Retail, Buying

Technical Data

Technical Name of the Business Function	ISR_RETAIL_ BUYING
Type of Business Function	Industry Business Function
Available As Of	SAP ERP Enhancement Package 2005.2
Technical Usage	Retail
Application Component	MM-PUR MM-IV SD-FT
Directly Dependent Business Function Requiring Activation in Addition	LOG_MM_CI_1

Use

You can use this business function to integrate SAP Retail with the composite application Global Trade Services.

You will also be able to enhance your goods receipt capacity planning in the purchasing process.

In addition you can use this business function to communicate information about invoice reductions electronically to the vendors.

Prerequisites

You have installed the following components as of the version mentioned:

Type of Component	Component	Is Needed Only for the Following Features
Software Component	SAP_APPL, EA-RETAIL

To use the functionality described in this document, you also have to activate the business function LOG_MM_CI_1.

The IMG nodes for the functionality are located in software component SAP_APPL and are assigned to the business function LOG_MM_CI_1.

When you activate the business function LOG_MM_CI_1, the related IMG nodes will be visible and usable in the Implementation Guide (IMG):

Goods receipt capacity check

Start of the navigation path Materials Management Next navigation step Purchasing Purchasing document Purchase order Goods receipt capacity check End of the navigation path

The IMG node is switched by switch MM_SFWS_WGRC_UI1.

Invoice verification enhancements

Start of the navigation path Materials Management Next navigation step Logistics Invoice Verification Incoming Invoice Maintain Reasons for Invoice Reduction End of the navigation path

The IMG node is switched by switch MM_SFWS_IV_UI1.

Global Trade Services integration

The functionality is always activated. It is part of a support package. The business function is only used to provide test cases and documentation.

Features

Global Trade Services Integration (SD-FT) (functionality is not switched)

This improves the connection of SAP for Retail to Global Trade Services (GTS).

GTS is a packaged composite application that supports important business processes such as import- and export control, restitution and trade preference handling.

GTS helps customers to eliminate costly fines and penalties of non-compliance (sanctioned party list screening; embargo checks, and so on), expedites customer clearance, reduces buffer stock, and improves customer service levels by managing end-to-end trade processes. Additionally, SAP GTS stimulates a competitive global marketplace through reduced duty rates by helping companies take advantage of the benefits of regional trade preference agreements (for example, NAFTA).

The main GTS features include:

Split (Explosion) of the Bill of Material (BOM) into Components

Retailers commonly use products that represent structured product relationships, such as prepacks and sets. These Bill of Material (BOM) type products are often used to represent the underlying component products in such processes as ordering and shipping from a distribution center. Currently, when the BOM product is used, the information in the documents is transferred to GTS without the individual component product information. However, important information about the components or variants is required for different functions and processes of GTS (for example, duty calculation; import control).

With the new enhancement for GTS, the interface sending the purchase order from SAP ERP to GTS is enhanced to include the components of the BOM temporarily as additional purchase order items.
Duty Simulation

GTS contains functionality for duty simulation, which calculates duty costs depending on various parameters.

With this enhancement to the GTS duty simulation, buyers are able to check the expected duty costs while processing the purchase order via an RFC call embedded in the purchase order pricing.
Product Data Exchange

The Retail ERP system provides a standard function to transfer and distribute product master data from the Retail ERP to other systems. This standard interface can be used for the initial distribution of product master data as well as transferring any change to the product master data to other systems.

GTS connects to the standard ERP interface via RFC, but currently the retailer can only upload the initial product master data into GTS.

To further optimize performance, the ability to transfer any change to relevant product master data is provided in addition to the ability to upload product master data from the Retail ERP to Global Trade Services.

Goods receipt capacity check (MM-PUR)

Until now the process of the purchase order generation did not consider the capacity area of the goods receipt at a warehouse. Up until now, the buyer created the purchase order without knowledge about the follow-on processes. The buyer would not know whether the capacity at the goods receipt was sufficient for processing the incoming merchandise.

With this business function, a capacity check is included with purchase order creation.

The buyer is informed if the capacity at the warehouse is insufficient for the specified date and the amount of merchandise for the particular goods receipt area.

Furthermore, the buyer can decide to move the receipt to another timeslot or to another goods receipt area if the capacity is not sufficient. If there is a capacity bottleneck, the buyer will receive an overview about the capacity at the goods receipt area during the purchase order generation.

This development improves the workload at the goods receipt area of a warehouse and optimizes the integration between the buying and the warehouse processes.

Invoice Verification Enhancements (MM-IV) (Belongs to business function LOG_MM_CI 1)

It is the task of Invoice Verification to check the accuracy of invoices received from vendors with respect to contents, prices, and arithmetic. This important activity involves matching up invoices with purchase orders or goods receipts.

The enhancement in the area of Invoice Verification contains the ability to transfer information about an invoice reduction electronically.

Currently, the vendor is informed about a need for reduction of an invoice by printout, fax, or e-mail. This business function includes an interface for electronically transmitting the information about the invoice reductions along with a Reason for invoice reduction field to be maintained by the retailer.