How can you prevent the purchase of materials that are no longer valid when sourcing externally?

Activating the corresponding material status is an effective way to prevent the purchase of materials that are no longer valid when sourcing externally. Material status serves as a control mechanism within the system, allowing organizations to define specific attributes or constraints related to a material. By setting the appropriate status for materials that should not be purchased—such as "obsolete" or "inactive"—the system restricts transactions related to those materials, preventing them from being included in purchasing activities.

This approach ensures that purchasing agents are alerted to the invalidity of certain materials during the procurement process, securing the integrity of the supply chain and aligning purchasing decisions with the organization's inventory management strategies. It effectively communicates the status of materials across different functions and prevents unnecessary procurement of items that should no longer be included in sourcing efforts.

While other options like disabling vendor records or archiving old purchase orders may touch on managing supply chain processes, they do not directly control the validity of the materials themselves in the same proactive manner that adjusting the material status does. Conditional requirements are typically used for more complex procurement scenarios rather than for managing material validity specifically.