Item category & item category group

Question

Hi
What is the Function of item category and item category group?
thanx in adv

Answer 1

hi,
read this help file.
Using the item category group, you group together different material
types for item category determination from the SD view. For every
material type, you can define a default item category group which is
proposed by the SAP System when you create a material master record. For
more information on setting default values please refer to the section
"Define material type defaults.
In the sales document, the system determines the item category from the
item category group of the material and from the sales document type and
proposes this item category in the document. You assign item categories
to sales order types and item category groups elsewhere. You can find
further information on this in the section "Assign item categories".
Actions
If you define your own item category groups, the keys should start with
the letter Z, since this name convention is kept free in the standard
SAP System for this purpose.
1.  Check whether you can use the item category groups in the standard
    version.
2.  If you want to create new item category groups, you must enter an
    alphanumeric key with a maximum of 4 characters as well as a textual
    description.
Item Catgeory:
In this menu option, you define item categories for sales documents. The
item categories that are contained in the standard SAP R/3 System
together with the sales document types represent the usual business
transactions.
You have the following options for defining your own item categories:
o   Copy an existing item category and change it according to your
    requirements.
o   Create a new item category.
Recommendation
If you define your own item categories, the keys should begin with the
letter Z since SAP keeps this range free in the standard system and
protects it from being overwritten during release upgrades.
If you define your own item categories, you should copy similar item
categories that are defined by SAP and make the required changes there.
In this case, all the specifications of the existing item category are
copied - even the assignment to the sales document types. In particular,
the data for example concerning partner determination, pricing or
document flow which you do not edit on the detail screen of the item
category is also copied.  Consequently, you can test the new item
category for the settings made without having to edit the other menu
options.
When copying sales document types, item categories and schedule line
categories, the SAP system automatically creates a log with the copied
data. Using the log, you can check whether all of the copied data
applies to your item category or whether you must make changes.
Note
If you create or copy a new item category that is to be used for a
delivery, you must also define a delivery item category with the same
name. The SAP system automatically transfers the item category that was
found for the sales document item into the delivery item.
Activities
If you only need to make minor changes to the existing item categories
(e.g. changed description), then you change this as appropriate. Minor
changes refer to parameters that have no controlling character.
If you need to make further changes, define a new item category by
copying a similar item category supplied in the standard system and then
change this according to your requirements.  In this way, you can for
example define an item category for which a certain type of pricing is
carried out, or for which the data must not differ at header and item
level but which otherwise matches an existing item category.
If you want to create an item category, proceed as follows:
1.  Enter an alphanumeric key with a maximum of four characters.
2.  Maintain the respective specifications of the detail screen.
3.  Also consider the additional functions on item category level and
     the item-specific settings in the general sales and distribution
     functions.
Regards,
Murali