Advanced Returns Scenario: Inspection at Customer Site 

Purpose

In this scenario, the customer calls an internal sales representative and informs him that she wants to return some goods. However, the sales representative decides to perform the inspection at the customer site before initiating a physical return. A typical reason for this is that the expected costs for the transport are higher than the cost of an inspection at the customer site.

Prerequisites

The Customer Returns business process is related to sales business processes. This means that you usually create returns orders with reference to a preceding sales order or the corresponding billing document (invoice).

Process Flow

For the returns scenario with an inspection at the customer site the following business process runs in SAP ERP.

       1.      Create returns order

You create a returns order in Advanced Returns Management as described in Create Returns Order – Advanced Returns Management.

For the relevant returns order items, you specify that the inspection must be performed at the customer site by selecting Inspection at Customer Site as the follow-up activity.

The system does not create a returns delivery for these items.

       2.      Change returns order to enter inspection result (otional)

Once the inspection has been performed and the results communicated back to you, you can change the returns order and enter the appropriate inspection code and an inspection comment. You select the Inspection at Customer checkbox in order to keep a record of where the inspection was carried out.

       3.      Change returns order to enter logistical and financial steps

If not done separately, you enter the inspection results.

If the material is to be returned but it is still at the customer site, select Receive into Plant as the follow-up activity. You then proceed as described in Advanced Returns Scenario: Advance Notice.You can initiate refunding direclty in the returns order by selecting Immediately as the refund control, or you can defer the decision until the material has arrived in the warehouse. You then select By Credit Memo Request and use the Customer Refund Determination transaction to define the refund amount.

When the material arrives, you select the Material Received checkbox and the appropriate follow-up activity. Then, you proceed as described in Advanced Returns Scenario: Material Received.

If you do not want the material to be returned, select Material Remains at Customer Site.

If the material remains at the customer site, you can specify that the customer gets no refund by selecting No Refund as the refund control. Alternatively, you can refund the customer in the usual way even though the material has not been physically returned.

If you have selected Receive into Plant as the follow-up activity, then the process continues as described in Advanced Returns Scenario: Advance Notice.

If you have not specified an immediate refund in the changed returns order item, you use the Customer Refund Determination transaction.

       4.      Monitor returns process

In the detail tree of the Returns Overview transaction, you see the following returns steps for a returns order item for which you specified an inspection at the customer site.

After you save the returns order, you see the initial returns step Inspection at customer site with processing status Process incomplete. This is followed by the Returns Order step with processing status Document complete and the Inspection step with Document not yet created.

If you enter inspection results separately as of step 2 above, the Inspection step receives processing status Document complete and the Logistical Follow-Up step appears with processing status Document incomplete.

If you decide for a physical return, then the initial returns step changes to indicate the logistical decision. Further returns steps are identical to the processes described in Advanced Returns Scenarios – Advance Notice or Advanced Returns Scenario: Material Received.

If you decide that the material remains at the customer site, the initial returns step changes to Material Remains at Customer Site and the Logistical Follow-Up status becomes Complete. The processing status of the initial step depends on the refund control. If you have selected No Refund or Immediately, the returns step Credit Memo appears with the status Process complete or Process incomplete respectively.

Result

After inspection at the customer site, either the material is returned and processed as normal, or the material remains at the customer site and you perform financial settlement only.