Serial number management using Cloud Warehouse Management in S/4HANA Cloud

[varunvenkat]

For any business selling their products, one of the fundamental considerations while setting up their product master data in an ERP system such as S/4HANA Cloud is the topic of serial number management. For the various goods movements such as goods receipts, stock transfers and goods issues, a product can either be processed with or without specifying a serial number associated with that product.

In this blog post, I would like to lay out the different elements within the S/4HANA Cloud system that influence the usage and behaviour of serial number management. Furthermore, I will especially cover the scenario of serial number management when being processed with warehouse managed (in short ‘WM’) storage locations, as this brings about additional aspects that need to be considered in the process.

Let’s now look at the different elements that have a bearing on the topic of serial number management:
1) Serial Number Profile: Definition of the profiles in customizing (SSCUI 103636) and selection of one of these profiles in product master data

1. Equipment category: this field determines with which category an equipment master record will be created. For example, equipments of the category ‘X’ are equipments that are going to be leased or rented, but still in the supplying company’s ownership whereas the category ‘S’ is used for equipments that are sold to customers.
2. Stock check indicator: This indicator states whether the system should perform a stock check
   during serial number assignment. If a check should be performed, it also establishes with what type of notification (warning or error) the system reacts in the event of stock inconsistencies.
3. Warehouse serial number indicator: Indicates whether the usage of the serial number profile is supported for transactions with WM managed storage locations.

2) Serialization procedures: after clicking on any of the serial number profiles, you can go into the “Serialization procedures” of the respective profile. Here, there are three key fields:

1. Procedure: The serialization procedure describes the process event (for eg. in the sales order, delivery, during goods movements etc.) during which the serial number assignment and checks takes place
2. Serial number usage: Determines whether the entry of the serial number is not required, optional, mandatory, or will be automatically generated.
3. Equipment requirement: this field controls whether or not an equipment master data record will be created during the goods receipt of the product.

3) Serialization Level (product master data): this field controls whether or not the equipment master record created during the goods receipt of the product is synchronized with the serial number. If it is set to 1, the system ensures that the equipment ID generated is the same as the serial number for that product

1. 

Now that the theoretical concepts have been briefly covered, let’s look at how these settings have an impact on the process in the system. For the purposes of this blog post, I’ll be using the service order process using Cloud WM as an example, where spare part products with the serial number profile SNPC and serialization level 1 (equipment ID = serial number) are being used.

The settings of the serial number profile SNPC affect the way in which the serial numbers will be maintained in the various stages of the process. The key difference to note between the profiles SNPA and SNPC is the fact that SNPA calls for serial number maintenance on document level whereas SNPC ensures serialization on stock level. Furthermore, the serial number maintenance during goods movements(procedure MMSL) is optional for SNPA and mandatory for SNPC. Using the profile SNPC therefore ensures a higher level of data consistency, as the possibility that business users forget to enter the serial number during a goods movement is prevented by the system.

Let’s now look at the example service order process in the system to see how the characteristics of our serial number settings come into play. For a comprehensive guide of the service order process that is being considered, you can refer to my previous blog post on this topic.

Process Parameters:

• Spare part product ID A999915 maintained with the serial number profile SNPC and serialization level 1
• Goods receipt for 2 pieces of A999915 posted with the serial numbers A900 and A901. Therefore, the equipment IDs A900 and A901 have also been created simultaneously
• Issuing WM storage location: 010W
• Receiving IM storage location representing the service technician van stock: 010S

Process flow in the system:

• Creation of Service Order 8000000173 with 1 piece of A999915.
• Creation of Stock Transport Order (STO) 4500000468 to transfer the 1PC of A999915 from 010W to 010S.
  • The serial number entry is not yet possible, as the profile SNPC doesn’t contain the procedure for POSL (purchase orders). This can be added if required.
• Creation of Outbound Delivery from the STO and distribution to WMS
• Execution of Warehouse Tasks, Picking and Goods Issue: this is the first process step where the serial number for the product needs to be entered. This is done after creating the warehouse task by navigating into the warehouse task and clicking on the link “No. of Serial numbers entered”.
  • In the subsequent user popup, the correct serial number that has been picked must (due to the MMSL procedure being mandatory) be entered.
  • 
  • After confirming the warehouse task, the goods issue can be posted, whereupon the 1 piece of A999915 will be posted from 010W.
  • In the last step, post the goods receipt into the receiving storage location to 010S using the app “Post Goods Receipt for Purchasing Document”. Here, the same serial number specified in the previous step needs to be entered during the goods receipt into 010S
  • 
• Creation of Service Confirmation: this is the final step in the process, where the goods issue will be posted from the technician van stock 010S
  • Similar to the step before, the serial number entry is mandatory here to ensure that the serial number is entered during goods issue.
  • In the serial numbers tab, the serial number ‘A907’ which was transferred into the technician van stock can be entered.
  • If a serial number that is not available in the van stock storage location 010S is entered, the system recognizes this and informs the user with an appropriate error message:
  • 
  • Finally, after entering a valid serial number, the service confirmation can be completed, which then triggers the goods issue from 010S, with which the ownership of stock gets transferred to the customer.

Hopefully, this blog post provided a practical example of how serialized products can be used in the service order process while using a Cloud WM storage location. With using the serial number profile ‘SNPC’, the business can ensure that the serial number needs to be mandatorily entered during all goods movements, which reduces the risk of stock and serial number inconsistencies in the system.