Periodic Physical Inventory

1. Periodic Physical Inventory SAP Extended Warehouse Management (SAP EWM) Rapid-Deployment Solution V2

2. Periodic Physical Inventory Physical Activity System Activity Step 1 Create PI documents and WOs (EWM) A warehouse clerk checks the PI progress and creates PI documents (variant A) The system creates PI documents (variant B) The system creates WOs The warehouse clerk prints the WOs (paper only) The system assigns the WOs to a queue (RF only) Step 2 Count the bins or products (EWM) A counter logs on as a resource (RF only) The system proposes the next product or bin to be counted (RF only) The counter counts the bin or product A warehouse clerk (paper only) or the counter (RF only) enters the count results Step 3 – exceptional case Create recount documents and carry out the recounting (EWM) The system creates recount documents A warehouse clerk checks the recount document creation The counter carries out the recounting (repeating step 2) Step 4 Post the PI documents (EWM) The system posts the PI documents depending on tolerances The supervisor posts the remaining PI documents Step 5 Set completeness (EWM) The system sets completeness Step 6 Post the differences (EWM) The system posts the differences depending on tolerances The supervisor reviews and posts the remaining differences

3. You use this warehouse process of periodic physical inventory (PI) to control the stock of your warehouse and to meet legal requirements. Within this process you create PI documents for a selected number of storage bins or products on a regular basis to spread the workload for PI over the year. You execute the counting using a mobile device or paper. By posting the PI documents you adjust the book inventory in SAP Extended Warehouse Management (SAP EWM). By posting the differences to SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (SAP ERP) you balance the stock accounts. You can monitor the progress of your PI by using the warehouse management monitor. Purpose

4. You have integrated SAP ERP with SAP EWM. You have configured the warehouse structure and master data. You have configured your systems for this process. Prerequisites

5. Variant A: In SAP EWM, the warehouse clerk monitors the PI progress of all bins or products in the warehouse and calculates how many bins or products have to be counted in the given period. He then creates PI documents for the calculated number of bins or products. Variant B: With help of a background job the system creates PI documents automatically for a number of bins or products to be counted. In regular intervals (for example, monthly) the warehouse clerk monitors the PI progress and verifies the number of bins or products still to be counted to adjust the background job accordingly if necessary. The system automatically creates one or several warehouse orders (WOs) with a predefined maximum number of PI document items. Within a WO, the bins to be counted are sorted according to an optimized path in the warehouse. In case of an RF-based PI, the system sends the WOs to a PI-specific RF queue. In case of paper-based PI, the warehouse clerk prints the PI documents and lays them out in the office. Process Step Create PI documents and WOs (EWM)

6. In case of RF-based PI, a counter takes a mobile device and logs on as a resource that is assigned to the PI queue. The system guides the counter to the first bin. Standing in front of it, the counter verifies the bin, the HU (if there is one), and the product proposed by the system. Then he counts the product and enters the quantity. When the counter finishes the counting of this bin, the system guides him to the next bin. In case of paper-based PI, the counter goes to the office and picks up the printouts of the PI documents of the first WO. He goes to the first bin shown on the first printout. Standing in front of the bin, he counts the products and writes the count results on the printout. When he finished the counting of the bin, he goes to the next bin listed on the printout. After counting the last bin listed on the printout, he notes the count date and time and signs his name at the bottom of the printout. Then he continues with the next printout. At the end, he brings all printouts back to the office and picks up the printouts of the PI documents of the next WO. Process Step Count the bins or products (EWM) – Part 1

7. A warehouse clerk takes the printouts and enters the name of the counter, the count date, and the count results into the system. If the counter finds a product not proposed by the system (in case of a bin-specific PI process), he brings it physically (without creating any WOs) to the clarification zone. In the clarification zone, an inventory specialist records the product by an ad hoc PI document and moves it to an appropriate bin with help of an ad hoc WO. Recommendation: If you use paper for PI: Moving products from or to the bin during the counting may lead to unexpected results. Therefore we recommend forbidding movements during the PI process by selecting the Phys. Inventory Blocking Indicator checkbox when you create PI documents in step 1. Otherwise, it might happen that the system triggers a recount more often than expected. Process Step Count the bins or products (EWM) – Part 2

8. When you save the count results, the system calculates the differences on the basis of count results and the book inventory. Process Step Count the bins or products (EWM) – Part 3

9. If a difference exceeds the predefined, counter-dependent thresholds for recounting, the system automatically creates a recount document. A warehouse clerk monitors the creation of recount documents and asks a counter to recount the bins or products. Process Step Create recount documents and carry out the recounting (EWM)

10. When you save the count results, the system posts the PI documents automatically if the differences do not exceed the thresholds for posting assigned to the counter (using RF) or assigned to the warehouse clerk (using paper). The system adapts the book inventory in the bins and posts the differences to the Difference Analyzer. At the end of the count process the supervisor checks the remaining PI documents that are not posted yet due to exceeded thresholds, and posts them manually. Process Step Post the PI documents (EWM)

11. This step is necessary only in case of product-specific PI. With help of a background job, the system checks if a product is completely counted. If so, the system sets its status to complete. Recommendation: We recommend running this background job once a day. Process Step Set completeness (EWM)

12. To adjust the stock accounts and the Available-to-Promise (ATP) quantity in a timely manner, the system posts all differences up to a certain value to SAP ERP automatically with help of a background job. The value threshold is defined in the tolerance group assigned to the background user. The supervisor reviews the remaining, bigger differences in the Difference Analyzer. He blocks the differences for posting and defines follow-on actions, such as the analysis of the movements or even the creation of a new PI document for the product. After review and clarification he posts all differences to SAP ERP manually. Process Step Post the differences (EWM)

13. Process Monitoring – Part 1

14. More Information For more information, see SAP Library for SAP Extended Warehouse Management on the SAP Help Portal at http://help.sap.com.