16.2    Organizational Structures

In the SAP system, the sales department of a business is mapped with organizational units. In addition to units used only in sales, the company code and plant organizational units are also relevant in this department. The plant organizational unit is the delivering plant in sales with SAP—that is, from where the customers are provided with products. Beyond these, the following are some organizational units that are maintained and used in sales:

• Sales area
  The sales area is responsible for selling materials to the customers. It’s assigned to a company code.
• Sales organization
  All sales documents are assigned to the sales organization. One or more sales organizations can be assigned to a sales area.
• Distribution channel
  The distribution channel is the way materials and services reach the customers. Typical distribution channels are wholesale trade (business-to-business [B2B]), retail trade (business-to-consumer [B2C]), and mail order or direct sales.
• Division
  Similar products are combined in a division—that is, a grouping of materials and services that are distributed by the business—which organizes the responsibilities for these products within the business. Examples of cross-division sales include the sales of the product groups “pumps” and “motorcycles.”
• Storage location
  Materials are managed on a quantity basis (not on a value basis) at the storage location level. One or more storage locations are assigned to a plant.
• Shipping point
  The shipping point handles shipping. They may be physically detached from the business (e.g., loading ramps or airports). The shipping point can be determined automatically during order entry.

The next section discusses the master data in sales.