Preface – This post is part of the SAP Ariba series.

Before going into the SAP Master Data Integration with Ariba, we will understand what is master data and what can it be used for?

Master data is the core data for any business organization which is rarely changed over the period of time. It plays a very crucial role in the business process. The master data of the organization covers products, employees, suppliers, and customers.

List of SAP Master Data

1. Customer Master Data
2. Vendor Master Data
3. Material Master Data
4. Bill of Material
5. Routing
6. Purchase information Records
7. Conditions Records

Methods of importing Master Data from ERP to Ariba system

1. Data transfer tool
2. Ariba Integration Toolkit through Direct Connectivity
3. SAP Process Integration
4. Configure manually from Ariba Administrator console

List of master data imported to Ariba Procurement Solution

1. Account assignment category
2. Accounting field display status
3. Asset accounts
4. Company Code
5. Cost centers
6. Currency conversion rate
7. General ledger accounts
8. Internal orders
9. Language-specific names for data imports
10. Material groups
11. Payment terms
12. Plants
13. Purchasing group
14. Purchasing organization
15. Remittance location
16. Supplier locations
17. Tax code
18. User and user groups
19. Vendors

Pre-requisites for importing master data

1. Transport request must be downloaded and imported to ERP system
2. SAP Note 1402826, 1716777 must be implemented
3. Authorization object must be created

• To maintain authorization object, go to Tcode SU21 -> create new Authorization Object

Mapping fields in SAP ERP and SAP Ariba

For importing and exporting the data, you need to maintain the mapping of fields in ERP and Ariba Procurement Solution. The field names or naming convention of fields maintained in Ariba Procurement and ERP is different. So as to display the names maintained in Ariba, mapping is needed. Otherwise, Ariba Procurement Solution will display the field names from ERP.

Creating roles for authorization object

To create roles for authorization object

1. Go to T-code PFCG and enter the role name.
2. Click Single Role open authorization tab
3. Click Change Authorization Data. If you manually select the Authorization to provide the name in Authorization Object box, make sure you enter /ARB and click Continue button
4. To change the roles provide the parent node details in the Authorization page and proceed further. You can see the /ARB object class which is created previously. Click Program Name and ensure the following values are maintained:

Object: /ARBA/PROG

Field Name: PROGRAM

Provide the transaction data report name under Value Interval. Save it and regenerate the profiles.