Purpose
Supplementary logistics services (SLS) are article-related services supporting logistics. If you use the standard SLS functions, customers can order pre-packed merchandise. Vendors can deliver pre-packed merchandise for a specific purchase order. This document describes how you can do this. It is assumed that both the customer and the vendor use an SAP System.
To increase the efficiency of the supply chain in an effort to achieve more Efficient Consumer Response (ECR), goods that pass through distribution centers are increasingly handled using fast-track processes (for example, cross-docking). The fast-track process only works if the intended recipients already exist in the system at goods receipt. This makes it superfluous for the goods to be placed in storage in the distribution center. The advantages include:
If the vendor has pre-packed the goods for the final recipients, the customer can cross-dock packages containing different articles at goods receipt. When packages contain only the one type of article, however, the final recipients cannot always take complete packages. The vendor therefore pre-packs units containing different articles for the one recipient. For further information about cross-docking, see
Merchandise Distribution: Processing Methods.By integrating specific programs, you can define additional SLS without modifying the SAP System source code. For further information, see also:
SLS: Examples of Customer Enhancements.Integration
The following components are used:
Component |
System |
Function |
Article master |
Customer/vendor |
Creating an SLS as an article |
Additionals |
Customer/vendor |
Assigning SLS to articles |
Collective purchase orders |
Customer |
Ordering articles for which the vendor is to perform an SLS (for example, pre-packing) |
Sales order processing |
Vendor |
Receiving purchase orders containing SLS data and sub-items using EDI |
Shipping and Transportation |
Vendor |
Creating outbound deliveries with SLS sub-items Picking and packing goods for SLS sub-items |
Goods receipts |
Customer |
Entering inbound deliveries or rough goods receipts Goods receipt with quantity check and any necessary adjustment for SLS sub-items |
Technically speaking, SLS are additionals. All the functions available for Additionals are available for SLS. For further information, see
Additionals.If you included the costs of SLS in calculating prices for collective purchase orders or sales orders, these costs are also included automatically in invoices and billing documents. The documents always refer to main items and do not contain any information about sub-items.
Process Flow
The process flow describes how to order and deliver pre-packed merchandise.
The vendor in this case can also be an internal vendor. If the vendor is internal, the collective purchase order is a warehouse order for which the vendor generates deliveries.