Packing During Goods Receipt

Handling Units:

A handling unit (HU) is a physical unit consisting of packaging products (load carriers/packing products like boxes) and the goods contained on or in them. A handling unit is always a combination of products and packaging products. All the information contained in the product items (for example, batch information) is retained in the handling units and is always available.

Handling units can be nested (for example a box within a box), and you can create a new handling unit from several other handling units.

A HU has a unique identification number that can be scanned and that you can construct according to industry standards such as GS1–128 to create a Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC).

Handling units play a very important role in warehouse management, as they can help to simplify movements. Certain processes in SAP EWM require the use of handling units (HUs). Some specific putaway/removal strategies also need them.

Packing Process

When products are received in the warehouse they are probably packed or they will be packed before or during the putaway process.

Packing information can be received from the supplier together with the shipping notification. This packaging information can create a handling unit (HU) in the LE inbound delivery. The HU information is copied into the SAP EWM inbound delivery and can be used directly in SAP EWM.

If no packing information is received, the actual packing information can be entered manually during the physical goods receipt process. You can also use a master record in SAP S/4HANA called Packaging Specifications to inform the user how the products should be packed.

With packaging specifications, it is also possible to trigger an automatic packing process in the background. Automatic packing means that the system creates HUs in SAP EWM. This of course does not trigger the physical packing itself. Automatic packing is helpful if you have agreed with a supplier about standard packing of a material, but no specific information is sent from supplier to you with every delivery.

With packaging specifications you can define packaging for different processes in the warehouse, including the following:

• Palletization

• Packing in the work center

• Packing during warehouse task confirmation (pick HU)

A packaging specification can be simple and contain only one step, but it can also contain several levels or packing steps.

Packaging specifications are determined using the condition technique. Using this technique, it is possible that for different packaging steps different packaging specifications are found. This is not required however: you can use the same specifications for all steps.