Customizing Settings for Multi-Plant/Site Planning 
Use
By using the special procurement key, you can combine settings for multi-plant planning with other special procurement types. The material will then be planned differently, depending on whether it is planned as a BOM item or as a finished product.
Integration
In Customizing for MRP, you have maintained the special procurement key in the IMG activity Define special procurement type (see also Procurement Type and Special Procurement Type).
Features
In Customizing, the system creates special procurement keys for the following multi-plant procedures as standard.
- stock transfer
- production in alternative plant
- withdrawal from alternative plant
You can also use the control indicator to define how a material should be treated as a component in the BOM explosion. The following options are available:
- Phantom item: a material, which is used as a component in a BOM, is treated as a phantom assembly during the BOM explosion regardless of the type of special procurement that is defined. You can combine the Phantom item attribute with every special procurement type.
- Direct production: a material, which is used as a component in a BOM, is to be procured using direct production. Direct production can be combined with the special procurement type Production in alternative plant.
- Direct procurement: a material, which is used as a component in a BOM, is to be procured using direct procurement. Direct procurement can be combined with the special procurement types Stock transfer, Consignment and Subcontracting.
- Withdrawal from alternative plant: a material, which is used as a component in a BOM, is procured using withdrawal from an alternative plant, if there is a dependent requirement, regardless of the type of special procurement that is defined. You can combine the withdrawal from an alternative plant with every special procurement type.
These additional possibilities are only useful, if a material, which can be ordered directly by customers and be used as a BOM component in in-house production, is procured or treated differently in each case. For a material, that is to be treated the same in both cases, for example, is to always be procured using stock transfer, it is sufficient to use the special procurement key Stock transfer as before.
You can only use the special procurement key Withdrawal from alternative plant for materials that only have dependent requirements, that is, no independent requirements. Once a material also has independent requirements, as the material is also sold directly to customers, you must enter the special procurement key for Withdrawal from alternative plant and, in addition, the special procurement type Stock transfer.
If you combine the special procurement key Direct production with the special procurement type Production in alternative plant, the settings work coactively. This is how you create a multi-plant collective order (see also Customizing Settings for Direct Production).