Regular Vendor or Primary Vendor

The Regular Vendor indicator is used in the info record to specify that a material is preferable to be procured from this vendor at client level – that is, throughout the corporate group. The regular vendor is thus comparable with the fixed vendor that can be specified in the source list for the lower organizational level plant.

This regular vendor feature should only be used if there has been nothing other than info records being stored in the system for a material and if a source list is not preferred to be created to control the source determination process.

The indicator for the regular vendor is set in the general data of the info record. In order for the regular vendor to be pulled during source determination, regular vendor usage must be activated in Customizing for the relevant plant.  If the indicator has been set in the info record and if the appropriate Customizing setting has been made, the regular vendor is suggested as the only source of supply.

Noted that if any additional outline agreement items exist in the system, the result of the source determination process depends on the existence of a source list. It is therefore recommended that the regular vendor facility is only used in a scenario in which only info records have been created in the system. If a regular vendor is tried to be used along with a source list, and a different vendor than the regular vendor in the source list or quota arrangement is entered, the system issues a warning message.

In requirements planning, the regular vendor is only taken into account if a retail system is involved.