Configuring Transportation Management

Transportation management in SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition offers 19 scope items in the SAP Process Navigator. The core transportation processes are included in the External Transportation Planning, Manual Transportation Planning, Transportation Execution, and Freight Settlement scope items.

These scope items support your company's transportation planning, execution, and monitoring in SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition. The sales-order-based, purchase-order-based or stock-transport-order-based transportation demand (freight unit) is built considering transportation constraints. It is then planned internally in a transportation cockpit or sent to a decentralized TM system for planning. In the latter case, the planning result (freight order) is received in SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition from the decentralized TM system. The charges for transporting the cargo are calculated based on rates maintained in a released freight agreement.

Delivery creation is triggered from the freight order, which is based on the consolidation information. Afterwards the freight order is executed and corresponding statuses are registered in the freight documents. Freight costs are broken down in the freight order. The aggregated freight costs of the order are distributed to the delivery item level based on its gross weight. Upon check-out (in outbound processes) or check-in (in inbound processes), freight orders can be confirmed for accrual posting.

After the confirmation of a freight order for posting, the system automatically posts the freight costs to Financial Accounting for accruals. During the posting process, freight orders can be monitored for any errors during the posting process to resolve them. The invoice received from the carrier is finally verified against the costs calculated in the freight order.

The SAP Process Navigatorcontains the following solution processes for transportation management in SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition:

• Order-based transportation consolidation - outbound (3EP)
• Order-based transportation consolidation - outbound (5VV)
• Stock transport order-based transportation consolidation (5XC)
• Manual transportation planning – outbound (4MO)
• Manual transportation planning – inbound (5OS)
• Manual transportation planning – stock transport order (5XD)
• Manual transportation planning for ocean freight – outbound (64A)
• Manual transportation planning for ocean freight – inbound (64B)
• Manual transportation planning for ocean freight – STO (64C)
• Manual transportation planning for air freight – outbound (6B2)
• Manual transportation planning for air freight – inbound (6B3)
• Manual transportation planning for air freight – STO (6B4)
• Intercompany transportation - outbound (6BG)
• Intercompany transportation - stock transport order (6BH)
• External transportation planning (6W1)
• Manual transportation planning (6W2)
• Transportation execution (6W3)
• Freight settlement (6W4)
• Determination of geocoordinates, distances and durations (‏46P‏)

Furthermore, it offers the following master data scripts:

• Create freight agreement (3TL)
• Create carrier master (4DE)

Process flow diagrams and test scripts for these best practices can be reviewed and downloaded from the SAP Process Navigator.

Determination of Geocoordinates, Distances and Durations (46P) is a supporting scope item. This scope item allows you to determine geocoordinates for locations, as well as distances and durations for pairs of locations within Transportation Management. This scope item delivers the necessary settings and information to activate the integration between SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition and SAP HANA spatial services running on the SAP Business Technology Platform. For more information, see SAP note 3058573 - Integration Note: SAP HANA Spatial Services / SAP Transportation Management.

A master data script Create Carrier Master (4DE) supports you in the creation of business partners with role Carrier in order to enable you to subcontract freight orders to carriers.

Furthermore, a master data script Create Freight Agreements (3TL) supports you in the creation of freight agreements in order to automatically calculate transportation charges and support freight settlement with contracted carriers.

Process diagrams and test scripts for all scope items, as well as master data scripts, can be downloaded from the SAP Process Navigator.

To configure the solution, Configuration Activities are offered. They are categorized into the following areas:

• Transportation master data
• Transportation order management
• Transportation charge management
• Transportation cost settlement

In the area of transportation master data, there are nine configuration activities available, which are optional. The configuration activities in this area relate to the following elements:

• Definition of equipment groups and equipment types
• Definition of material freight groups
• Definition of standard alpha codes
• Definition of airport codes and UN/LOCODE
• Definition and activation of numbering schemes and content for commodity codes

In the area of transportation order management, there are eleven potential configuration activities:

• Define transportation-relevance of sales documents

  This is probably the most important configuration step. In this configuration step, you can specify whether sales documents are relevant for transportation by assigning a control key. Criteria for the assignment of the control key are as follows:

  • Sales organization
  • Distribution channel
  • Division
  • Sales document type
  • Shipping condition

  The control key determines whether freight units are created for sales documents and the corresponding outbound deliveries. When you create a sales document that is transportation-relevant, the system assigns the control key to the sales document and to all relevant documents in the document flow, for example, the outbound delivery. This is a fixed parameter that can not be changed subsequently in the sales document.

  In addition to the control key, a logistics integration profile is determined for the sales document.

  Follow the demonstration on how to access this configuration step and define transportation relevance for sales documents. Note, that the shipping conditions are used to differentiate, whether a sales order will be relevant for external transportation planning (shipping condition 05) or internal transportation planning (shipping condition 07).

  Note

  Shipping condition 05 is the shipping condition that is delivered as standard best practice customizing for use of transportation management. It is used for internal transportation planning as well as external transportation planning depending on which scope items you have activated in your tenant. In your project you have to define how you want to use a specific shipping condition as part of this configuration to define transportation relevance of sales documents.

  Watch the simulation Configure your Solution to learn more about the system-related activities.

  ExerciseStart Exercise

  
• Define Transportation-Relevance of Purchasing Documents and Delivery Documents

  Similar to the previous configuration step, you can specify in these configuration activities whether purchasing documents and delivery documents are relevant for transportation by assigning a control key.

  In addition to the control key, a logistics integration profile is determined for the purchasing and delivery document.

• Define Logistics Integration Profile

  For each logistics integration profile, you can define whether you want to plan based on requested or confirmed quantities, and how freight unit building should be done. How freight units are created is controlled by freight unit building rules, which you define in the Manage Freight Unit Building Rules app. The relevant freight unit building rule to be used is either defined here in the logistics integration profile directly, or retrieved via a condition that is assigned to the logistics integration profile.

• Maintain Text Schema, Assign SD/MM Text Types to TM Text Types for SO/PO, and Assign Logictics Execution Text Types to TM Text Types for Deliveries
• Define Number Range Intervals for Freight Order Management
• Define Business Transaction Document Type Codes and Item Type Codes
• Define Blocks Based on Delivery Blocks

In the area of transportation charge management, there are five configuration activities. These allow you to define charge types, charges profiles, calculation profiles, dimensional weight profiles and location calendars.

In the area of transportation cost settlement there are two configuration activities. These allow you to assign the default plant for company codes and assign MM integration settings for charge types.

You can enhance the solution with custom fields and custom logic using a no-code/low-code approach. Enhancing business documents with own fields does not require programming. You can enhance freight units, freight orders, and freight bookings on header, item and stage level. Business Add-Ins (BAdIs) are used with low code to add custom logic. The custom logic allows you to perform custom checks, set field properties, set or change values on custom fields. Furthermore, APIs are available to access data from outside the system. You can use APIs to get access to document information, to interact with the system and to subscribe to business events. For freight orders and freight bookings APIs are available for creation, reading, updating and deletion. For freight units there are APIs to read and update. You can subscribe to business events for freight orders, freight bookings, and freight units.