PDC Goods Receipt Scenario 

Purpose

The PDC Goods Receipt function enables stores to create and correct their goods receipts with PDC units. These goods receipts can be triggered by deliveries from distribution centers, external vendors, or other stores. Referencedocuments usually exist for these deliveries, for example:

●     Purchase orders

●     Shipping notifications

●     Article documents

●     Deliveries for a stock transfer

●     Handling units (shipping units)

It is also possible that goods for which there is no reference document are delivered, for example, if a vendor delivers articles that are urgently required but for which, due to time constraints, no purchase order has yet been created. Both planned and unplanned goods receipts can be received in this scenario.

Employees dealing with the goods receipts can also carry out return deliveries in the same process. Here, return deliveries refers to the planned or unplanned return of empties, damaged, or poor quality merchandise.

After receipt of the goods has been completed on the PDC units and the data is transferred to the central ERP system, the remainder of the process is then posted largely automatically.

To make it possible, for example, for several employees to receive a goods receipt or for posting errors to be corrected using SAP Retail Store, the Correction and Release Monitor is integrated as a central instrument in the process.

Prerequisites

●     To be able to use the PDC interfaces for SAP Retail Store Goods Receipt, the same prerequisites apply as when using SAP Retail Store Goods Receipt without PDC.

●     It is particularly important that the settings have been made in MM Customizing in the central ERP system.

●     To be able to use the RFC/IDoc-based procedure, you must choose PDC procedure 2 in Customizing for SAP Retail Store Goods Movement (Logistics – General ® SAP Retail Store ® Goods Movement ® Basic Settings for Goods Receipt).

●     All of the sample processes described above require the PDC units in the store to be supplied with data first. To do this, RFC interfaces (SRS_PDC_GM_STRUCTURE, SRS_PDC_GM_MATDATA_OUTBOUND, SRS_PDC_GM_OUTBOUND and SRS_PDC_GR_OUTBOUND) are available. These are supplied with data by programs R_SRS_PDC_ASSORT_STRUCT_OUT, R_SRS_PDC_GM_DATA_OUT, R_SRS_PDC_MATDATA_OUT, R_SRS_PDC_GR_DOCUMENT_OUT and R_SRS_PDC_GR_CUSTOMIZING_OUT.

Information about existing assortment list groups is forwarded using interface SRS_PDC_GM_STRUCTURE.

Interface SRS_PDC_MATDATA is used to supply article data.   

The quantities entered are then transferred to the ERP system and posted using interfaceSRS_PDC_SO_INBOUND.

Process Flow

When using PDC units, the goods receipt process is as follows:

...

Preparation (downloading)

       1.      To enter a goods receipt, various checks have to be performed before posting is triggered in the ERP system, therefore the employee needs to be able to perform these checks directly from the PDC unit. However, the checks can only be performed if the PDC unit contains the corresponding data. For this reason, in addition to movement data (goods receipt documents), master data must also be made available on an interface.

To prepare data quickly and easily, it is necessary to keep the data ready in packages (for example, articles for each merchandise category or documents according to document type) in the interface.

To create goods receipts, the following data is required:

○     Master data

■      Article data and EANs

■      Data for merchandise categories and assortments

■      Store and vendor data

■      Customizing data

○     Movement data

■      Purchase orders

■      Deliveries (including delivery notes and shipping notifications)

■      Handling units

■      Article documents from stock transfers

       2.      Downloading Article, Merchandise Category, and Assortment Data

Using the PDC Goods Receipt function, it should also be possible to receive unplanned goods receipts. To do this, it is necessary to make all articles listed in the store available in the interface. The required articles should be prepared in line with the application area for the PDC unit. This means that a PDC unit that is used in a bakery contains primarily articles for this assortment. Sorting can also be done according to merchandise categories.

       3.      Downloading Store and Vendor Data

Goods movements and stock transfers often require a reference to a vendor or a receiving store – this must also be available on the PDC unit. However, only data that is directly related to your own store is prepared here.

An XML document is then created for the respective target store containing vendor and store data.

       4.      Downloading Reference Documents and Customizing Data

The open goods receipts on a certain date are determined for each store. To determine the goods receipt date you can store a time period in relation to the start date of the report in Customizing for the SAP Retail Store. The goods receipt date can also be overwritten on the selection screen for the report. If scheduling the report periodically, the goods receipt date on the selection screen can be filled with values relative to the start date.

You can also choose which goods receipt documents are to be prepared and transferred to the interface. You can choose between the following documents:

○     Purchase orders

○     Article documents (putaways from stock transfers)

○     Deliveries (including delivery notes and shipping notifications)

○     Handling units (can only be selected in connection with deliveries)

Customizing data from SAP Retail Store Goods Receipt is determined and exported for each store. The general settings from SAP Retail Store Goods Receipt, the settings for the movement type, and the reasons for movement are transferred to the interface.

Postprocessing for goods movements (uploading)

The entered data can be sent to the central ERP system at the end of every procedure (online) or each time the PDC unit is unloaded (offline).

In the ERP system, a check is performed to see whether the data entered is to be posted directly or is to be saved to the database temporarily.

       5.      Direct Posting

The purchase orders, deliveries, and stock transfer documents for the reference document numbers stored in the document header, with reference to the document ID, are read and compared here.

In addition, settings stored in Customizing for the SAP Retail Store, such as movement type and BAPI movement code, are assigned.

The items from PDC entry are also compared with the items from the reference documents. Items that are not assigned are flagged as additional items. A separate movement type is assigned to these so that, if necessary, a purchase order can be created when posting takes place. Posting is carried out in the same article document.

In addition to this, the storage locations are assigned to the items using storage location determination.

MM posting in the central ERP system is done using BAPI_GOODSMVT_CREATE.

       6.      Saving to the Database

If the indicator in Customizing for SAP Retail Store Goods Receipt is set so that direct posting is not to take place, a goods movement number (GM number) is first determined from the number range fixed for the database. This overwrites the GM number specified by the PDC unit.

The GM number specified by the PDC unit is only required for assigning headers and items and only needs to be unique in the corresponding transfer file.

Next, all headers and items are entered in the database tables for headers and items from the PDC creation. A check is performed so that transferred items with quantity zero, in which no inward delivery completed indicator is set, are not entered. All other checks are carried out before posting takes place or using MM-BAPI BAPI_GOODSMVT_CREATE.

       7.      Correcting and Releasing

In SAP Retail Store, the procedures stored in the database are displayed in the form of a list. You can access goods receipts entered on the PDC directly using a selection. The Correction and Release Monitor is also used for goods movements and stock transfers using PDC, but there it may be displayed differently and have a different function.

The list displays the header information for each procedure, for example, reference document number, reference document ID, movement number (GM number), goods receipt/issue, date of creation, processor, status of the document (incorrect, for release or posted) and, if necessary and if it refers to the entire document, an error message.

Using the blue selection button in the SAP Retail Store you can go to item processing within SAP Retail Store. All partial goods receipts are cumulated into one reference document. Only by combining these partial goods receipts is it possible to post anything in the Correction and Release Monitor. If you exit item processing without posting, the changes made are discarded.

If an indicator for direct posting is set, the articles coming from the PDC unit are posted directly and only the documents with errors are displayed.

You can display partial goods receipts by clicking on the GM number. This is the same process that is used in the SAP Retail Store. It is not possible to change or post the data here.

While it is being processed, the document is locked. Posting takes place using item processing. After the data has been correctly posted, the program returns to the Correction and Release Monitor. The status is set to processed (green light) and a success message is displayed along with the article document number in the document header.

It is only possible to make a correction if the document is not locked by anyone else, or if posting has not already been completed.

       8.      Cumulating Partial Goods Receipts

Partial goods receipts are all goods receipts that have been entered with the PDC unit but are not intended to be posted immediately.

Partial goods receipts make sense if, for example, the data entry for a delivery is so time-consuming that it requires the involvement of several employees (several PDC units), but for the purpose of simplifying the calculation control, posting is to take place in one article document.

Cumulating partial goods receipts takes place as follows:

                            a.      The original reference document is read.

                            b.      The items from the partial goods receipts are assigned.

                            c.      The quantities are added in line with the units of measure.

                            d.      Additional items are attached sequentially.

       9.      Automatic Posting

Automatic posting is achieved using a report that can be planned on a time basis and can therefore run in the background or, if it has the required authorization, directly from the Correction and Release Monitor. Accordingly, all goods receipts that do not have the status ERROR (red light) and are not locked, are posted.

The header data is read sequentially for the calling store from the database and the reference document. Partial goods receipts are cumulated and then posted.

   10.      Error Handling

Master data and movement data is downloaded. This enables you to carry out checks directly from the PDC unit. According to the scope of functions of the PDC software, the following checks, for example, could be done directly at the point of PDC data entry:

○     Minimum shelf-life

○     Is the EAN available?

○     Is the article available?

○     Is the unit of measure available?

○     Is the vendor available?

○     Is the transfer store available?

○     Is the reference document available?

At the point of goods receipt for a purchase order, an underdelivery or overdelivery check can be carried out.

   11.      Download

As the reports and function modules that are responsible for preparing and downloading data are supposed to run in the background, it is necessary that a log of all the processes is kept. These function modules write information messages in object/subobject W_SRS/PDC_GR and write the store number to the application log as an external number. Errors that occur are stored there as error messages. Transferring data to the target system is done, either synchronously or asynchronously, using the call parameter.

   12.      Uploading and Posting

If errors occur when data is being uploaded, these are displayed, for example, in the connector. A new transfer of data can be triggered.

If errors occur when data is being posted, header and item data is entered into the database tables. Status E (error) is set. Using the Correction and Release Monitor those marked with a red light are displayed. Errors in the header are displayed directly in the Correction and Release Monitor. You can view item errors in the item detail. It is possible to display and correct the procedure in the store and to trigger posting again using the Correction and Release Monitor.

In the event of an error, you can send a message to the SAP Retail Store.

   13.      Message on Troubleshooting

The mail procedure available in SAP Retail Store is used to send a message about an incorrect posting to the responsible employee. The employee is informed using a popup.

Selection is carried out as usual, using work items and function assignment. The function modules from the SAP Business Workflow are used to do this.

Result

Goods receipts entered with the PDC unit are posted in the central ERP system based on the settings in inventory management.