Using Serial Numbers

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to work with serial numbers.

Serial Numbers

A serial number is a character string that is given to a product in addition to a product number to differentiate the individual piece from all the other pieces.

The combination of product number and serial number is unique.

You use serial numbers if you want to identify or trace single units in the warehouse. SAP Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) only controls the serial numbers (as a movement date) until goods issue posting. This can help you to identify a product uniquely and to provide you with an overview of which products you have sold to which customers.

Serial Number Requirement Level

In SAP EWM, there are three different types of serial number requirements:

Serial numbers for document items
Serial numbers at warehouse number level
Serial numbers in inventory management

Each serial number requirement gives you different levels of detailed information about the serial number, but also affects the processes in the warehouse.

Serial Number Requirements

Serial numbers for document items

You record serial numbers in inbound deliveries or outbound deliveries, but you have no visibility about the actual location of a product. Depending on the item type of the delivery, you can make the capturing of the serial number mandatory.

As a simple example, you can use this in a returns process to control if the serial number corresponds to the number you sent with an outbound delivery to the customer.

Serial numbers at the warehouse number level

This serial number requirement provides you with an overview of which serial numbers are available in your warehouse. In every inbound and outbound delivery, you enter the serial numbers for the products for which it is required.

Serial numbers in inventory management

You use this serial number requirement to store exact storage bin information for a serial number. Every movement in the warehouse– inbound, outbound, or internally– requires the capturing of the serial numbers for the products.

In the system there is actually a fourth serial number requirement: No serial number requirement. That gives you the possibility to have serial numbers for a product in some warehouses, but not in others.

Serial Number Profiles

To enter a serial number for a product, you create serial number profiles and assign them to the materials. For working with serial numbers in SAP EWM, you have two different serial number profiles for a material.

ERP Serial Number Profile

You have a serial number profile in SAP ERP, which does not relate to the serial number profile in SAP EWM. This profile controls how you work with serial numbers in the ERP system.

The serial number profile in ERP controls the following:

The serialization procedure for the profile defines the transactions for which serialization is possible. Examples include MMSL Maintain goods receipt and issue document, POSL Serial numbers in purchase orders, and SDLS Maintain delivery.
Serial number usage defines whether serialization is mandatory or optional.
The equipment required function specifies whether a piece of equipment is required.

The serial number profile can be allocated to different transactions with different parametrization.

You assign the ERP serial number profiles to the materials for which you want to maintain serial numbers. This is done in the material master either on the Sales: General/Plant view or on the Plant data / stor. 2 view.

EWM Serial Number Profile

You also assign an EWM serial number profile to the material master in ERP. This profile is entered on the WM Execution view.

When you transfer the material master using CIF or IDocs, this profile is also transferred and can be found on the Storage tab.

You have to define this EWM serial number profile in SAP ERP and in SAP EWM customizing with the same name and the same settings. In this profile, you set the serial number requirement type.

In the EWM serial number profile, you can define the object name and the number range for serial numbers created in EWM, as well as a prefix (optional).

The SAP EWM serial number profile entered in SAP ERP is warehouse-number independent. You can additionally have a warehouse-number dependent serial number profile with the same name in SAP EWM that overrides the warehouse number independent profile. In this way you can, for example, control that a certain product only has mandatory serial numbers in a specific warehouse, or that in certain warehouses no serial numbers are required.

The path where you define the serial number profile depends partially on your system environment or the SAP EWM release.

In the ERP system (SAP Business Suite ERP or SAP S/4HANA) the customizing path is as follows: Integration with Other SAP Components → Extended Warehouse Management → Additional Material Attributes → Attribute Values for Additional Material Master Fields → Define Serial Number Profile.
- When using SAP S/4HANA embedded EWM this would be the only place where the warehouse-number independent SN profile is defined.
- When using an SAP S/4HANA based decentralized EWM the path for the warehouse-number independent SN profile is the same (so the same path in the ERP system and the SAP EWM system).
In the SAP EWM system the path starts with the following: SCM Extended Warehouse Management → Extended Warehouse Management → Master Data → Product → Serial Number Profiles → Non-Harmonized Serial Number Profiles
- → Define Warehouse-Number Independent Serial Number Profiles: This node is only relevant for an SCM-based SAP EWM. In an SAP S/4HANA based EWM this node is inactive.
- → Define Warehouse-Number Dependent Serial Number Profiles: This is for all SAP EWM versions the path where the warehouse-number dependent SN profiles are defined.

Serial Number Profile Dependencies

There is not a fixed relationship between the SAP ERP and the SAP EWM serial number profile, but you have to pay attention to the SN profiles which are used in SAP ERP, when defining the requirements for SAP EWM. One simple example is as follows: when you define that for each material posting (Procedure: MMSL) in SAP ERP the serial number is required, it is of course not enough to have the serial number requirement in SAP EWM only dependent on the item type. So probably you would choose the Serial Number Requirement at the Warehouse Number Level, which requires that for each goods receipt and goods issue in SAP EWM the serial number is mandatory. However, if you combine this with the ROD/AFS scenario for storage locations, this SN profile setting is not enough. The posting change in SAP EWM from one storage location to the other is not controlled by this SN profile. That means that the posting change in SAP ERP would not be possible, as here every movement requires serial numbers, but the posting from SAP EWM would not include this information.

Harmonized Serial Number Profile

With SAP S/4HANA 2020 it is possible to use a harmonized serial number profile. The settings for serialization procedures in ERP as well as the serial number requirements for EWM are maintained in one serial number profile on the ERP side. This offers some advantages:

Only one place in ERP to define the serial number profile.
The dependencies described in the previous section are checked at the definition of the serial number profile. A serial number profile containing inconsistencies can not be saved.
Only one place in the material master to assign the serial number profile.
This serial number profile assignment in the material master is on plant level. This enables customers to decide on different serialization levels in the same warehouse by party entitled to dispose.
Note
However, this does mean that with an harmonized serial number profile there is no distinction between a warehouse independent and a warehouse dependent serial number profile anymore.

The usage of the harmonized serial number profile is available with embedded EWM as well as with decentral EWM, but requires that the ERP backend system is an SAP S/4HANA system (from SAP S/4HANA 2020). In the EWM system the usage of the harmonized serialization profile must be activated. This activation does only effect new products in the warehouse, there is no impact on existing products.

Changing Serial Number Requirements

It is not simply possible to change a serial number requirement for a material which existing warehouse movements or stock. The SAP Note 1498521, Serial number profile changes in EWM, describes the limitations and necessary steps in case a change is necessary.

With SAP S/4HANA 2020 a new method, Repair Serial Number Profile, is available in the Warehouse Management Monitor (under the node Product Master Data → Warehouse Attribute) to delete serialization settings stored in the EWM warehouse product and therefore enable the maintenance of a new profile. This is only possible with an harmonized serial number profile and the repair is only supported when the following conditions are met:

no open warehouse tasks exists
no open delivery documents exists
no warehouse stock exists

Warehouse Number settings

Under the node Serial Number: Settings for Warehouse Numbers you can define for each warehouse number

the maximum length of serial numbers
if provisional serial numbers are allowed

Hint

In EWM, you can specify a serial number with a maximum length of 30 characters. If you want to use data records for master data in the ERP system, the serial number in EWM can only have 18 characters (because the serial number in ERP has this maximum length). If necessary, you can use the Business Add-In (BAdI) Converting Serial Numbers ERP – EWM (/SCWM/EX_ERP_SN) for mapping the serial number between the ERP system and EWM. This allows you to work with 30-digit serial numbers in EWM and shorter numbers in ERP.

Provisional Serial Number

If you set the serial number requirement at the warehouse number level or in inventory management, Extended Warehouse Management always requires the serial numbers before the goods receipt posting. If you set the Prov SNs indicator in Customizing, EWM automatically assigns a provisional serial number, if you have not already entered a valid serial number. You replace this serial number with your own in a subsequent goods receipt process.

Note

If you want to track information about serial numbers in the ERP system, do not use provisional serial numbers. As soon as you use provisional serial numbers and replace them with your own serial numbers at a later point in time, EWM no longer reports these serial numbers to the ERP system, meaning that the ERP system does not have up-to-date information regarding the status of the serial numbers in EWM.

Entering Serial Number Ranges

When working during putaway or picking in the RF environment, you can specify whole serial number ranges instead of individual serial numbers.

Select Range on the entry screen for serial numbers. EWM displays a new screen where you can enter the start and end values for your serial number range. On this screen, EWM also displays the data for the product, the number of serial numbers necessary, and the number of serial numbers that already exist. When you have specified the serial number area, EWM updates the number of existing serial numbers accordingly. EWM displays the serial number range in a step loop and you can then specify the next serial number range.

Usage of Serial Numbers in the Delivery

If you enter a serial number for a product in an inbound or an outbound delivery in ERP, EWM copies the serial number into the inbound delivery notification or the outbound delivery request and further on into the inbound delivery or the outbound delivery order. A prerequisite for this is that you have determined the serialization for the product in the serial number profile. Otherwise, EWM does not copy any serial numbers to the inbound delivery or the outbound delivery order.

Comparison between the goods receipt process and goods issue process.

Serial Numbers in Inbound Deliveries

You either receive the serial number in the advanced shipping notification of your supplier, you enter them in the inbound delivery in ERP (manually scan them or create them), or you enter them in the inbound delivery in EWM.

Serial Numbers in Outbound Deliveries

You either enter the requested serial numbers in the outbound delivery (or in the sales order) and this information is taken to pick the requested serial number, or you assign the picked serial numbers when confirming the warehouse task. If you confirm a warehouse task in the foreground, you can assign serial numbers manually. If you confirm a warehouse task in the background, EWM automatically assigns the serial numbers known to the system if a complete quantity removal occurs.

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