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 Processing Return Deliveries to Vendors

Purpose

This process describes how you can use quality notifications and functions of the action box to:

  • Record complaints against vendors for the delivery of nonconforming or defective goods

  • Transfer these goods to an appropriate stock, depending on how you intend to process the goods

  • Process return deliveries to vendors

The return delivery process is supported by the following components in the SAP system:

  • Quality Management (QM)

  • Materials Management (MM)

  • Production Planning and Control (PP)

  • Warehouse Management (LE-WM)

  • Sales and Distribution (SD)

Restrictions

When you process a return delivery:

  • You can only process a single complaint in a notification. This means that the quality notification can only reference a single vendor and a single material .

  • The goods to be returned must initially be located in unrestricted-use stock. You cannot process goods that have already been debited to an order or cost center.

  • You cannot process materials with serial numbers or manufacturer part numbers.

  • All goods to be returned must be located in a single storage location within the same plant. If the Warehouse Management component is in use in your company, the goods must be located in a single storage bin within the same plant.

Prerequisites

Customizing

Your system administrator has made all general and component-specific settings in Customizing for Notification Use (Process Return Delivery to Vendor) .

Basic data / master data

You have created and maintained the following basic and master data in the system:

Data

What you should know

Vendor master (MM)

Vendor master records exist for the vendors for whom you intend to process return deliveries. In the Control data of each vendor master, you have set the following indicators:

  • GR-based invoice verification

  • Evaluated receipt settlement

  • Automatic evaluated receipt settlement for return items

  • Returns vendor

Material master (MM)

The following data has been maintained for the returned material in the material master:

  • The key for the material type should allow you to maintain both purchasing and sales/distribution data (for example, trading goods).

  • A loading group is specified in the Sales general/plant view, so that the system can automatically determine the shipping point.

  • In the inspection settings (Inspection set-up) :

    • Inspection type 08 is set for the material

    • Inspect with task list indicator is active if you intend to inspect the material using an inspection plan

Inspection plan (QM)

If you intend to inspect a returned material using an inspection plan, a corresponding inspection plan exists and has been assigned to the material.

Catalogs (QM)

Code groups and codes have been maintained in catalog type 2 (Tasks) for the following functions in the action box:

  • Assign vendor

  • Assign purchasing document

  • Transfer posting: unrestricted-use stock to blocked stock

  • Transfer posting: unrestricted-use stock to inspection stock

  • Create transfer order

  • Scrap

  • Creating a return delivery

  • Record usage decision

  • Changing the outbound delivery

Process Flow

The process described below is supported by a process flow diagram . For detailed information about the functions in this process, refer to Functions for Processing Return Deliveries.

  1. During a goods receipt or production, you determine that a vendor has delivered defective goods.

  2. You create a quality notification to record a complaint against a vendor (notification type Q2).

  3. You determine whether or not the goods need to be inspected. If the goods:

    • Need to be inspected, you post the goods from unrestricted-use stock to inspection stock

    • Do not need to be inspected, you post the goods from unrestricted-use stock to blocked stock

  4. Depending on the stock you chose in step 3, you process the defective goods accordingly. For example, if you posted the goods to:

    • Inspection stock, you inspect the goods in a quality inspection

      After you have completed the inspection, you choose a function in the action box to make the usage decision for the inspection lot. When you make the usage decision, you determine whether the goods should be returned to the vendor or posted from inspection stock to unrestricted-use stock (for example, if the goods are OK). In this case the process is terminated.

    • Blocked stock, you decide whether the goods should be returned to the vendor in a return delivery or scrapped

  5. If you decided to:

    • Return the goods to the vendor, you can choose function in the action box to create a return delivery (with or without reference to an original purchasing document)

    • Scrap the goods, you can choose a function in the action box to post the goods to scrap

  6. You choose a function in the action box to branch from the quality notification to the delivery.

    Using the functions of the Sales and Distribution (SD) component, you can process the return delivery, prepare the shipping documents, and process the goods issue.

  7. You debit the vendor with the costs of the returned goods and settle the costs in the Materials Management (MM) component. If the evaluated receipt settlement (ERS) procedure is used in MM, the system can debit the vendor automatically.

See also:

Functions for Processing Return Deliveries

Return Delivery (Materials Management)