The solution area for dangerous goods within the SAP S/4HANA for product compliance provides two scope items:
- Functionalities and processes for administrating the regulatory foundation relevant to the enterprise and processing dangerous goods assessments for transport products. These processes are subject to the scope item Assess Dangerous Goods for a Product (3FC).
- Integrated functionalities for processing of Dangerous Goods in the Value Chain (3G8). Dangerous goods checks are executed automatically for compliance-relevant items, resulting in a dangerous goods status on the item. Item statuses of a logistic document, for example, a sales order, are consolidated to a dangerous goods status on the header level of the document. From a dangerous goods perspective, these dangerous goods statuses are crucial for further processing to ensure that the required classification is available, and transport is permitted.
For example:
- An internal sales representative is creating a sales order. One item in the sales order has a 'dangerous goods' block status because there is no released dangerous goods assessment for the packaged product. Consequently, the item cannot be transferred to the subsequent outbound delivery, while items with an OK status can.
- An outbound delivery has an item with a dangerous goods block status. The consequence is that the shipping specialist cannot post a goods issue for the delivery.
Finally, dangerous goods information is included on documents such as order confirmations, pick lists, or delivery notes.
The scope items process involves multiple business users/roles.
Scope item Assess Dangerous Goods for a Product (3FC) primarily addresses the dangerous goods specialist, integrating product compliance and dangerous goods with the product master. It also involves the master data specialist - product data, and the product stewardship specialist - product compliance.
The integrated processing of Dangerous Goods in the Value Chain (3G8) relates to business users/roles along the supply chain, such as purchasing specialists, internal sales representatives, shipping specialists, or transport planners. Integrated processing of dangerous goods in the value chain means that none of the users along the value chain processes need to execute any dangerous goods functionality actively - these are fully integrated and processed automatically. If dangerous goods checks detect an issue, the system automatically creates a request from logistics and notifies the dangerous goods specialist.
Although the scope item Assess Dangerous Goods for a Product (3FC) addresses the dangerous goods specialist, there is also an integration with the value chain: whenever the master data specialist - product data identifies a new compliance-relevant product, product compliance is integrated. This integration automatically creates a request from logistics, and the product stewardship specialist receives a desktop notification.
Now, the product stewardship specialist assigns the new product master to a compliance view, and based on the assignment of transport purposes, the dangerous goods specialist processes dangerous goods assessments.
Dangerous goods assessments are processed on activated dangerous goods compliance requirements assigned to a product's compliance view for transport compliance purposes. To activate the correct dangerous goods compliance requirements, the dangerous goods specialist investigates shipping points, target markets, and transport chains that are subject to the company's supply chain.
Dangerous goods regulations and the embedded dangerous goods compliance requirements, which are the digital representation of these regulations, are updated regularly. Dangerous goods specialists use functionalities to analyze dangerous goods products and manage regulatory updates.
Administer the dangerous goods regulatory foundation - identify the relevant dangerous goods regulations related to countries/regions of, for example, target markets and production sites, and modes of transport used.
The applicable dangerous goods regulations must be provided for assessment. This means the compliance requirements representing these dangerous goods regulations must be activated and assigned to compliance purposes. Then, the compliance purpose with necessary dangerous goods compliance requirements must be assigned to the compliance view, to be available for dangerous goods compliance assessments.
This also includes updating the regulatory foundation according to the publication of revised versions of the underlying dangerous goods regulations. A consequence of a regulation update can be that existing dangerous goods assessments need to be checked.
Process dangerous goods compliance assessments
This is a two-step process:
- Identification of the dangerous good - this is processed on the unpackaged product. Only with the identification do instructions for packaging or enclosure come, along with further provisions.
- Finalizing the dangerous goods classification for the packaged product - based on the information coming with the identification, the packaging or enclosure is specified, and optional special provisions can be applied. Finally, the required output of dangerous goods information can be determined. This relates to the description for documents, marking texts, and applicable labelling.
Process dangerous goods in the value chain/supply chain
This is based on fully integrated functionalities and does not require any specific action from business users involved in processes such as purchasing, sales, delivery, and transportation. Dangerous goods checks are automatically processed for products indicated as being relevant to compliance. In the event that issues are detected by these checks, for example, missing a released dangerous goods classification, requests are automatically created, and users with the role of dangerous goods specialist are informed to take action. As soon as the issue is resolved, related logistic documents, such as sales orders, are reprocessed automatically.
Moreover, even when a product is identified as relevant to compliance, a request from logistics is automatically generated, and users with the role of product stewardship specialist are notified to take care of the product.
There are designated specialists for product compliance, working in the product compliance core processes:
- Product Stewardship Specialist: This position coordinates product compliance activities and is responsible for product marketability and safety data sheet assessments.
- Master Data Specialist - Product Compliance: Responsible for company substances, raw materials, or purchased products.
- Dangerous Goods Specialist: This position manages the regulatory foundation for dangerous goods and processes dangerous goods assessments for unpackaged and packaged products.
The other group is business users along the value chain. These business users do not need to actively process any actions related to dangerous goods, as processing dangerous goods checks and generating dangerous goods output is integrated and processed automatically.
There are specialists along the value chain, where product compliance processing is integrated and no specific activities are required, for example:
- Master Data Specialist - Product Data - this is where it all begins, indicating a product as "compliance relevant".
- Purchasing Specialist - ensures compliance for raw materials and transport if raw materials are fetched, for example, from a harbour.
- Internal Sales Representative - defines where you can sell the product, and what options are available for transporting it to the customer.
- Shipping Specialist - prepares the product for shipment and handover to the freight forwarder.
- Transportation Planner - defines how to bring the product to the customer, and contracts with a freight forwarder.
Before dangerous goods assessments can be processed, there are preparation tasks to be accomplished - not only by the dangerous goods specialist but also by the product stewardship specialist:
The dangerous goods specialist must identify the regulations relevant to the company's business and activate the required dangerous goods compliance requirements.
The product stewardship specialist creates transport compliance purposes for assignment to compliance views of unpackaged products.
The daily routine may look like this:
The master data specialist - product master identifies a product as compliance relevant, adds a distribution chain, a plant, or changes the procurement type. Such changes automatically trigger the creation of a request from logistics, and the product stewardship specialist receives a desktop notification, informing them about the new request.
Now, the product stewardship specialist picks up the request from logistics. The product master must be assigned to a compliance view; either a new compliance view must be created or an existing one must be identified. The next compliance purpose assignment must be reviewed and completed. With this, compliance assessments can begin.
The dangerous goods specialist is responsible for classifying the dangerous goods of the unpackaged product, which determines the basic classification. From this starting point, the classification of packaged products can begin. Completing the classification of dangerous goods for packaged products is essential since only packaged products are permitted to be transported.
With the completion of the dangerous goods classification of the packaged product, from a dangerous goods perspective, the packaged product is ready to be sold and shipped. The processing of dangerous goods products is integrated into the value chain, encompassing processes from purchasing to sales, shipping, and transportation. In these processes, no user action is required; all required functions are processed automatically.
Integrated dangerous goods checks are immediately processed by the system when a user edits a logistics document, and there is at least one item relevant to compliance. This is a brief overview of how checks are processed:
The system determines applicable dangerous goods regulations based on country/region and modes of transport, using the definitions in the Apply Regulations Dangerous Goods app.
Countries/regions and modes of transport are derived from:
- Transport planning is processed in transportation management, if available.
- The shipping point and ship-to party given in the logistic document, especially the domestic modes of transport, are relevant here. If no transport planning is available, international modes of transport are checked.
If no definition is made for all modes of transport for a country/region, the check results in a block status for this country/region. If at least one mode of transport is defined or not forbidden, the check results in a restricted status for this country/region, and checks on item lines are processed.
Dangerous goods checks are processed for each item containing a compliance-relevant product. The check runs against the transport permissibility for each dangerous goods regulation and mode of transport, resulting in a consolidated dangerous goods status per item.
Finally, the status of individual dangerous goods items is consolidated for the logistics document.
The next step is to include dangerous goods information in the relevant documents.
The output is specific to the regulation of dangerous goods and the document type. For example, the order confirmation, the pick list, and the delivery note have specific outputs.
The classification of the packaged product generates descriptions of dangerous goods. In addition to regulation-specific details, packaging and quantity information are essential, for example, for output on delivery notes or IMDG dangerous goods declarations.
Documentation is a key deliverable when it comes to transporting dangerous goods. This documentation can be a delivery note, a bill of lading, or a dangerous goods declaration, depending, for example, on the mode of transport, the resulting regulations, and the business relationship between the shipper and freight forwarder.
Let's Summarize What You've Learned
Dangerous goods processes in SAP S/4HANA are fully integrated and automatically managed within the value chain, requiring minimal user action.
The dangerous goods specialist and product stewardship specialist coordinate compliance assessments and activate regulatory requirements for products.
Automatic system checks determine transport permissions and trigger actions if compliance or required assessments are missing.
Key documentation outputs, like delivery notes and declarations, are generated based on product classification and applicable regulations.