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Process documentation Inbound Processing and Receipt Confirmation with Warehouse Management in SCM  Locate the document in its SAP Library structure

Purpose

You can use this business process for your inbound processing and receipt confirmation in conjunction with Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) in SAP Supply Chain Management (SCM). For this process variant - the logistics process of receiving goods in the warehouse - a high degree of variability and flexibility has to be ensured. In the actual implementation, different optional steps can be installed in order to ensure an efficient and streamlined receiving process.

Whenever a company requires a product to be procured from an external source of supply, the product will be delivered according to the official procurement document (a PO) agreed between two business partners. The arrival of the goods is announced by a message from the supplier (ASN). They will be delivered in a certain quantity at a defined date and time at a defined company location. For the delivered product, an inbound delivery is selected and processed for putaway. Once the goods are taken into stock, a goods receipt must be posted.

Inbound processing and goods receipts are key steps in any procurement or replenishment process. Using inbound processing in EWM in SAP SCM supports specific requirements for receiving goods in WM managed warehouses for discrete industries, for example for Service Parts Management.

The receiving process is divided into several process steps which ensure that the physical receiving process is reflected in system activities and documents. The basic concept is to differentiate between planned activities and notifications (for example ASN, inbound delivery notification) and finalized documents after processing (inbound delivery).

If Handling Unit (HU) Management for packing is used, you must use in inbound delivery to pack against.

This inbound process can optionally be supported in a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) environment with fixed devices. For this purpose, an SAP Auto-ID system as of SAP Auto-ID 5.1 must be part of your system landscape.

Process Flow

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       1.      Receive advanced shipping notification (ASN) (SAP ECC)

The arrival of goods procured and received is announced by a message of the supplier to the goods recipient. This message is called Advanced Shipping Notification (ASN) and it contains logistically relevant data, such as date and time of delivery, material, quantities, and packing information. The ASN is typically sent by the shipper of the goods. This can be the supplier (external or internal) or a third-party logistics service provider (3PL).

The message is received by the ship-to-party in the ERP system. Before the ASN is converted into an inbound delivery, it can be validated in SAP to check its consistency against the purchase order or scheduling agreement releases.

The ASN can also be enriched with Electronic Product Code (EPC) data if Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is implemented.

       2.      Create inbound delivery notification (SAP SCM)

After the ASN has been received and validated, an inbound delivery notification is generated (typically automatically as an outcome of the post-processing framework) in SAP SCM. When the actual shipment arrives, the inbound delivery is selected and processed for putaway.

       3.      Create inbound delivery (SAP SCM)

EWM receives inbound delivery notifications from other systems. Based on these messages, EWM automatically creates the corresponding inbound delivery. However, you can also create these warehouse requests manually.

       4.      Register in yard (optional) (SAP SCM)

The registration of the actual arrival of the inbound delivery can be captured by setting the transit status In Yard. EWM sends this status to the ERP system even before confirming the goods receipt.

       5.      Unloading by warehouse task (optional) (SAP SCM)

In the case of simple loading and unloading processes, you load or unload your inbound deliveries or handling units and thereby automatically trigger a status change. In the case of complex loading and unloading processes, you create warehouse tasks (WTs) and move the handling units in the warehouse.

During unloading, you bring the goods from the door (reflected as source storage bin) to the staging area or to a deconsolidation area or inspection area (destination storage bin).

If you work with RFID enablement, when the HU is moved through a gate equipped with RFID reader devices, Auto ID Infrastructure (AII) recognizes the movement, scans the RFID tag, and sends the information to EWM, where the status of the HU is changed to Unloaded.

       6.      Post goods receipt (SAP SCM)

To confirm the receiving of the inbound deliveries, you have to post a goods receipt. You can post a goods receipt at different times during the loading and unloading process, before or after putaway.

If you are working with RFID enablement, the goods receipt is posted automatically at the time of unloading.

For inbound deliveries, you can make either partial (partial goods receipt) or complete goods receipt postings. You can specify whether there should be a confirmation to the ERP system for each individual partial goods receipt, or for the entire delivery. You can also specify whether EWM should also transfer the current handling unit data with the goods receipt confirmation to the ERP system.

After you have posted the goods receipt in EWM, several follow-up activities and statuses are set:

¡        Goods receipt status is set for the inbound delivery in SAP ECC.

¡        The system updates supply chain planning in SAP APO and posts the goods receipt in the received on dock (ROD) stock category.

¡        Update supplier delivery performance rating and the Inbound Monitor (SAP SNC).

When a goods receipt is posted, SAP ECC supports:

       Purchase order history

The system updates the purchase order history, so that the purchasing department can determine that the goods receipt to the PO has been posted and can check delivery date, time, and quantity. This information may also be relevant for vendor evaluation.

       Final delivery indicator

If information about final delivery is desired, the system sets the final delivery indicator to inform the purchasing department that the last partial delivery has been affected.

       Material valuation

A goods receipt posting triggers an update of stock balance and stock value. After a goods receipt, the system creates a material document serving as proof of the goods movement and an accounting document to initiate the update of the relevant G/L accounts. From goods receipt you can display the material document and from there the accounting document. When the product is valuated with moving average price, the material price is updated according to the price in the most recent PO.

       SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse update

If you work with SAP NetWeaver Business Intelligence, new SAP ECC stock balance data updates user-defined figures in SAP NW BI, relevant for reporting.

Note

If Cross-Docking functionality is desired, see Cross Docking.

       7.      Create warehouse task (SAP SCM)

The warehouse task is required to move the materials to their final storage destination. It consists of items that contain the quantity of the material to move and specifies the source and destination storage bins.

For the putaway, EWM determines a putaway path. EWM uses your settings to define the path that the warehouse employee should take to put the products away. Regardless of how you perform putaway in your company, you can configure EWM in such a way that the activities are performed in one of the following ways:

       Automatically during creation of an inbound delivery

       Regularly at specific times

       Manually using overviews of the daily loads, after a request from a warehouse employee

       8.      Confirm warehouse task (SAP SCM)

Upon confirmation of the warehouse task, the products are available at their final destination. Once the warehouse worker has carried out the warehouse task, it gets confirmed. This is usually done (semi) automatically by using RF devices and barcode scanning. If the destination bin has a stationary reader to support RFID movement, the HU warehouse task is confirmed automatically.

As the goods are finally available, different statuses and follow-up activities are set:

       Update inbound delivery (SAP ECC)

Upon putaway, the system performs a transfer from received on dock (ROD) to available for sale (AFS). The stock is now available for sale and the status of the inbound delivery is set to Completed.

       Update planning (SAP SCM, APO)

Stock category changes from ROD to AFS.

       Update ASN, SDPR or inbound monitor (SAP SCM, SNC)

The system updates the ASN, the supplier delivery performance rating and the Inbound Monitor in SAP SNC.

       9.      Create warehouse order (optional) (SAP SCM)

A warehouse order groups together warehouse tasks in order to create optimum work packages according to customizing settings. For warehouse order creation, different rules with their relevant criteria can be defined.

The warehouse order is created automatically.

For more information on managing your warehouse with warehouse tasks and orders, see Warehousing and Storage with Warehouse Management in SCM as well as SAP Help ® SAP Business Suite ® SAP Supply Chain Management ® Extended Warehouse Management.

   10.      Process quality inspection (optional) (SAP SCM)

A quality inspection can be triggered to define an inspection for individual delivery items. To do this, you determine the creation of an inspection document based on specific characteristics of the delivery item, for example, a particular product or a particular quantity that has been exceeded.

The following are possible inspections that you can define:

       Counting

       Customer returns (see also below)

It is possible to trigger simple as well as complex inspection processes. From checking the truck contents upon receiving up to detailed inspection after unloading and unpacking the HUs, different options can be configured.

This process step comprises these substeps:

                            a.      Initiate inspection

Create an inspection document containing all relevant data for inspection, such as product, quantity, and sample size. Different triggers are possible to initiate the inspection.

                            b.      Draw sample

To conduct an inspection, a responsible person (for example a warehouse worker or laboratory employee) needs to draw the necessary quantity of samples from the inbound delivery and label it.

                            c.      Confirm sample (optional)

The receipt of samples in the laboratory can be confirmed and registered.

                            d.      Register results (optional)

                            e.      Inspection decision and follow-up activities

After registration of all results, the usage decision has to be created. It is created as a code and represents a final evaluation of the product from a quality perspective. This step is important to ensure product safety and compliance and typically demands a specific authorization.

In conjunction with the usage decision, follow-up activities can be triggered, such as release or block of the product or batch. These follow-up activities can be started automatically or manually and depend on the inspection result code.

EWM uses the Quality Inspection Engine (QIE) to create the inspection document (for further information, see SAP Help).

   11.      Deconsolidate mixed handling units (optional) (SAP SCM)

You can use this function to divide up a deconsolidation handling unit across several putaway-handling units. This is necessary if a deconsolidation handling unit contains different products that you want to put away in different storage sections.

Deconsolidation takes place at specific work areas in the warehouse. Utilizing deconsolidation guides the inbound material flow to these specific areas with warehouse tasks.

   12.      Returns processing (optional) (SAP SCM)

The returns process is a variant of inbound processing, where the creation of the inbound delivery needs a specific authorization process from SAP CRM. Also see SAP Help ® SAP Business Suite ® SAP Supply Chain Management ®(see also the process description in SAP Help (Physical Returns Process).

The substeps in EWM are:

                            a.      Receive goods in warehouse (SAP SCM, WM)

After the returned parts have been received in the warehouse, you post the goods receipt. Goods receipt for customer returns is posted corresponding to goods receipt of deliveries from vendors.

                            b.      Perform inspection (SAP SCM, WM)

After inspection of the returned parts, you document the result in the inspection outcome.

                            c.      Update inbound delivery (SAP ECC)

Posting goods receipt in EWM updates the inbound delivery in SAP ECC.

                            d.      Replicate inspection result (SAP ECC)

SAP SPE functions as the communication interface between SAP SCM, WM and SAP CRM. SAP SPE replicates the inspection outcome from SAP SCM, WM to SAP CRM in an inspection confirmation.

                            e.      Create inspection confirmation (SAP CRM)

The inspection outcome from SAP SCM, WM is replicated through SAP ECC to SAP CRM in an inspection confirmation.

On the basis of the inspection outcome entered in SAP SCM, WM, the system performs pricing. The codes of the detailed inspection outcome influence pricing.

 

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