Customer data

Question

Hi all
1.What is master data?
2.What is customer  data?
3.What is customer master data?
4.What is master data management (MDM)?
With Regards
Vijay

Answer 1

Hi Vijay,
Master Data are data, which are created by users based on requirement, such as:
Customer Master Data
Material master Data
Customer Material Info Record
Pricing Condition Record
Vendor Master
& so on ....
In SAP determination of any functionality, following are needed:
1. Input ---> Logic -
> Output
Now to support the logic to give desired o/p when input is there, we need some reference data against which logic can be developed. This data is called Master Data. Now we have different types of master data like Customer, Material, Vendor etc.
I will also define Pricing condition records, o/p records, text records also as master data as they also help to determine the logic for converting i/p to o/p
master data is modified infrequently.
Data records that remain in the database for a long period of time are called master data. Master data
includes creditors, vendors, materials, accounts, and so on.
n Master data is created centrally and can be used in all applications.
Example:
Ÿ A customer is master data that can be used in customer requests, deliveries, invoices, and
payments.
n Master data also has an organizational aspect as it is assigned to organizational units.
n Master data has cross-component usage
Examples:
Ÿ Customer master data uses the same data for financial accounting and sales
Ÿ Customer master records can be assigned to the following organizational units:
company
code
sales
organization
distribution
channel
division
When creating a customer master record, you enter:
Ÿ Shared data on the client level
Ÿ Company code-specific data for each company code
n Data on the client level can be used by all company codes. The customer account number is assigned
on this level. That means, the same customer has an explicit accounts receivable number in all
company codes from a financial view.
If you also have SAP Sales and Distribution implemented, there are additional fields you can
maintain. These fields contain information and control data that are necessary for processing the
business activ ities in the Sales area.
n Fields for customer master data are divided into Accounting and Sales areas. Address data is used
from both areas. In the Sales area, information recorded can be accessed by Financial Accounting
and vice versa.
Note:
The structural logic for customer master records/accounts receivable is also valid for vendor
master records/accounts payable
The material master represents the central source for releasing material-specific data. It is used by all
of the SAP Logistics components in the R/3 System.
n Integrating all of the material data in one single database object means that the problem of data
redundancy is not an issue. The stored data can be used by all areas, such as purchasing, inventory
management, materials planning, invoice verification, and so on.
n The data contained in the material master is required, for example, by the following functions in the
SAP Logistics component:
Ÿ Ordering in Purchasing
Ÿ Updating movement of goods and managing the physical inventory in Inventory Management
Ÿ Posting invoices in Invoice Verification
Ÿ Processing sales orders in Sales
Ÿ Planning requirements, scheduling work in Production Planning and Control
n The structural logic that applies to vendors and customers is also valid for material master records.
When creating an order for a customer, you must take transport agreements, delivery and payment
conditions, and so on, with business partners into consideration. To avoid re-entering this
information each time for every activity related to these business partners, relevant data for the
activity from the master record of the business partner is simply copied.
n In the same way, the material master record stores information, such as the price per unit of quantity,
and stock per storage location that is processed during order entry. This concept is valid for
processing data for each master record included in the activity.
Rewards points if helpful.
Ganesh.