Returnable Transport Items (RTI) Processing 

Purpose

This process enables you to do the following:

●      Manage, load, and unload returnable transport items (RTIs) filled with products or with (filled) RTIs

●      Track the current location of RTIs and evaluate stocks and cycle times

●      Achieve transparency across your stocks of RTIs

●      Automate processes, reduce stocks, shorten cycle times, and recognize bottlenecks early on

The following features are available:

●      You can define returnable products (see Product).

This definition is mandatory to run the process.

●      You can assign Global Returnable Asset Identifiers (GRAIs) with their tag encoding types, such as GRAI-64 and GRAI-96, or any other IDs to your returnable products.

●      You can define user data to indicate whether an RTI is empty.You can also define user data to indicate whether an RTI is damaged or display an alternative handling unit ID.

●      For more information, see the configuration documentation for RFID-Enabled Returnable Transport Items in SAP Solution Manager.

●      You can have RTI tracking with SAP Event Management (SAP EM).

SAP EM is used to address centralized control and visibility requirements. SAP AII tracks the RTIs within one SAP AII instance. When RTIs move across SAP AII instances or to other external systems, SAP EM tracks the movement of RTIs (see Integration with SAP Event Management).

●      You can have RTI reporting with Business Intelligence (BI).

Using the standard BI Content for SAP Auto-ID Infrastructure, you can analyze KPIs such as cycle time, number of inbound movements, number of outbound movements, duration at location, duration between locations, and so on. You can also create new reports based on user-defined attributes that are sent from the SAP AII system to the BI system (see Reporting with Business Intelligence).

Prerequisites

You have set up the system landscape and created the settings in Customizing as described in the configuration documentation for the RFID-Enabled Returnable Transport Items scenario in SAP Solution Manager.

Process Flow

SAP AII provides different variants to run this business process. The following figure shows a process variant using decentralized SAP AII systems.

 

Example: RFID-Enabled RTI Processing

 

Location A

You ...

       1.      You commission a tag with tag encoding type GRAI-64 or GRAI-96.

       2.      You pack the RTI with materials or other RTIs.

       3.      You load the filled RTI.

Location B

       4.      You unload the filled RTI.

       5.      You unpack the RTI.

       6.      You move the RTI at location.

       7.      You load the empty RTI.

Location A

       8.      You unload the empty RTI.

       9.      You move the empty RTI at location.

   10.      You start a new cycle by moving the empty RTI.

At any stage of the process, you can retrieve any kind of RTI data in SAP EM using the RTI Owner role. Furthermore, you can analyze RTI-related KPIs in the BI system.

For more information, see the scenario description and the configuration documentation for the RFID-Enabled Returnable Transport Items scenario in SAP Solution Manager.