SAP Knowledge Base Article - Public

3736990 - Definition, Usage and Maintenance of Internal/External Item ID for migration object "Material BOM"

Symptom

The Item ID identifies a BOM item within a BOM group (all alternatives of a multiple BOM or all variants of a variant BOM).

This field is technically mandatory for the system to establish internal links between records in subordinate sheets and maintain data integrity across the BOM structure.

Environment

SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition

Reproducing the Issue

  1. Open the Migrate Your Data app.
  2. Open a migration project containing the migration object "Material BOM".
  3. Download the migration template for Material BOM and populate the BOM Header and BOM Item sheets with data.
  4. In the BOM Subitem or Global Dependency sheet, leave the Item ID field empty, or enter a value that does not match the corresponding entry in the BOM Item sheet.
  5. Upload the template and complete the preparation step.
  6. One or more of the following issues occur:
    • A Duplicate Key Error occurs during data transfer to the staging tables.
    • The simulation or migration fails due to broken references between BOM items and sub-items.
    • BOM-related data such as document assignments or dependencies is not correctly linked after migration.

Cause

It ensures unique identification of each BOM component within the migration template, and it maintains referential integrity between BOM headers, items, and sub-items.
It enables proper linking of dependencies, document assignments, and other BOM-related data

Resolution

Internal ID Usage Scenarios:

  1. System-Generated Requirements: You want SAP to automatically assign numeric identifiers,
  2. Simple Migration Projects: Legacy system doesn't have meaningful item identifiers
  3. Clean Data Approach: Starting fresh without carrying over legacy numbering schemes
  4. Minimal Customization: Standard SAP functionality is sufficient

External ID Usage Scenarios:

  1. Legacy System Integration: Maintaining traceability to source system identifiers
  2. Business Process Requirements: Existing item numbering has business significance
  3. Cross-System References: Other systems reference specific item identifiers
  4. Audit Trail Needs: Regulatory or compliance requirements for identifier consistency

Attention, using the Internal Item ID does not mean field "Item ID" maintenance is unnecessary.

Item ID is still required as the maintenance data in both the "BOM Subitem" sheet and the "Global Dependency" sheet.
“The item ID is technically mandatory for the tool to internally connect records of subordinate sheets.”

See Also

SAP Help Portal - Material BOM | SAP Help Portal

Keywords

SAP BOM, Item ID, Internal ItemID, External ItemID, BOM Migration, MYD, LTMC, LTMOM, BOM Subitem, Global Dependency, Duplicate Key Error, BOM Data Integrity, BOM Group, Migration Template , KBA , CA-GTF-MIG , SAP S/4HANA Data Migration Cockpit Content , Problem

Product

SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition all versions