and DELFOR02

This utility is available in the standard SAP package to convert External Customer Number to SAP Sales Area when processing inbound IDOCs (ex: ORDERS05, DELFOR02) from non-SAP systems.  It eliminates the need to add E1EDK14 segments to the IDOC as it populates the Sales Organization, Distribution Channel, Division, and Sales Document Type using the entries in the EDSDC table which is populated using transaction VOE2.  In order for this process to work, you must have the Customers External number populated in the E1EDKA1-LIFNR field of the IDOC where E1EDKA1-PARVW is ‘AG’ and the EDPAR Customer Conversion table set up to convert the Customer External number to the SAP Customer number.  See my blog ‘SAP EDPAR Table – External Customer Number cross reference to SAP Customer Number’ for instructions on the External Customer Conversion.  By properly doing this, the standard SAP function module will use the EDSDC table to convert the External Customer Number to the SAP Sales Area and Document Type.  The following instructions will explain how to populate the inbound IDOC and the EDSDC table.

On the Inbound IDOC do not create any E1EDK14 segments.  The use of the EDSDC table will populate the Sales Area and Document Type of the Sales document and therefore no E1EDK14 segments are required.  Populate the E1EDKA1 segment for the Sold-To party where the PARVW field is ‘AG’ and the LIFNR field is the External Customer Number (Note: the EDPAR table must be populated to convert this External Customer Number to the SAP Sold-To number).

Use transaction VOE2 to populate the EDSDC table.  Enter the SAP Sold-To Customer number in the Customer field and your Customer’s External Sold-To number in the Vendor number field.  You will then populate the SOrg, DChl, and Dv fields on VOE2 with the Sales Area information(Sales Organization, Distribution Channel, and Division) related to your SAP Customer number.  Finally, you will enter the Sales Document Type(ex: OR = Standard Order) in the SaTy field.  These values will be used as the Sales Area and Document Type on the SAP Sales Document once the IDOC is processed.

So eliminate hard coding multiple E1EDK14 segments in the inbound IDOC, just use the Standard SAP Utility designed to populated the Sales Area and Order Type of your Sales Documents.  Populate the EDSDC table using the VOE2 transaction and send the External Customer Number in the E1EDKA1-LIFNR field of the IDOC.