Enabling Batch Determination

• Material RM09 is batch-managed and classified.
• Several batches are created and classified for the material. In our example, the batches are classified with one characteristic: Date of Last Goods Receipt.

  For this purpose, a class of class type 023 (batch) has been created with the characteristic Date of Last Goods Receipt. This class is assigned to the material master record and the characteristic is assigned a value for the corresponding batch at each goods receipt. In our example, it is the following class (Y_S4C45_1): 

  
  Note

  You can view the value of the Date of Last Goods Receipt characteristic using the Manage Batches application.

• Stock is available for these batches in the issuing storage location. In our scenario, there are 4 available batches in the example plant (1010) and storage location (101A).
  Note

  You can use the Display Stock Overview application to see the stock for each batch.

In our example, the overall situation is as follows:

According to the FIFO principle, the batch number 3 should be taken first, then the batch number 4, then the batch number 2 and then the batch number 1.

Let's get this configured.

Batch determination is based on the condition technique. The following configuration objects are delivered preconfigured by SAP. Some of them do not need to be adjusted in most cases. However, you can check the objects in your configuration environment for each application (such as Sales and Distribution, Production, and Inventory Management) and enhance them if necessary:

• Condition Tables:

  The condition tables define the combination of fields that describe a particular business transaction for which batches are to be found, for example, the combination of plant/movement type in inventory management.

  To view the existing condition tables for Inventory Management, in your configuration environment, search for determine batches and select the configuration activity Create Condition Tables to Determine Batches for Inventory Management.

  For the Table Number field, choose the button for available entries. You see the list of available condition tables with their description.

  

  In our example, we want to activate and configure batch determination for movement type 201 in plant 1010 for our material RM09. Therefore, condition table 024 is suitable for us. There is no need to create a new one.

• Access Sequences:

  Access sequences describe the order in which the system reads the condition tables. It is best if the system starts by reading the more specific (Movement Type/Plant/Material) and then the general (Movement Type) condition tables.

  To view the existing access sequences for Inventory Management, in your configuration environment, search for access sequences and select the configuration activity Define Inventory Management Access Sequences.

  

  In the above screenshot, the access sequence ME01 is marked and Accesses is selected in the left part of the screen (1). A new detail screen appears (2). The access list means the following: First, when posting a goods movement, the system should search for a batch determination rule for the specific movement type/plant/material combination. If this combination is not maintained, the system searches for an existing entry for the plant/material combination, and so on.  

  In our example, since we want to maintain search rules specifically for the combination of movement type 201/plant1010/material RM09, the standard access sequence ME01 is appropriate. There is no need to configure a new one.  

• Strategy Types:

  A strategy type is a template. It contains default values such as class or sort sequence that are copied to the search strategies of the respective applications. Search strategies are always created with reference to a specific strategy type.

  We already have our own class (Y_S4C45_1 with characteristic Date of Last Goods Receipt (LOBM_LWEDT). Let's create a sort sequence first. A sort sequence defines for each characteristic of the class whether it should be considered in ascending or descending order.

  The following interactive demo shows you how to create a sort sequence.

  DemoStart Demo

  Since we have defined our own class (with the characteristic Date of Last Goods Receipt) and our own sort sequence, we also need to create our own strategy type.

  To maintain strategy types for Inventory Management, in your configuration environment, search for strategy types and select the configuration activity Define Inventory Management Strategy Types.

  The following interactive demo shows you how to create a strategy type that meets the needs we have in our example.

  DemoStart Demo

• Search Procedures:

  Search procedures are combinations of strategy types. A batch search procedure includes all strategy types that the system must consider for each concrete business transaction in the respective applications.

  In our example, since we have our own strategy type, we will also have our own search procedure. In our example, the procedure should be quite simple: one strategy type (one class and one sort order) is sufficient. In principle, however, it is possible to include multiple strategy types in a procedure if the batch search is to be more complex and run according to different criteria.   

  The following interactive demo shows you how to create a search procedure that meets the needs we have in our example.

  DemoStart Demo

• Check activation:

  The search procedure must then be assigned to specific application criteria. For example, in Inventory Management, you assign a search procedure to a movement type, which activates batch determination for that movement type. In Sales and Distribution, you assign a search procedure to a a combination of sales organization, distribution channel, Division and sales document type.

  In our example, we assign our search procedure Z00001 to movement type 201. To do this, search for the terms search procedure in your configuration environment and select the configuration activity Allocate IM Search Procedure/Activate Check.

  

• Search Strategies:

  Now we are almost done! The only thing left to do is to explicitly define for which business transactions (field combinations from the condition tables) the batch determination should be triggered according to the defined criteria ("Date of Last Goods Receipt"). In our case, this is the combination of material RM09, plant 1010, and movement type 201.

  To do this, open the Manage Search Strategies - Inventory Management app in your SAP S/4HANA Cloud system. 

  The following interactive demo shows you how to create a search strategy for the combination of material RM09, plant 1010, and movement type 201.

  DemoStart Demo

We test our configuration: In Plant 1010, we post a goods issue of 20 KG of material RM09 to a cost center from storage location 101A.

Remember the overall situation:

According to our configuration (FIFO principle), for a quantity of 20 KG, batch number 3 should be taken first (up to the available 15 KG) and then batch number 4.

Watch the following interactive demo to see the result.