For many processes in WM, you have the option of selecting foreground or background processing. Transactions that are processed in the foreground allow the user to view each step and enter modifications to system defaults manually.

When creating a transfer order to place materials into storage, if you carry out the process in the foreground, you must manually review and process information in several different screens. For example, if the transfer order contains 20 items, it would be necessary for you to process in 24 separate screens.

If you elect to process a transaction in the background, the entire transaction is carried out in the system without the need for manual inputs by the user.

Advantages to selecting background processing include the following:

• Some processes run more quickly in the system as a background process and intervention is unnecessary.

• Since some processing steps must not be accomplished manually, individual workload is reduced considerably.

• Detailed information can be skipped by using background processing. This prevents the user from being overwhelmed.

There are several possibilities for influencing foreground and background processing in WM:

• During most transactions and processes, you can select foreground or background processing manually.

• Movement types: When creating movement types in the Customizing application, you can set a default value of H (foreground processing) or D (background processing) for all transactions using the movement type selected.

For some WM transactions, it is possible to define defaults for foreground and background processing. To define defaults, see Define transaction parameters under Activities in the Warehouse Management IMG documentation.