Automatic Change Management Process for Settlements

As a logistics service provider (LSP), you may need to make changes in your forwarding order process after you have billed your external customer in a forwarding settlement scenario, or your internal customer in an internal settlement scenario. In SAP Transportation Management (SAP TM), you may need to change a forwarding order after you have created a forwarding settlement document or an internal settlement document, and after you have posted the settlement document in SAP ERP.

Alternatively, you are a requester of logistics services, such as a shipper. You have a freight order process in place with an LSP or carrier, to provide transportation services. You may need to make changes in the freight order process after you have created a freight settlement document. In SAP TM, you may need to change a freight order after you have created a freight settlement document and after you have posted the freight settlement document in SAP ERP.

Changes can come from the following sources:

Missing cargo in the transit warehousing process
For example, you are an LSP and in your business process you have integrated SAP TM with SAP Extended Warehouse Management (SAP EWM). You use transit warehousing, where you receive, consolidate, or ship cargo as part of a longer transportation chain. You receive cargo and store it until it is required for transportation to the next stop in the transportation chain.

As part of the transit warehousing process, SAP EWM updates the freight order or freight booking in SAP TM. If there is missing cargo, SAP TM creates a discrepancy. For more information, see Handling Discrepancies in Transit Warehousing Process.
Direct change in your freight order from your carrier
For example, you are an LSP and you have a forwarding order in process with a requester of transportation services, such as a shipper. You have a freight order in process with a carrier to provide the transportation services. Your carrier reports directly to your office that an item of cargo was missing when the carrier picked up cargo at a source location. You update the freight order that you have in process with the carrier. This in turn updates the forwarding order that you have in process with the shipper.
Direct change to the charges in your freight order
For example, you are a shipper and you have a freight order in place with a provider of transportation services, such as an LSP or carrier. You realize that your service provider had some additional unplanned charges, for example, demurrage charges because of a delay at a delivery location. You update the freight order with the unplanned charge for demurrage.

The following table describes the role you play in your business, and the documents you work with in SAP TM:

Your Role	Role of Business Partner	Business Document
Provider of logistics services, such as an LSP	Requester of transportation services outside your company, such as a shipper	Forwarding order on an external customer
Provider of logistics services such as an LSP	Requester of transportation services inside your company, such as another business organization	Forwarding order on an internal customer
Requester of transportation services, such as a shipper	Provider of logistics services, such as an LSP or carrier	Freight order on an LSP or carrier
Subcontractor, requesting transportation services from another transportation provider, such as a LSP	Provider of logistics services, such as a carrier	Freight order on a carrier

You can streamline and automate the process of making changes. In a streamlined process, you only need to make a change in one business document. You run the background processing functions Creation and Transfer of Freight Settlement Documents or Creation and Transfer of Forwarding Settlement Documents. In the background, the system makes the required change in the relevant downstream business documents. The following table describes the downstream documents that the system can update automatically:

Document You Change	Downstream Document in SAP TM	Downstream Document in SAP ERP
Forwarding order	Forwarding settlement document Internal settlement document Credit memo	Sales and distribution (SD) billing document
Freight order, freight booking, service order	Freight settlement document Charge correction advice document Credit memo	Purchase order Service entry sheet (SES)

Using an automated process also means you have control points at key stages in the change process. These controls ensure you have an efficient change process.

More Information

Subject	More Information
Change management process for forwarding settlement documents	Automatic Change Management for Forwarding Settlements
Change management process for freight settlement documents	Automatic Change Management for Freight Settlements
Background processing function to automatically change a forwarding settlement document and an invoice posting	Creation and Transfer of Forwarding Settlement Documents
Standard credit memo process for forwarding orders	Credit Memos for Forwarding Orders
Changing a forwarding order	Editing of a Forwarding Order
How SAP EWM handles discrepancies	Handling Discrepancies in Transit Warehousing Process