A grouping together of materials with the same basic attributes such as raw materials, semifinished products, or finished products.
All materials must be assigned to a material type which determines:
- Whether the material is intended for a specific purpose such as a configurable material or process material
- Whether the material number can be assigned internally or externally
- The number range from which the material number is drawn
- Which screens appear and in what sequence
- Which user department data you may enter
- What procurement type the material has; that is, whether it is manufactured in-house or procured externally, or both