Integration of Inspection Lots 

Use

In SAP R/3, inspection lots have a start date calculated from the goods receipt date and an end date calculated from the average inspection time defined in the material master. In the current stock/requirements list, the inspection lot quantity appears as a planned receipt at the end date of the inspection lot. For more information about inspection lots in SAP R/3, see Inspection Lot Creation in the SAP R/3 documentation.

Prior to SAP R/3 Plug-In 2002.2 and SAP APO 3.1, inspection lots in SAP R/3 were transferred to SAP APO as stock in quality inspection only. Since stock in quality inspection is immediately available for planning as unrestricted-use stock, the dates of the inspection lot from SAP R/3 were not taken into account in SAP APO.

As of SAP R/3 Plug-In 2003.1, you can set up the integration of inspection lots in SAP R/3. In this case, inspection lots from SAP R/3 are not mapped as stock in quality inspection in SAP APO. Instead, they are transferred along with the relevant dates. In the same way as in the stock/requirements list in SAP R/3, the quantity to be posted for the inspection lot is displayed as a planned receipt at the end date of the inspection lot in the product view in SAP APO and it is only available for planning as of this date. For more information about the structure and usage of inspection lots in SAP APO, see Inspection Lot.

 

For storage locations with Handling Unit Management (HUM), only stock in quality inspection is displayed in the stock/requirements list and not inspection lots. In this case, stock in quality inspection continues to be transferred to SAP APO.

Prerequisites

The following settings are required in SAP R/3 so that inspection lots are transferred to SAP APO:

●      The Inspection Lots Allowed indicator must be set in the Implementation Guide for the Core Interface (CIF) under Application-Specific Settings and Enhancements → Settings and Enhancements for Inspection Lots → Set Up Transfer of Inspection Lots to SAP APO.

●      An active integration model must exist for inspection lots.

You can find information about changing over to inspection lot integration while retaining old stocks under Changeover to Inspection Lot Integration.

●      The logical target system specified in the integration model must be able to receive inspection lots. This is the case as of SAP APO 4.0. If you use an older SAP APO release, the transfer of inspection lots leads to errors.

An inspection lot that is to be integrated must meet all the following relevance criteria:

●      The inspection lot has the status SPRQ (stock posting required).

●      The quantity to be posted for the inspection lot is greater than zero.

●      The inspection lot quantity was posted to stock in quality inspection when the inspection lot was opened; that is, the Insp. Stock indicator is set.

Features

Inspection lots cannot be created, changed, or deleted in SAP APO. They can only be transferred from SAP R/3 to SAP APO and not vice versa.

Initial Data Transfer

Inspection lots can only be created in SAP R/3. To transfer the integration lots to SAP APO, you have to create an integration model for inspection lots and activate it. If the Inspection Lots Allowed indicator is set in Customizing, the system transfers all inspection lots that meet the selection criteria (and the above-mentioned relevance criteria) to SAP APO. If this indicator is not set, you are automatically prevented from activating the integration model.

After you have activated the integration model for inspection lots, the system no longer transfers stock in quality inspection to SAP APO. Stocks in quality inspection that already exist in SAP APO are deleted automatically when the next stock transfer is made from SAP R/3. For more information, see the documentation for the Changeover to Inspection Lot Integration.

Inspection Lots with a Quantity of Zero are not transferred in an initial data transfer.

Since the inspection lot dates in SAP R/3 do not have a time but SAP APO requires a time for such dates, the system automatically sets the start and end times of an inspection lot to 00:00 by default in the time zone of the plan in which the inspection lot is found. You can use SAP R/3 customer exit QAPO0003 to modify the time.

Change Transfer and Deletion

Inspection lots can only be changed in SAP R/3. Changes to the start and end dates, the quantity to be posted, and status changes from Created to Unrestricted-Use are transferred to SAP APO automatically.

If you post from the quantity to be posted for an inspection lot to the stock in SAP R/3, both the quantity to be posted for the inspection lot and the corresponding stock are posted automatically in SAP APO. The prerequisite is that an active integration model for stocks exists.

If you reduce the quantity to be posted for an inspection lot to zero in SAP R/3, the inspection lot is deleted automatically in SAP APO. For more information, see Integration Lots with a Quantity of Zero.

Inspection lots that you cancel in SAP R/3 are also deleted in SAP APO.

In SAP APO, you can delete the inspection lots that are missing in SAP R/3 by using the compare/reconcile function (transaction /SAPAPO/CCR). For more information, see Comparison of Inspection Lots.

Special cases:

●      Integration of Batch Classification for Inspection Lots

●      Reversal of goods receipt
As standard, it is not possible to reverse a goods receipt from an inspection lot to unrestricted-use stock in SAP R/3. If a reversal is made (for example, by a correction program that has been implemented from a note), this might not be mapped correctly in SAP APO. In this case, you have to use the compare/reconcile function to rectify the inconsistency.

●      Goods receipt blocked stock
The Insp. Stock indicator is not set for inspection lots for goods receipt blocked stock because goods receipt blocked stock does not recognize stock in quality inspection. These inspection lots do not appear in the requirements/stock list in SAP R/3 and do not meet the SAP APO relevancy criteria.

●      Stock transfers
Like stock in quality inspection, inspection lots can be transferred; for example, between two storage locations within a plant or between two plants. If the stock transfer is between two plants, you have to ensure that the receiving plant also uses inspection lots. Stock transfers of inspection lots are automatically transferred to SAP APO. The characteristics of inspection lots are retained in a stock transfer.