The main business objects in SAP Returnable Packaging Management are returnable packaging accounts and posting documents.
The returnable packaging account is the central master data object in SAP Returnable Packaging Management. Its primary purpose is to establish relationships between returnable packaging material and various exchange partners and exchange locations involved in the circulation of packaging materials.
The posting document is the main business object in SAP Returnable Packaging Management used to capture all transactions related to returnable packaging materials. For each goods movement associated with packaging material, a posting document is created in SAP Returnable Packaging Management. The posting document will be posted to the associated returnable packaging account.
To enable the creation of returnable packaging accounts and posting documents in SAP Returnable Packaging Management, number ranges for the following sub-objects must be created:
- Manual Posting Documents: To support the creation of manual posting documents directly in SAP Returnable Packaging Management, for example, to correct account balances or to capture goods movement of returnable packaging materials between two partners.
- Automatic Posting Documents: To support receipt and processing of goods movements initiated in SAP ERP, for example, goods receipt of empty packaging from customers.
- Returnable Packaging Accounts: To support the creation of returnable packaging accounts in SAP Returnable Packaging Management.
When an application sub-object is created, a sequential number is automatically assigned from the relevant active number range. Only one active number range can be defined for each application sub-object.
A number range can have one of the following statuses:
- New: This status indicates that a number range is newly created.
- Active: This status indicates that a number range is active for one or more sub-objects in an application.
- Inactive: This status indicates that a number range is inactive and cannot be used for generating sequential numbers.
- Consumed: This status indicates that a number range has already reached its upper limit and can no longer be activated and used.
Activities and Key Features
| Activities | Key features |
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Create a number range for:
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Manage Account Posting Types
Every logistical transaction for returnable packaging material, whether it is related to the movement of packaging materials between partners within the supply chain or the adjustment of inventory, will be represented in SAP Returnable Packaging Management through a posting document. This document serves to record the transaction and is subsequently posted to the associated returnable packaging account.
To determine the effect of the posting document on the account balance, account posting types will be maintained in the system. Using account posting types, the following attributes can be defined:
- Transaction Type: It is essential to determine whether the posting document leads to an increase or decrease in the account balance. For example, when sending empty packaging material to a supplier we need to debit the corresponding account balance.
- Account Posting Indicator: Determining whether the logistical operation can be manually performed within SAP Returnable Packaging Management, or if it necessitates exclusive initiation from the backend, is crucial to ensuring the maintenance of stock consistency and integrity across the systems.
- Reverse Account Posting Type: To enable automatic reversal of posting documents using the Manage Posting Document app, it is mandatory to maintain in the system which attributes must be used for the reversal.
When creating a manual posting document, the account posting type must be entered manually.
When processing an automatic posting document, the system will automatically determine the account posting type. Therefore, each account posting type must be assigned to the movement types used in the backend system in the Assign Account Posting Types to Movement Types configuration app.
Maintain account posting types to control the processing of posting documents in the system as follows:
- Define whether posting increases or decreases the account balance.
- Define which process can trigger the posting: manual, automatic, or both.
- Define additional attributes, such as reverse account posting type, location partner role, and so on.
Assign Account Posting Types to Movement Types
To fully leverage the diverse functionalities of the SAP Returnable Packaging Management solution, it is necessary to have packaging materials defined as stock managed materials in SAP ERP. The movement of packaging between different locations within the supply chain will be triggered in SAP ERP and recorded using material documents. Each material document has a movement type defining the nature of logistics transaction, such as goods receipt, goods issue, and stock transfer.
Material documents originating from SAP ERP and relevant for SAP Returnable Packaging Management, with respect to the integration scenario, will be retrieved and posted into SAP Returnable Packaging Management as automatic posting documents.
It is important to highlight that only material documents that change the stock balance of the returnable account are relevant for SAP Returnable Packaging Management, such as goods receipt and goods issue.
Material documents in SAP ERP which have no impact on the stock balance for the returnable account, such as posting change and stock transfer within the plant, must be excluded in the integration scenario.
While processing the posting document, the system evaluates the material document's movement type to determine the appropriate account posting type for the automatic creation of the posting document in SAP Returnable Packaging Management. For this purpose, each relevant movement type from SAP ERP must be assigned to an account posting type in SAP Returnable Packaging Management. Each assignment defines an association between an account posting type and a combination of goods movement type, movement indicator, and receipt indicator.
It is possible to associate various movement types to the same account posting type in SAP Returnable Packaging Management, grouping goods movements that share a similar impact within SAP Returnable Packaging Management. For instance, actions like goods issue to customer (601), goods issue to customer consignment stock (633), and goods issue to customer returnable packaging (621) can be consolidated under a common account stock type in SAP Returnable Packaging Management. This consolidation is logical, as all three movements contribute to increasing the returnable packaging stock at the customer's end.
Activities and Key Features
| Activities | Key features |
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| Define which MM-IM movement types will be supported in SAP Returnable Packaging Management and assign movement types to posting type(s). |
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