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The communications processes between R/3 and an external transportation planning system can be divided by communications procedure into

 

Location master data

For optimal performance, the location master data must be the same in both systems. Depending on the foreign system’s functions, this may occur via an initial data comparison with change management using IDoc TPSLOC01 or via a direct location master data transmission during communications within IDoc TPSDLS01.

 

Location master data includes the following:

 

Transmission of master data with IDoc TPSLOC01 can occur at the following points:

 

The address records of the locations used are transmitted from SAP to the transportation planning system with the deliveries that are to be planned in IDoc TPSDLS01. This ensures that even if you’re dealing with a transportation planning system without its own location data management, at least the correct data for departure point and destination is available. The address record transmission with deliveries that are to be planned is especially important for all external systems when using one-time customers (CPD) as references.

Transaction Data

Tr Transmission of transaction data occurs in two directions. Planning requests (deliveries that are to be planned and assigned to shipments) are transmitted from R/3 to the planning system and then planned shipments are sent back to the R/3 system.

If new deliveries are to be planned into a shipment, the scenario is as follows:

 

 

This graphic is explained in the accompanying text

Outgoing Delivery / Planning Requests

Tra Transmission of planning requests (deliveries that are to be planned) to a transportation planning system may occur via the following various procedures and communication stages in R/3:

Optional:

  • Explicit transmission by calling up a program with transaction VT61 with the option to select deliveries according to several selection criteria The actual transmission occurs via message control or as a direct transmission.
  • Automatic transmission by starting transmission program RB56LFTP at a defined point in time (definition of selection variants, batch transmission). The actual transmission occurs via message control or as a direct transmission.
  • Implicit transmission using transaction VT68 by deallocating a delivery without deleting it in R/3. The actual transmission occurs via message control or as a direct transmission.

Mandatory:

  • Implicit re-transmission via message control after a delivery has been changed
  • Implicit transmission via direct transmission when a delivery is deleted

In R/3, selection of deliveries to be planned is carried out either:

  • Using a report with an option screen that is started via transaction VT61
  • Or by calling up report RV56LFTP (with variants) at regular intervals

This report uses the delivery selection function in the same way as for shipment processing (transaction VT01). A transportation planning point that corresponds to the transportation planning system must also be specified.

Tra Transmission of deliveries is carried out as follows:

  1. Determination of a transportation planning system (transportation planning point)
  2. Selection of deliveries according to the criteria specified
  3. Combining of deliveries and their corresponding items
  4. Determination of the items that are relevant for transportation (optional)
  5. Determination of the delivery’s dispatch location and point of destination where additional shipments are possible, e.g. main leg for sea transportation (optional)
  6. Accumulation of delivery items according to the freight class of the delivered materials and the freight code set that was specified.
  7. Customer functions for user-specific changes or enhancements of the combined delivery data and IDocs
  8. Creation of the IDoc (one IDoc per delivery document with the option to combine several IDocs into packets)
  9. Transmission of the IDocs to a planning system

Deliveries that were changed in R/3 (transaction VL02) after they have already been reported to the transportation planning system are automatically re-transmitted immediately after the changes are posted (provided they are relevant for transportation). This function is activated by a link to message control. When a change is made, the whole document, rather than just the changed data, is re-transmitted.

The following graphic illustrates the scenario for transportation-relevant deliveries that have been changed after data was initially transmitted to an external transportation planning system:

 

This graphic is explained in the accompanying text

If a delivery is deleted in R/3, this deletion command is transmitted automatically to all transportation planning systems that had previously been planning that delivery for assignment to shipments. The delivery document is deleted in R/3, although, in certain circumstances, some references to this delivery that are still open may exist in externally-planned R/3 shipment documents. Shipment documents with these open references cannot be changed in R/3 until the change command is received from the transportation planning system for the document that no longer contains that delivery.

Incoming Shipment

The incoming shipment IDocs TPSSHT01 are interpreted, checked, and then used for creating, changing, or deleting R/3 shipment documents that are posted to the database afterwards.

The functional process flow can be described as follows:

  • Importing the IDocs via the ALE layer
  • Interpretation of the IDocs, resulting in the creation, changing or deletion of shipment documents. The individual stages for creating/changing each shipment document are determined by the shipment header, the shipment items, stages, dates, and handling units.
  • Posting the created/changed documents

Shipment documents created by a transportation planning system can only be changed within very narrow limits in the R/3 system. Customizing settings may restrict or forbid you to change transportation-relevant data. Data that should not be changed includes all data that would make it necessary to change documents in the transportation planning system (legs, delivery assignment, service agents, means of transport, document numbers).

Outgoing Shipments

In the case of externally planned shipment documents, if you have a shipment status in Customizing that is exceeded or not reached, you can have a fixing or release message sent to the respective forwarding agent. To do this, use the IDoc TPSSHT01. After the freeze message is transmitted for a shipment document in R/3, the corresponding shipment in the planning system can no longer be changed. Similarly, a release message from the R/3 system means that the shipment document can be changed again in the planning system.

Status Transmission and Error Processing

Automatic processing of logical errors (errors that occur as a result of the message content) is carried out in the R/3 system using the workflow options provided by the ALE layer. The receiving system can react to a logical error by sending back an error message using IDoc SYSTAT01. The IDoc is constructed so that the error source can be localized precisely.

Workflow can be set in R/3 so that the employee responsible is informed when this error message is received as a reply to the transmission of delivery data to a transportation planning system.

You can make the relevant settings in Customizing for the R/3 transportation planning point so that an error message can be created and sent as a response to the transportation planning system upon receipt of incorrect incoming shipment documents.

 

 

 

 

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