Setting Up Delivery Document Integration

The document category classifies the different documents that can be processed by the system in delivery processing.

The category defines in which business process a document can be used, which customizing settings are possible, and with which transaction the document can be processed.

Some details for the different document categories are described here:

• IDR (Inbound Delivery Notification) and PDI (Inbound Delivery):

  These documents are used during the inbound process. The IDR is created through a message received from the ERP system and triggers a PPF action to create the follow-up document, the PDI. In an SAP S/4HANA embedded EWM the IDR does not exist anymore, the PDI is created immediately. In a decentralized EWM (9.5 or based on SAP S/4HANA) the IDR can be skipped.

  By using an Expected Goods Receipt document (details are below) the PDI can also be created directly in EWM, without a IDR. The PDI can then create an inbound delivery in ERP or only create a material document, depending on the scenario and customizing settings.

• ODR (Outbound Delivery Request), PDO (Outbound Delivery Order) and FDO (Outbound Delivery):

  These documents are used during the outbound process. The ODR is created through a message received from the ERP system and triggers a PPF action to create the follow-up document, the PDO. In an SAP S/4HANA embedded EWM the ODR does not exist anymore, the PDO is created immediately. In a decentralized EWM (9.5 or based on SAP S/4HANA) the ODR can be skipped.

  The PDO can also be created directly in EWM, this is then called a direct outbound delivery order. This PDO then also creates an outbound delivery in ERP.

  For the goods issue posting in EWM and to communicate any delivery split, it is necessary to create the FDO.

• POR (Posting Change Request) and SPC (Posting Change):

  These documents are used during a posting change process. The POR is created through a message received from the ERP system and triggers a PPF action to create the follow-up document, the SPC. In an SAP S/4HANA embedded EWM the POR does not exist anymore, the SPC is created immediately. In a decentralized EWM (9.5 or based on SAP S/4HANA) the POR can be skipped.

  The SPC can be created directly in EWM to trigger a posting change.

• WMR (Stock Transfer):

  The WMR can only be created directly in EWM. It is used to plan a warehouse internal physical movement.

  Note

  As an exception in embedded EWM a Just-in-Time (JIT) call can directly create a WMR.

Besides the above listed document categories, some other, more specialized, document categories exist:

• GRN (Expected Goods Receipt Notification) and EGR (Expected Goods Receipt):

  The expected goods receipt process is a planning process to enable warehouse managers to get an overview about the planned inbound workload. The EGR can then be used to create a PDI, which is then further processed in the warehouse.

  The GRN is created through a program either in ERP or in EWM and triggers a PPF action to create the follow-up document, the EGR. In a decentralized EWM 9.5 or based on SAP S/4HANA the GRN can be skipped.

  In SAP S/4HANA embedded EWM, neither the GRN nor the EGR exists. The process steps based on these documents (inbound workload overview or creation of the PDI in EWM) are still possible, they simply don't require these documents.

• PWR (Production Material Request):

  The PWR is created in EWM for a manufacturing order in ERP when the advanced production integration is used. There is no delivery in ERP and there is no other interim document in EWM.

A PDI (Inbound Delivery), PDO (Outbound Delivery Order), SPC (Posting Change) and WMR (Stock Transfer) are all Warehouse Requests. This is the generic term for a delivery document in EWM that enables the processing warehouse activities for a specific product. These activities can be warehouse tasks (for physical movements or posting changes) or goods receipt / goods issue postings.

The EWM document type classifies a document with regard to the primary business use of the document.

The following figure lists examples of EWM document types:

In EWM a delivery document is always a combination of a document category and a document type. Examples for EWM delivery documents and their respective document type and document category are listed in the following figure:

Each combination of document type and document category in the table represents a document in an EWM business process. You can create your own document types in each process configuration, such as goods receipt, goods issue, stock transfers, and posting changes.

As there are less document categories in SAP S/4HANA embedded EWM, there are less combinations accordingly.

SAP supplies these above listed and several other document types as default customizing or via Business Configuration Sets and recommends to use these delivery documents as they are or as templates for defining your own document types.

Each delivery document item is identified by the following:

• An item type
• The document type of the delivery document in which it appears
• The item category, which classifies the delivery item by its basic use

The following table lists the item categories:

Delivery item types classify the items for a document type for the complete business process. The item type defines the business characteristics of the item in a delivery document.

The following table lists examples of item types.

Similar to document types, SAP has predefined several combinations of item category and item type for several document types to enable processing of standard processes. You can configure your own item types to represent delivery items that have business characteristics that are different from the standard.

The customer profiles are assigned to the delivery document types and item types.

The following profiles are available on header and / or item level (details are described in the next paragraphs):

• Action profile (only on header level)
• Status profile
• Text profile
• Field control profile
• Partner profile
• Date profile
• Incompleteness profile
• Quantity offsetting profile
• Reference document category profile
• Process profile
• Process code profile (only on item level)

Message/output control for delivery processing uses Post Processing Framework (PPF). The PPF is a Basis component that generates actions from the data of an application according to an action definition (for example, the printing of a delivery note). PPF provides the tools for scheduling, starting, and monitoring actions. Actions are saved in an action profile, which is linked to the document type.

In addition to printing-related actions, actions can include:

• Activating delivery documents such as inbound delivery notification or outbound delivery requests

• Posting goods issue or receipt

Status management controls business transactions used to process a delivery document by assigning one or more statuses to the document.

Status profiles are assigned to delivery types and item types. A status profile contains status types that describe a process in the overall processing life cycle of a delivery document such as a goods receipt status, an unloading status, or a putaway status. Each status type has one or more valid status values assigned to it such as Yes/No, Not started/In Process/Completed. The status value allows or disallows a business transaction. A business transaction can set a new status value.

Text management allows texts to be received through delivery documents from the SAP ERP system and processed within SAP EWM delivery documents. New texts can also be created and saved within EWM delivery documents, and you can display, change, or delete texts. Text management supports texts at the delivery header and item level.

In SAP EWM, text types representing particular notes such as "shipping instructions" and "preferred carrier" are defined. Text profiles group text types for a particular delivery header or item. Within the text profile, the access sequence for each text type indicates the source of the text. Text profiles used to specify texts for delivery headers are assigned to the document type; whereas, text profiles used for delivery item texts are assigned to the item type.

Delivery documents contain a multitude of fields that contain the data used and required in delivery processing. In addition to status management, field control determines which fields are displayed and changed during delivery document processing. The fields that appear in the delivery header and item structures are determined and controlled by the field control function.

Delivery processing uses field control during the following events:

• The creation of a document or document item

• When switching between display mode and change mode

• After data is changed in a document

All fields in a delivery document are defined in the system as components of structures. Every component in the structure is uniquely identified by the logical field name, and can be addressed directly. In the field attributes assigned to the fields, the system defines the processing characteristics of each field. The list of assigned fields and their field attributes for a particular document type or item type is assigned to a system profile. The field attributes in the system profile cannot be changed, however, you can create new field names by using the system profile. The assignment to the delivery document type or item type is done using the field control profile. A field control profile contains all the allowed fields and their attributes for a particular document or item type. Every field control profile is assigned to a system profile.

SAP provides predefined logical field names, system profiles, and field control profiles for all of the standard delivery processes.

Partner processing is used to maintain partner information in the header and/or item data in EWM delivery documents. Partner processing configuration begins with the creation of partner roles. The partner role is used to represent a role or a function in the business process. Examples of possible partner roles are: supplier, receiving office, ship-to recipient, and warehouse. Partner roles are identified by a key, a description, and a role category. The role category defines the nature and use of the partner identified by the partner role. The following role categories are available:

• Business partner

• Location

• Organizational unit

Partner roles are assigned to partner profiles. The partner profiles are assigned to the document types and item types where they are used. SAP has created predefined partner profiles for the standard EWM delivery documents. These profiles are the partner processing system profiles and cannot be changed. In these profiles SAP has defined the partner profiles with mandatory and optional partner roles.

The date types system function configures the various dates related to delivery processing in SAP EWM. The dates that are supported by the system are defined as date types. Note that the date always includes the time. The EWM application functions determine the supported date types. As a rule, the EWM date types should match the date types defined in configurable process scheduling. Examples of date types include: delivery date, goods issue date, start of loading, end of loading, and pick/pack start.

Date profiles are pre-configured in the EWM system for all of the standard delivery types and item types. Each date profile is assigned to a system profile. Contained within the date profile are the date types that are to be used in the delivery type or item type to which the profile is assigned. If you do not define a date profile for a document type or an item type, the settings from the system profile are used automatically.

Use the incompleteness check to ensure that all relevant fields in a delivery document have been filled. The incompleteness check uses the logical field names assigned to the system profile of the field control for its check. To set up the check, create an incompleteness profile that contains every mandatory input and output field that must be filled in order to process the document. These fields are defined by their logical field names. Each field contained within the incompleteness profile is assigned a business action code such as "Save", "Goods Issue", or "Check". The action codes determine when the field is checked for completeness.

The incompleteness profile is assigned to the document or item type, to which it will be applied. Pre-configured incompleteness profiles and settings are provided by SAP for the standard processes in delivery processing.

In delivery processing, you use quantity offsetting to calculate the open quantities for a document, or to calculate specific quantities such as requested quantity and reduced quantity. You execute quantity offsetting at the item level of a delivery document. To execute quantity offsetting automatically, use a quantity offsetting profile. The quantity offsetting profile contains the quantity calculation and the quantity offsetting rules to be used to calculate the desired quantities. The quantity offsetting profile is assigned to the delivery document type and the delivery document item type.

In the reference documents service profile configuration, the allowed preceding document references are configured. Within the system and customer profiles, the permitted reference documents are defined using reference document category codes. The reference document customer/system profiles are assigned to the document categories where they will be used. SAP provides a pre-configured set of profiles for the standard EWM delivery document and item categories.

SAP EWM uses the process management and control function to control whether certain processes or functions are permissible for a delivery type or item.

The following process indicators can be set for the delivery header control:

• Manual creation - controls whether a document can be created manually in SAP EWM

• Deletion of warehouse request with follow-up documents - controls whether you can delete warehouse requests after the creation and cancellation of successor documents

• Preceding document - allows reference to a preceding document

• Production - allows processes for production such as kit-to-stock or goods receipt from production

• Scrapping - allows subprocesses for scrapping

• Pickup - allows process for sales without transportation processing

• Invoice before goods issue - allows an invoice to be created before the goods issue

• Correction delivery - allows posting of differences to the stock to be cleared using a correction delivery document

• Communication to SAP ERP - for the advanced production integration the system can use the goods movement interface only
• Goods receipt mode - when the system communicates the goods receipt to SAP ERP
• Unique ASN number - you can use this field to control whether the system checks if the advanced shipping notification (ASN) number is unique for the ship-from party and business system or not

At the item level the following process indicators can be set:

• Create manually - an item can be created manually in a delivery document without reference to a line item in a preceding document

• Invoice before GI - allows the billing of a line item before its goods issue posting

Like other system functions, process management and control contains SAP pre-created system profiles for the standard delivery categories and item categories.

Process codes are used to control particular exceptional situations, for example, when a delivery quantity is larger or smaller than the actual quantity delivered.

Each process code profile is assigned to a system profile. The process code profile determines which process codes have been assigned in the corresponding system profile. If you want to change the process codes assigned to a business process, you can define a new process code profile for a system profile.

SAP has defined system profiles for the process codes for the standard processes in delivery processing. You cannot change them. If you do not define a process code profile for a item type, the settings from the system profile of the corresponding item category are used automatically.

To determine an item type for a delivery item, the system uses a group of fields as illustrated in the following figure.

Item type determination occurs in sequence of the largest amount of entered information first, therefore a complete entry is evaluated before an empty field.

In addition to mapping delivery document types, the integration between the SAP ERP system and the SAP EWM system includes a mapping table that maps the SAP ERP delivery item categories to the SAP EWM item type code. The following figure illustrates this mapping.

In each of the EWM integration tables, the Business System field allows for the mapping of the document types and item categories based on the specific source system.