JinJin48

SAP Consultant | BTP · S/4HANA · US Global Rollout

June 23, 2026 · 14 min read

SAP MM Purchasing Info Record

The Purchasing Info Record (PIR) is the master data object that encapsulates the purchasing relationship between a Vendor and a Material. It stores the agreed price, delivery time, tolerances, and order conditions for a specific Vendor × Material × Purchasing Organization combination. Every automatic source determination, price proposal, and contract release in SAP MM traces back to this master.

Part 1: Purchasing Info Record — Core Concepts (All Modules)#

1.1 What Is the Purchasing Info Record?#

The Purchasing Info Record is a purchasing-specific master data record that stores the terms agreed between a company and a vendor for a specific material. It acts as the bridge between the Material Master and the Vendor Master, holding the procurement conditions at the intersection of these two objects.

1.2 Four PIR Types#

The PIR type determines which procurement scenario the record applies to. Selecting the wrong type causes incorrect behavior in source determination and MRP.

Design principle: PIR Type must be decided during blueprint. Subcontracting and Consignment PIRs require additional Customizing (account determination, movement types) that Standard does not.

1.3 Organizational Levels and Data Hierarchy#

Data hierarchy with a concrete example#

A PIR exists for each Vendor × Material pair, and its purchasing terms are scoped by Purchasing Org and optionally by Plant:

Client
   │
   ├── Vendor A × Material 100 — General PIR Data
   │      vendor's part number "VA-100", MPN, reminder days
   │      │
   │      ├── Purchasing Org 1000 — Purchasing Conditions (cross-plant)
   │      │      €10.00/PC, 5 days delivery, order unit PC
   │      │
   │      └── Purchasing Org 1000 × Plant 1100 — Purchasing Conditions (override)
   │             €9.50/PC, 7 days delivery (remote plant)
   │
   └── Vendor B × Material 100 — General PIR Data (alternative supplier)
          │
          └── Purchasing Org 1000 — Purchasing Conditions
                 €10.80/PC, 3 days delivery

Fields entered on the General PIR Data#

Vendor Material Number | Manufacturer Part Number (MPN) | Reminder Days (1st / 2nd / 3rd) | Order Acknowledgment Required | Available-from Date

Fields entered on the PIR Purchasing Conditions#

Purchasing Organization | Plant (blank = cross-plant) | Order Unit | Planned Delivery Time | Min Order Qty | Over / Under Tolerance | GR-based IV flag | Net Price | Discount conditions

When does the business use the PIR?#

Technical reference: General PIR Data is stored in table EINA (one row per Vendor × Material). PIR Purchasing Conditions are stored in table EINE, where Plant key field blank indicates Purchasing Org level and Plant key field filled indicates Plant-level override.

1.4 Integration with Other Master Data Objects#

The PIR does not stand alone. It is consumed by, and feeds into, a web of other purchasing master data objects.

Part 2: MM-Specific Field Details#

2.0 Scope of MM Ownership#

Legend: ◎ = Owner / Critical, ○ = Direct involvement

2.1 General Data (EINA — Client Level)#

General Data is the top level of the PIR, shared across all Purchasing Organizations. It captures the vendor’s identification of the material and operational reminder settings.

2.2 Purchasing Organization Data (EINE — Purchasing Org Level)#

The Purchasing Org Data section is the operational core of the PIR. Fields here directly control PO proposals, MRP planning, and invoice verification.

2.3 Conditions (Price Conditions)#

The Purchasing Info Record uses the condition technique to manage prices — the same framework used in SD pricing. This enables multi-level, date-range, and quantity-scale pricing without manual price entry on every PO.

Condition scales (quantity-based pricing) are a key design element:

Design note: Condition scales require the Pricing Procedure (transaction M/08, standard schema RM0000) to be defined in Customizing. For Japan-specific requirements (consumption tax as a separate condition type, etc.), a custom pricing procedure is commonly implemented alongside the standard.

2.4 Texts#

Note: PO output text printed on the vendor copy is maintained in the Material Master (PO Text View) and the Vendor Master — not in the PIR. PIR texts are purchasing-team-internal only.

2.5 Integration with Source Determination#

The PIR is the foundational record for SAP’s automatic source of supply determination in both manual purchasing and MRP-driven procurement.

Source List (ME01)#

Quota Arrangement (MEQ1)#

MRP prerequisite: Quota Arrangement only functions when both (1) the Quota Arrangement Usage field in the Material Master Purchasing View is set (typically “4”) and (2) the Source List is active for the material-plant. Missing either causes MRP to ignore the quota entirely.

What to Read Next#

L1) Big Picture

L2-A) Master Data

L2-B) Transaction