The enterprise wishes to influence the source of supply or quality of materials that are not ordered directly from the manufacturer. To this end, it is possible to inform the vendor from whom a certain material (that is, a vendor who acts as a middleman, or dealer) of the desired manufacturer’s name and the part number used by the latter for the material is procured. It is also possible to let the pre-defined vendor know precisely which of the manufacturer’s plants the enterprise wishes to source the material from.

The vendor is notified of the manufacturer’s part number, the external description used by the manufacturer, and – if applicable – the desired manufacturer plant in the purchasing document that is sent to him. To be more specific, the manufacturer’s part number (MPN) and description, as well as the specific manufacturing plant (if applicable), are included in the data sent to the vendor with the purchase order.

The following preconditions must be satisfied before the enterprise can be able to work with manufacturer part numbers:

1. The general use of MPNs must be activated in Customizing.
2. At least one manufacturer part profile must be defined in Customizing.
3. Master records must be created for manufacturers (and, if necessary, manufacturer plants).
4. A master record must be created for the enterprise’s own material in each case.
5. If there is more than one MPN material, further MPN material master records must be created.

Understand more about it in this PDF Guide on Manufacturer part numbers.