Warehouse Movements (SAP Library - Warehouse Management System (WMS))

Warehouse Movements

Use

In the Warehouse Management system (WMS), there are two types of goods movements:

Warehouse movements, which only affect the warehouse:

Stock transfers within a warehouse (within a warehouse number)

Posting changes

Warehouse movements, which also affect the warehouse environment:

Putaway

Picking

Stock transfers from one warehouse number to another

You control warehouse movements in the WMS via the corresponding WMS movement types.

Integration

You trigger goods movements in the WMS mostly via other components such as Inventory Management (MM-IM) or Shipping (LE-SHP). In this case, you usually use the transfer requirement (TR) to plan goods movements in the WMS.

Example

When you post a goods receipt for a purchase order in IM, the system automatically generates a transfer requirement for the putaway. In this case, the goods are to be moved from the goods receipt area into the warehouse.

Note

If you trigger the goods movements in WMS via Shipping (LE-SHP), the inbound delivery or outbound delivery serves as a basis planning document.

Features

Goods Movements within the Warehouse

For every goods movement in WMS, you move materials from one storage type to another based on a transfer order (TO). You record all material information that is relevant for goods movements in the transfer order. The actual stock quantity and total stock quantity in the system do not change during goods movements within the WMS.

Goods Movements Involving Interim Storage Areas

Goods movements involving inventory management (MM-IM) use interim storage areas. An interim storage area is a logical (and, in some cases, physical) storage area that is used to exchange quantity data between Inventory Management and Warehouse Management. Interim storage areas for goods receipts, goods issues, and differences are used to temporarily store data before it is posted to the storage areas in the warehouse.

For detailed information about interim storage areas, see WM Interface to Inventory Management (IM).

Negative Stock

WM manages negative stock in interim storage areas. When movement transactions that require the use of interim storage areas take place in the warehouse, the total stock in IM and WMS must remain constant. The use of negative stock postings makes this possible.

The system posts negative stock when, for example, you put away in WMS before you have posted the goods receipt in Inventory Management.

You can find additional information under Creating a TO in WM Without Previous Posting in IM, Posting First in WM and Allowing Negative Stock.