Performing Stock Transfers Between Plants

In the case of a plant-to-plant stock transfer, the plants between which material is transferred can belong either to the same company code or to different ones.

In contrast to a storage location-to-storage location stock transfer, a plant-to-plant transfer affects Financial Accounting (FI) and material requirements planning (MRP) in the following ways:

• FI (only if the two plants are assigned to different valuation areas): A cross-plant stock transfer leads to a value update in the stock accounts. An accounting document is generated in parallel to the material document for the stock transfer. The stock transfer is valuated at the valuation price of the material in the issuing plant. In the case of a cross-company-code stock transfer, two accounting documents are created at the time of posting - one for each company code. The offsetting entry to the stock posting is then made to a company-code clearing account.
• A change in the plant stock is taken into account by MRP.

Several procedures are available for the physical transfer of materials from one plant to another:

• One-step procedure
• Two-step procedure
• Stock transport order without delivery (only possible with the two-step procedure).
• Stock transport order with delivery via shipping (possible with the one-step or two-step procedure, and also with the billing document).

This type of stock transfer involves not only inventory management but also purchasing at the receiving plant. The process can be divided into the following steps:

1. In the receiving plant, the stock transport order is entered in the purchasing department.
2. A GI referencing this stock transport order is entered in the issuing plant. After this goods issue, the quantity booked out is managed in the stock in transit of the receiving plant.
3. The GR is posted against the stock transport order at the receiving plant.

A stock transfer using a stock transport order has the following advantages, compared to a stock transfer without a stock transport order:

• The stock transport order is integrated within MRP. You can convert purchase requisitions generated by MRP into stock transport orders.
• The MRP controller can plan the receipt at the receiving plant.
• You can enter delivery costs and a forwarder in the stock transport order.
• You can enter an account assignment in a stock transport order item. Therefore, you can post the GR directly to consumption.
• In the case of a GR into the warehouse, you can also post the material to stock in quality inspection or to blocked stock.
• You can monitor the entire process (GI and GR) via the PO history.

• Cross-plant stock transfers can occur between plants in the same or different company codes and affect accounting and planning.
• Financial Accounting impact depends on the valuation area; cross-plant transfers usually generate accounting documents at the plant level.
• Multiple procedures exist for transferring materials, including one-step, two-step, and stock transport orders.
• Stock transport orders integrate with purchasing, materials planning, and process monitoring, offering added control and flexibility over transfers.