System-Internal Stock Transfer Using Stock Transport Orders 

Purpose

You want to transfer material from one plant to another. The plants belong to the same or different company codes, but they are both managed in the same SAP R/3 system. The SAP R/3 system is connected to an SAP APO system.

In the scenario described here, the stock transfer is triggered using a stock transport order. In comparison to simply using a transfer posting for stock transfer reservation, the stock transport order has the advantage of better tracking and planning material movement. For more information, see Stock Transfer Using Stock Transport Order. In principle, there are two options available:

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       1.      Stock transfer using a stock transport order with delivery

This is the standard case for cross-company-code stock transfers.

This procedure is recommended for intra-company-code stock transfers if shipping papers are needed for business reasons. For example, this could be because the plants are far apart or when dangerous goods are being transferred.

       2.      Stock transfer using a stock transport order without delivery

This procedure offers a streamlined scenario and is useful for short transportation distances.

Prerequisites

In Materials Management (MM) in SAP R/3

The following menu paths are valid for SAP R/3 4.6C.

●      In the implementation guide under Materials Management → Purchasing → Purchase Order → Set Up Stock Transport Order, the following document types must be set depending on which stock transfer procedure is chosen: Stock Transport Order (UB), Standard Purchase Order (NB) or another similar document type required by the customer. For more information about choosing the stock transfer procedure and the associated settings, see Stock Transfer Using Stock Transport Order and the SAP R/3 implementation guide.

●      If you want to use stock transfer with delivery, a customer master must be created in SAP R/3 for the receiving plant. The customer master must be assigned to the receiving plant as a customer using the implementation guide in SAP R/3 under Materials Management → Purchasing → Purchase Order → Set Up Stock Transport Order.

○       If you select the document type UB, you can use the delivery type Replenishment Delivery (NL) for the vendor under Assign Delivery Type/Checking.

○       If you select the document type NB, you can use the delivery type Cross-Company Replenishment (NLCC).

○       With cross-company-code stock transfer with delivery you must also create a vendor master record and a purchasing info record for the issuing plant. Vendor and issuing plant are assigned in the vendor master record in the additional data for purchasing. More information is available under Making the Vendor-Plant Assignment.

On the SAP R/3 Side of the Core Interface (CIF)

●      An active integration model must exist for materials and plants, and the master data must be transferred to SAP APO.

●      An active integration model must exist for purchase orders, purchase requisitions, and stocks so that these objects can be transferred between SAP R/3 and SAP APO, and so that the changes to stock that this results in can also be transferred.

●      An active integration model for sales orders must exist for stock transfer using a stock transport order with delivery so that deliveries can be transferred between SAP R/3 and SAP APO. 

●      When using cross-company-code stock transfers the purchasing info record can also be transferred to SAP APO. In this case, SAP APO creates an external procurement relationship and a transportation lane between the plants. For SNP (but not for PP/DS) you must also create a means of transport in SAP APO.

On the SAP APO Side

●      In SNP and PP/DS, the settings for carrying out planning must exist. For more information, see Supply Network Planning Process and Production Planning and Detailed Scheduling (PP/DS).

●      Transportation lanes must exist. For more information, see the section on Integrating Sources of Supply in Purchase Orders and Purchase Requisitions.

●      A distribution definition must be specified in the implementation guide in SAP APO by choosing SAP Advanced Planner and Optimizer (SAP APO) → Basis Settings → Integration → Publication → Maintain Distribution Definition. This determines to which SAP R/3 systems SAP APO publishes the external procurement documents. Select the publication type External Procurement and assign to it the number of the receiving location and the logical system of the SAP R/3 system.

●      For SNP, you have to specify in the implementation guide for SAP APO whether the stock transfer documents generated in SAP APO are transferred to SAP R/3 directly, periodically or not at all. For this, choose SAP Advanced Planner and Optimizer (SAP APO) → Supply Chain Planning → Supply Network Planning (SNP) → Basic Settings → Configure Transfer to OLTP Systems. For deployment, you must also specify whether the system is to generate stock transport orders or stock transport requisitions.

If only stock transport requisitions are generated in the deployment run or if you are only working with SNP, the stock transport requisitions can be converted to purchase orders in either SAP R/3 or SAP APO by setting the conversion indicator in PP/DS.

We recommend that you only transfer those stock transport requisitions to SAP R/3 that are needed there for further processing.

●      For PP/DS, you must specify in the implementation guide in SAP APO whether transfer events are generated for the transfer to SAP R/3 External Procurement. The events can either always be generated, according to the conversion indicator, or not at all. To specify this, choose SAP Advanced Planner and Optimizer (SAP APO) → Supply Chain Planning → Production Planning and Detailed Scheduling (PP/DS) → Global Settings → Maintain Global Parameters and Defaults.The selection you makes depends on when the stock transport requisitions are needed in SAP R/3. For more information, see Transferring Orders to the SAP R/3 System

●      In the application menu for SAP APO you have to set whether changes for certain users should be published immediately or periodically to SAP R/3. To do this, choose Tools → APO Administration → Integration → Settings → User Settings. For more information, see Publication of Planning Results.

Process

The stock transport order can be the result of planning in either SNP or PP/DS These two cases differ slightly and are shown separately below.

Stock Transport Order as the Result of Planning in SNP

Planning in SAP APO

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       1.      The SNP planning run generates an SNP stock transfer.
In a scenario without deployment or TLB run (not represented in the graphic) this stock transport requisition can be transferred directly to SAP R/3. The document number of this stock transport requisition is automatically transferred to SAP APO. In SAP R/3, there are generally no further receipts planned in the mid-term horizon for the receiving plant (the target location in SAP APO) because this has already occurred in SAP APO. For the issuing plant, any further procurement planning for planned stock transfer requirements can either be made in SAP APO (in SNP or PP/DS) or in a connected SAP R/3 system (for example in material requirement planning).

       2.      In most cases, a deployment run takes place after the SNP planning run. This generates a deployment stock transfer in which warehouse stock and some other receipts, such as production orders, are taken into account. The basis for this deployment is generally the SNP stock transfer generated in the previous SNP planning run, which is reduced accordingly after the deployment stock transfer has been generated. In this case, an SNP planning run must have taken place in the short term horizon in deployment before the deployment run occurs. Alternatively, real-time deployment can be used.
For more information, see Deployment.

The basis for deployment can also be requirements from stock transport requisitions that are generated in SAP R/3 by an MRP run and transferred to SAP APO. These stock transport requisitions must have the same category as the SNP stock transfers. The category is assigned in the planning area of SNP.

       3.      The Transport Load Builder (TLB) combines the deployment stock transfers for several products to form TLB shipments. The deployment stock transfers are reduced accordingly. SAP R/3 creates a stock transport order when the TLB shipment is transferred.

If only stock transport requisitions are created in SAP R/3 (for example, because you are only using SNP or because deployment is set to act in this way), these are converted into stock transport orders in SAP R/3. The conversion is triggered in either SAP R/3 or SAP APO by setting the conversion indicator in PP/DS.

Stock transport orders can only be changed in SAP R/3 at this point, not in deployment or TLB.

Execution in SAP R/3, Stock Transport Order Without Delivery

       4.      In SAP R/3, there now exists a stock transport order that was generated by transferring a TLB shipment or by converting a stock transport requisition.

       5.      SAP R/3 posts the goods issue in the issuing plant. The booked-out quantity is then managed in the stock in transit of the receiving plant. When using intra-company-code stock transfers the stock in transfer can be transferred to SAP APO. However, it is not necessarily of interest in SAP APO because it does not have any relevance to scheduling. For more information, see Stocks.

       6.      SAP APO reduces the warehouse stock and release order in the source location.

       7.      SAP R/3 posts the goods receipt in the receiving plant and reduces the stock in transit.

       8.      SAP APO increases the warehouse stock and reduces the purchase order item schedule line in the target location.

Variant: Stock Transport Order with Delivery (No Graphic)

       9.      In addition to the stock transport order, SAP R/3 creates a delivery.

   10.      SAP R/3 posts the goods issue for delivery in the issuing plant and reduces the delivery. The booked-out quantity is initially managed as stock in transit of the receiving plant. When using intra-company-code stock transfers the stock in transfer can be transferred to SAP APO. However, it is not necessarily of interest in SAP APO because it does not have any relevance to scheduling.
If it is necessary for business purposes to have exact information about expected receipts in SAP APO, a shipping notification can be generated in the issuing plant and sent to the receiving plant. It is possible to generate a shipping notification automatically for goods issue posting using EDI. The inbound shipping notification is set as MRP relevant in the receiving plant and reduces the stock transport order. The shipping notification is transferred directly to SAP APO.

   11.      SAP APO also reduces the delivery and the warehouse stock in the source location.

   12.      SAP R/3 posts the goods receipt in the receiving plant and reduces the stock in transit.
If you are working with a shipping notification, this is cancelled and the change is transferred directly to SAP APO.

   13.      SAP APO increases the warehouse stock and reduces the purchase order item schedule line in the target location.

Scheduling

You can find information on scheduling stock transport requisitions and stock transport orders under Purchase Orders and Purchase Requisitions in the section on Integrating Dates.

Stock Transport Order as the Result of Planning in PP/DS

As in SNP, PP/DS can also create stock transport requisitions and transfer them to SAP R/3. In PP/DS, you can set an indicator to convert a purchase requisition into a purchase order or trigger the conversion in the background. For more information, see Transferring Orders to the SAP R/3 System

The integration, execution and scheduling of the stock transfer in SAP R/3 behave in the same was as with the SNP stock transfer. You can set that only those purchase requisitions are transferred to SAP APO whose opening date lies in the present or past. For more information, see Mass Transfer and Mass Conversion of Orders.