Chapter 4 Inbound Processing

Quality Inspection Engine (QIE)

• The QIE integrates with SAP S/4HANA's quality management functions.
• It integrates quality solutions in heterogeneous applications
• The QIE provides flexibility to define quality processes in consumer systems like EWM.
• Used for recording results, printing quality certificates, and work papers.
• It allows for the creation of samples and sample sizes.

Counting Methods

• Two methods for counting product before putaway: explicit and implicit.
• Explicit counting requires manual entry of results at a counting station and applies only to Handling Units (HUs).
• Implicit counting is part of warehouse task data updates and applies only to unpacked products.

Putaway Strategies in EWM

• Putaway strategies include: manual, bulk storage, general storage, fixed storage bin, addition to existing stock, empty storage bin, pallet, flexible, and near fixed picking bin.

Availability Group Mapping

• Maps storage locations to warehouse numbers in EWM and assigns an availability group to each storage location.
• Requires plant, storage location, warehouse, and a party entitled to dispose for mapping.
• Availability groups determine stock types in delivery documents and goods movements in both EWM and SAP S/4HANA.

Opportunistic Cross-Docking

• System uses standard inbound and outbound deliveries, initiating after goods receipt.
• Push Deployment (PD) and Pick from Goods Receipt (PFGR) are supported process variants.
• Planning for PD and PFGR is triggered post-goods receipt in SAP S/4HANA.
• SAP Advanced Planning and Optimization determines cross-docking relevance after goods receipt.

Inspection Lot Summaries

• Inspection lot summaries can be created for: product/batch combinations, product/batch/reference document combinations.
• Reference documents include: purchase orders, process orders, and production orders.

Preliminary Inspection Handling Unit (IOT 6)

• Offers a simple, unplanned check for each HU, processed in an RF environment.
• Inspection document created after HU check, not in advance.
• Allows categorization of products as good or bad post-visual inspection or counting.
• Inspection usage decision is automatically posted for good products; manual decision for bad products.

Slotting Process

• Slotting determines suitable putaway parameters like storage type and storage section.
• Aims to optimize storage and picking of goods.
• System calculates storage parameters, like the putaway control indicator, to determine the storage type.
• Uses the storage section indicator to determine the storage section and storage bin types..

RFID Tag Support

• SAP S/4HANA supports RFID tags with SAP Auto-ID Infrastructure for product movements.
• SAP Auto-ID Infrastructure connects to EWM through RFCs/web services.
• BAdI /SCWM/EX_RFID_PACK_ACTION can be activated for calling third-party systems to scan RFIDs.

Handling Units (HUs) Putaway Strategies

• Bulk storage is used for stacking pallets, thus HU types are used in a bulk storage strategy.
• The pallet storage strategy processes different HU types and allocates products to suitable storage bin sections.

Goods Receipt in EWM

• Inbound deliveries are created for purchase orders or Stock Transport Orders (STOs) and replicated to EWM to post goods receipts.
• Inbound deliveries are also created for production orders.
• The process starts with goods receipt in the yard and ends with the final putaway.

Slotting Functionality

• Slotting uses storage parameters, like the putaway control indicator.
• It uses the storage section indicator to determine the storage section and the bin type.
• It arranges goods for efficient storage and picking.

Inbound Delivery Notifications

• Inbound deliveries created in SAP S/4HANA replicate to EWM as inbound delivery notifications.
• A Post Processing Framework (PPF) action creates an inbound delivery to post the goods receipt.
• The inbound delivery notification automatically creates an inbound delivery for further processing.

Deconsolidation Process

• If a received HU contains more than one product, products are deconsolidated (unpacked).
• The products are repacked into new HUs (one for each product) for putaway.
• Individual warehouse tasks are created for each product after deconsolidation to perform putaway.

Putaway Task Creation

• Inbound deliveries replicated to EWM from SAP S/4HANA are used to receive products and perform putaway.
• Warehouse tasks are created for an inbound delivery.

Post Processing Step Control (POSC) in EWM

• Value-added services (VAS) for a kitting process, labeling, and inspection use POSC scenarios.
• POSC can be applied to deconsolidate, VAS, counting, and quality inspection processes.

Explicit Counting Requirements

• Requires an inspection rule and a work center in EWM.
• Counting is used to ensure consistency between received product quantities and the quantities entered in the system.
• The system checks for an inspection rule upon inbound receipt to execute counting.
• If an inspection rule exists, the system creates an inspection document to enter the count.

Slotting for Optimal Storage Parameters

• In a slotting process to determine storage parameters, the system uses demand forecasts/requirements, packaging data, and product data.
• The system uses the storage type, the storage section, and the bin type by using demand forecasts and requirements to find the optimal storage bins.

Quality Assurance Actions

• During inbound processing, quality assurance actions include quality inspection and counting.
• The system checks the inspection type or inspection rule defined when a goods receipt is posted for an inbound delivery.
• Based on inspection rules, the system determines the sampling size, dynamic rules, etc. and creates inspection documents.

Putaway Warehouse Task Creation

• Goods movement in an inbound delivery can be from warehouse process type or from the staging area group/door determination group.
• Source storage type and the storage bin can be maintained when creating a warehouse process type.
• This warehouse process type is determined for the inbound delivery document type.

Product Labeling

• In inbound processes, products are labeled, identified, and cross-checked in an identification point storage type.
• Level of Stock Consolidation (LOSC) or POSC can be used to define identification and intermediate storage bins before the products are putaway into destination bins.

Preliminary Inspection Process

• Preliminary inspection for Handling Units (HUs) is performed using RF devices, processed in an RF environment.
• Triggered before posting a goods receipt for the product, while products are on the receiving dock.
• Supports visual inspections or counting of products.
• Products can be categorized based on a visual inspection, and inspection decisions will be made.

Expected Goods Receipt

• Expected goods receipt (EGR) is a temporary document.
• When EWM no longer requires it, the system deletes the EGR.
• SAP S/4HANA redefines open EGRs when EWM deletes them.
• EGRs are processed in a decentralized EWM system.

Inbound Process

• An inbound process can include deconsolidation for HUs, which is used to unpack and repack products into new HUs.
• VAS, such as labeling, is also performed as part of the inbound process.
• Both VAS and deconsolidation can be used as part of POSC.

Inbound Processing

• Inbound processing includes deconsolidation, quality checking, final putaway, and value-added services (VAS).
• Wav processing is applicable to outbound processing
• Quality checking, VAS, and deconsolidation can be used as part of POSC.
• Slotting determines the optimal putaway location based on demand forecast and requirements.

Sample Size Calculation

• A sample size is calculated in SAP S/4HANA and displayed at the work center.
• A sampling procedure can be assigned while maintaining quality management data in the material master.
• A sampling procedure can be assigned in master inspection characteristics.
• The system determines the sample size based on dynamic modification rules assigned or the Acceptable Quality Limit (AQL) defined in the sampling schema.

Inbound Deliveries

• Inbound delivery documents, which are created for receiving products for purchase orders, stock transport orders (STOs), production order, and customer returns, initiate goods receipt processing in EWM.
• Inbound deliveries are also created from Advance Shipping Notifications (ASNs) received from suppliers.
• These inbound deliveries are replicated to EWM for receiving and putaway to destination bins.

Inspection Rule

• An inspection rule is defined per document type, such as inbound for goods receipt and inbound for goods receipt to production.
• Inspection procedures and sample drawing instructions can be assigned to inspection rules.

Opportunistic Cross-Docking Activation

• Enabled at the warehouse level, the product group level, or the product level.

Fixed Storage Bin Putaway Strategy

• Fixed storage bin putaway strategy can be used, requiring putaway to the same storage bin.
• Create a fixed bin for a product using Transaction /SCWM/BINMAT.
• Activate the fixed bin allowed for storage type master data in configuration.

Rearrangement Optimization

• Optimizes the location of fast-moving products by moving them to optimal storage bins.
• Compares the current storage type, storage section, and bin type with the parameters proposed by the slotting process.
• Optimizes storage space by moving stock to optimal locations, based on slotting.

EWM Document Reference

• An inbound delivery document created for receiving products (purchase orders, STOs, production orders, and customer returns) initiates goods receipt processing in EWM.
• Inbound deliveries created from ASNs are replicated to EWM as inbound delivery documents for receiving and putaway to destination bins.

Process Type Group

• A process type group is the assignment of a group to a warehouse process type, collating more than one warehouse process type for a putaway strategy.
• If a warehouse process group is assigned to a warehouse process type, the system draws upon the group when determining the storage type search sequence.

Expected Goods Reciepts

• In SAP S/4HANA, an expected goods receipt is created for a purchase order/purchase order items or/and for a production order/production order items.
• Expected goods receipt is used to copy data from a purchase order, manufacturing order, or corresponding item to an inbound delivery.

Transportation Cross-Docking Restrictions

• Returns are not supported in Transportation Cross Docking (TCD).
• In nested Handling Units (HUs), the child HU can contain TCD-relevant delivery items only or non-TCD-relevant delivery items only.
• Transportation planning in SAP S/4HANA and SAP Transportation Management (SAP TM) for outbound deliveries and outbound delivery orders for cross-docking is not supported.

Expected Goods Receipt Characteristics

• You would generate an inbound delivery whose data has been checked by both SAP S/4HANA and EWM; you can only execute the goods receipt in EWM by creating an inbound delivery.
• Expected Goods Receipts are temporary documents, so no archiving is required.

Storage Section Indicator

• Maintain the putaway control indicator, the storage section indicator, the bin type, etc in a warehouse product master.
• The system reads the data from the product master to determine the destination storage bin for putaway when creating a putaway task for an inbound delivery document.

Automatic Storage Bin Determination

• Activate capacity checking at the storage type level, under Putaway Control, in the Capacity Check field, to select the key figures.
• Maintain master data for maximum capacities for volume or weight.

System Capacity Checks

• The system calculates capacity consumption based on the product master with “check according to the key figure of product”.
• The capacity check is set up for storage types under Putaway Control, in the Capacity Check field.