Creating Direct Outbound Deliveries

You can use direct outbound delivery orders in the following scenarios:

Direct Sales:

Because the customer asks for the goods and picks them up on-site in the warehouse, transportation activities do not apply. You do not need to create a sales order for this task. The direct outbound delivery order forms the basis for the delivery in SAP ERP. The delivery in SAP ERP forms the outbound document for billing.

Account Assignment:

Unlike direct sales, you post a goods issue with account assignment for the goods. This can be a cost center or an internal order.

Note

With SAP S/4HANA 2020 it is possible to post these types of internal consumption with the transaction Post Unplanned Goods Issue (/SCWM/ADGI). This option works without deliveries (in EWM and ERP).

Scrapping:

The direct outbound delivery order for scrapping forms the last step in the scrapping process. You post the goods to be scrapped with the goods issue from the warehouse stock. You trigger this locally in the warehouse.

Immediate deliveries:

You can fulfill immediate deliveries and choose between a push and pull procedure as follows:

• In the push procedure, you make a decision for the outbound delivery without a sales order from the current requirements of the warehouse. For example, you want to use your available transportation capacities efficiently by making use of unused space in a vehicle; or you have to consider the special requirements of the consumer products industry, for example, you want to distribute a very recent delivery containing fresh goods to outbound deliveries going to different stores.
• In the pull procedure, the store or customer triggers the process. For example, you only notice later that an article in the last purchase order was not included. You call the warehouse and trigger immediate delivery to deliver the goods on time.

Kit-to-stock or reverse kitting:

Here, you use a VAS order to create a kit from different components. If you want to reserve the corresponding components, you can use a direct outbound delivery order. When you have created the kit and posted goods issue for the direct outbound delivery order, SAP EWM reduces the stock of the respective components.

This scenario starts with the creation of a VAS order, the required deliveries are created in the background.

Direct outbound delivery orders have the following properties that differentiate them from outbound delivery orders that were generated in SAP EWM based on outbound deliveries created in SAP ERP:

• The availability check is necessary, because this check is usually triggered in SAP ERP.

  Because direct outbound delivery orders are created in SAP EWM directly, no availability check is performed by SAP ERP for the required product. Instead, SAP EWM triggers the availability check. Depending on the configuration, the check can be performed in SAP ERP, in SAP APO, or in SAP EWM.

• Organizational and logistically-relevant delivery data that is copied to outbound delivery orders from SAP ERP preceding documents must be specified for the direct outbound delivery orders locally in EWM. Either you enter the data directly, such as the product or quantity, or EWM determines the data automatically using configuration data, such as the goods issue bin for items that are not pick-relevant.

  Because you start the goods issue process using direct outbound delivery orders in EWM, the underlying document type must display the process correspondingly. EWM uses the process profile to do this. When generating a direct outbound delivery order, you must select the correct document type to ensure the process flow is correct.

• Because no outbound delivery request from SAP ERP exists for direct outbound delivery orders, actions such as splitting direct outbound delivery orders are not possible. Direct outbound delivery orders are also always checked, meaning they have the status type Locked (unchecked item) and status value No, and are immediately ready for processing.

• You can not use credit management for direct outbound delivery orders.

• The price determination with a direct outbound delivery does not provide you with the same functions as the price determination in the sales order.

• You cannot use any configurable products in direct outbound delivery orders.

• You cannot perform billing in SAP CRM for direct outbound delivery orders.

• You cannot extend bills of materials in direct outbound delivery orders.

• SAP ERP does not send messages for a direct outbound delivery order to SAP EWM.

• If you are adding packing items to a direct outbound delivery order, SAP EWM can not perform an availability check for these new delivery items.

• The kit-to-order process does not support direct outbound delivery orders.

• Direct outbound delivery orders are not relevant for backorder processing in SAP Advanced Planning and Optimization (SAP APO).

If you want to perform an availability check, you must specify the product, quantity, and stock type for the item. If you fail to specify a batch for a product that is subject to batch management, or if SAP EWM is unable to determine one, SAP EWM performs a batch-independent availability check. If you enter the batch at a later time, SAP EWM performs the availability check again, but batch-independently.

If you have defined an availability check in Customizing, SAP EWM automatically performs an availability check in one of the following ways, according to your Customizing settings:

• Call availability check in SAP APO:

  When SAP APO executes an availability check, SAP APO generates pre-persistent temporary quantity assignments (TQAs), which reserve the quantities temporarily. When SAP EWM saves the associated outbound delivery order, SAP APO changes these pre-persistent TQAs to persistent TQAs. SAP ERP then later converts these persistent TQAs into reservations for the delivery quantities.

  If SAP APO is not available and is therefore not able to perform the availability check, SAP EWM continues with the outbound delivery process. Here, EWM confirms the requested delivery quantity and sends the data to SAP ERP. SAP ERP sends this data to SAP APO as soon as SAP APO is available again. If backorder processing is required due to this current data, SAP APO triggers this.

• Call availability information in SAP ERP.

• Call availability check in SAP EWM:

  This check only works on the basis of the availability known in SAP EWM, and only considers stock that does not refer to a delivery.

If SAP APO, SAP ERP, or SAP EWM are able to confirm all quantities and do not change the inspection type automatically, you can check this confirmation in the item details. In the detailed view of the item, choose the Status tab page. For the status type DAV Availability check, the status value is Confirmed. In the detailed view of the item, choose the Additional Quantities tab page. EWM shows you the quantities in the role for the quantity. For example, you have requested 10 pieces of product A for a delivery item. The reduced quantity is 10 pieces, the open quantity is zero, and the requested quantity is 10 pieces.

If SAP APO, SAP ERP, or SAP EWM can only partially confirm the requested quantities or change the inspection type automatically, SAP EWM displays a dialog box. Here you can find the following information:

• Check status, for example, Partially Checked

• Inspection type, for example, Availability Check in EWM

• Requested quantity

• Available quantity

• Confirmation date or time

For a partial confirmation, SAP EWM also shows you the following:

• Reduced delivery quantity in the relevant item

  For example, you requested 10 pieces for an item, but only 8 pieces are confirmed. SAP EWM reduces the delivery quantity to 8 pieces.

• Status value of the checked items as Confirmed

  In the detailed view of the item, choose the Status tab page.

• Quantities in the role for quantities Availability Check

  In the detailed view for the item, choose the Additional Quantities tab page. For example, you have requested 10 pieces of product A for a delivery item. However, only 8 pieces were confirmed. The reduced quantity is 8 pieces, the open quantity is zero, and the requested quantity is 8 pieces.

SAP EWM does not perform an availability check for the following delivery items:

• Delivery items that belong to a scrapping process

• Packing items

SAP EWM can set the following dates or times based on the results of the availability check:

• Dates or times at delivery header level:

  • Delivery date or time

• Dates or times at delivery item level:

  • Picking start and finish

  • Loading start and finish

  • Goods issue start and finish

SAP EWM only sets the picking or loading dates or times if you have specified them in the corresponding date profile in Customizing for the item type used.

SAP EWM performs the following scheduling based on the type of availability check it finds:

• If SAP EWM finds Availability Check in SAP APO, and you have defined scheduling in Customizing for SAP APO, SAP EWM copies the results of the scheduling into the direct outbound delivery order.

• If SAP EWM finds a different type of availability check, the system sets the dates or times of the direct outbound delivery order – such as the delivery date and goods issue start and finish – to the confirmation date of the availability check.

In the interface connections, you must define parameters for sending messages from SAP EWM to the SAP ERP system. You can execute the mapping optionally depending on the business system. For direct deliveries only the following entries are required:

• Internal Number Range and Item Number Increment

  For manually created delivery documents in EWM, or for documents resulting from a delivery split, the document number and the item numbers are assigned in EWM. This number range interval for the SAP ERP documents entered here must not overlap with the interval that you have defined in the SAP ERP system.

For Customizing in the SAP ERP system, you define which delivery types are used for direct outbound deliveries. Before you can assign delivery types to direct outbound deliveries, you must first define suitable delivery types.

You can determine delivery types based on the following parameters:

• EWM delivery type

  This is used for the direct outbound delivery in SAP EWM. If you want to define the SAP ERP delivery type independently from the SAP EWM delivery type, enter * as a placeholder.

• Code for the initiator of a communication chain

  This code describes the business process in which direct outbound deliveries are submitted from SAP EWM to the SAP ERP system. If you want to define the delivery type independently of this code, enter * as a placeholder. Examples for business processes for direct outbound deliveries are as follows:

  • KTS Kit-to-stock:

    Direct outbound deliveries are used for posting goods issue for the kit components.

  • KTR Reverse kitting:

    The disassembled kit headers are goods issue posted by means of direct outbound deliveries.

  • PIG Cash sales:

    Goods are sold directly to customers within the warehouse.

  • DSH Direct shipment:

    Goods are shipped to customers or other warehouses without prior planning.

• Warehouse number

  You can define the delivery-type settings for a specific warehouse number only. If you want to define the delivery type for all warehouses, enter * as a placeholder. If you make multiple entries with placeholders (*), the system first looks for the most specific matching entry. If you have defined multiple entries with the same number of placeholders, the system uses the matching entry with the most specific data fields on the left.

There is also a table where you define the item categories that must be used for the items of the direct outbound delivery.

Usually, the SAP ERP item category is determined based on the delivery type, the item category group from the material, and the item usage (see standard item category determination). This additional Customizing activity provides the possibility to overrule the standard item category determination and to determine the item category dependent on the business processes for which direct outbound deliveries are used. Using the separate item category determination is optional. If you do not make any entries here, the standard item category determination is used.

For single requests, SAP CRM billing or SAP ERP billing directly creates single invoices that you can not change. To make changes, you must delete the outbound delivery. This automatically cancels the invoice. If you generate a new outbound delivery, the invoice is automatically created and printed again.

For group requests, SAP CRM billing or SAP ERP billing creates one or more invoices for each vehicle or transportation unit. SAP CRM billing creates corresponding billing due list items. You can make changes to these deliveries in SAP EWM. If these occur before invoice creation, SAP ERP or SAP CRM updates its deliveries or the invoice-relevant data in accordance with the input from SAP EWM.

After you have posted the goods issue, you can only trigger the invoice printout from SAP CRM billing or SAP ERP billing.

If more than one vehicle forwards the material for a sales order, you can create related outbound deliveries for each vehicle and request invoices for them.

You can determine a print profile after SAP CRM billing or SAP ERP billing has selected the printer. SAP EWM finds the print profile and informs CRM billing or ERP billing accordingly. For printing single requests, the billing system uses the print profile found. For the printing of group requests, the billing system uses the profile of the first delivery found.