Srivathsan Narayanan

Optimizing Reverse Logistics with SAP ERP

®

Bonn � Boston

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 Contents

Preface  ....................................................................................................... 11
Introduction  ............................................................................................... 15

1 Reverse Logistics  ....................................................................... 17

1.1 Definition of Reverse Logistics  ..................................................... 17

1.2 Business Processes in Reverse Logistics and SAP  .......................... 18
1.2.1 Engineering/Design   ........................................................ 19
1.2.2 Order Management  . ....................................................... 23
1.2.3 Planning  . ........................................................................ 31
1.2.4 Procurement/Purchasing  ................................................. 34
1.2.5 Warehousing  . ................................................................. 37
1.2.6 Shipping and Transportation  . .......................................... 40
1.2.7 Quality  . .......................................................................... 42
1.2.8 Finance  ........................................................................... 43
1.2.9 Foreign Trade  .................................................................. 45
1.2.10 Service Management  . ..................................................... 46
1.3 Summary  ..................................................................................... 49

2 Returns   ..................................................................................... 51

2.1 Internal Returns  ........................................................................... 51

2.1.1 Service Notification and Service Orders   .......................... 52
2.2 External Returns  .......................................................................... 64
2.2.1 Define Order Reasons  ..................................................... 67
2.2.2 Item Category  ................................................................. 69
2.2.3 Movement Type  .............................................................. 75
2.2.4 Incompletion Procedure  .................................................. 77
2.2.5 Movement Type Definition   . ........................................... 79
2.3 Returns Receipt and Processing  ................................................... 93
2.3.1 Receipt  ........................................................................... 93
2.3.2 Returns Receiving   .......................................................... 105
2.3.3 Warehouse Processing   . .................................................. 106

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2.3.4 Parts Segregation and Identification   ................................. 108

2.3.5 Quality Management   . ...................................................... 109
2.4 Summary  ..................................................................................... 112

3 Refurbishment  ........................................................................... 113

3.1 Internal Repair  . ........................................................................... 113

3.1.1 Cleaning a Product  ............................................................ 116
3.1.2 Disassembly   ..................................................................... 121
3.1.3 Repair   .............................................................................. 123
3.2 External Repair  ............................................................................ 124
3.2.1 Products Returned from Service Engineers  . ....................... 127
3.3 Organization Impact on Refurbishment Processes  ........................ 132
3.3.1 Order Administration  ........................................................ 133
3.3.2 Planning  ............................................................................ 134
3.3.3 Procurement in Internal and External Repair  . .................... 139
3.4 Summary  ..................................................................................... 147

4 Customer Paid Repair  ................................................................ 149

4.1 Customer Paid Repair  .................................................................. 149

4.1.1 Business Process of Customer Paid Repair  . ........................ 149
4.2 SAP Processes for Customer Paid Repair  ...................................... 153
4.2.1 Repair Procedure and Repair Actions  . ............................... 168
4.3 Repair Cost  .................................................................................. 172
4.4 Enhancements in the Customer Paid Repair Process  ..................... 176
4.5 Summary  ..................................................................................... 176

5 Warranty Claim Processing  ....................................................... 177

5.1 What A Warranty Claim Is  ........................................................... 177

5.2 Warranty Claim Document in SAP  . .............................................. 179
5.2.1 Integration for Master Data  ............................................... 179
5.2.2 Warranty Objects  .............................................................. 182
5.2.3 Warranty Recovery  ............................................................ 189
5.3 Control Data Definition in Customizing  . ...................................... 201
5.3.1 Actions  . ............................................................................ 201

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5.4 Validation/Substitution Rules (VSRs)  ............................................ 207

5.5 Summary  ..................................................................................... 210

6 Serial Number Management in Reverse Logistics  .................... 213

6.1 Serial Numbers  ............................................................................ 214

6.1.1 Serial Number Profile   ....................................................... 216
6.2 Equipment Master  ....................................................................... 227
6.3 Warranty Recovery Using the Serial Number/
Equipment Master  ....................................................................... 229
6.4 Serial Numbers and Inventory Data  . ............................................ 235
6.5 Serial Number Linking in Warehouse Management  ...................... 236
6.6 Serializing and Unserializing Processes in SAP ERP  ....................... 238
6.7 History in the Serial Number Record  ............................................ 243
6.8 Special Serial Number Functions  .................................................. 245
6.9 Batch Management  ..................................................................... 247
6.9.1 Specifying the Batch Level and Activating Batch Status
Management  . ................................................................... 248
6.9.2 Creating New Batches  ....................................................... 249
6.9.3 Performing Batch Valuation  ............................................... 250
6.9.4 Batch Determination and Batch Check  . ............................. 255
6.10 Summary  ..................................................................................... 263

7 Finance in Reverse Logistics  ...................................................... 265

7.1 Credit and Debit Memos  ............................................................. 265

7.1.1 Sales Process – Credit and Debit  ........................................ 267
7.1.2 Invoice Correction  ............................................................. 269
7.1.3 Inventory Movement  . ....................................................... 270
7.1.4 Inventory Posting and Accounting  ..................................... 276
7.1.5 Returns: Pricing  ................................................................. 280
7.2 Summary  ..................................................................................... 284
7.3 Contributor  . ................................................................................ 284

8 Conclusion  ................................................................................. 285

8.1 What You’ve Learned  .................................................................. 285

8.1.1 Cycle Time  ........................................................................ 286

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8.1.2
Cost of Performing Reverse Logistics  . ................................ 287
8.1.3
Elimination of Waste and Automation  ............................... 288
8.1.4
User Experience  . ............................................................... 288
8.1.5
Identification and Segregation of Material for
Reverse Logistics  ............................................................... 289
8.1.6 Accounting in Reverse Logistics  ......................................... 290
8.2 Organizational Impact on Reverse Logistics  . ................................ 291
8.2.1 Order Management   .......................................................... 291
8.2.2 Planning   ........................................................................... 292
8.2.3 Logistics   ........................................................................... 292
8.3 Additional Resources  ................................................................... 294
8.4 Reverse Logistics with SAP in the Future  . .................................... 294

The Author  ................................................................................................. 297

Index  .......................................................................................................... 299

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 Refurbishment is the process of receiving a failed or broken part returned
by the customer, repairing it, and selling it back at full or discounted price.
In this chapter, we’ll discuss the different possibilities that enable rework
or refurbishment, along with the SAP ERP functions and options to enable
refurbishment.

3 Refurbishment

Refurbishment is the process where returned products are repaired and sold to
customers. Typically, if the part is under warranty, the parts are returned by the
customer, and the company accepts the failed part back into the network to either
scrap or repair. The repaired part is generally sold at a less expensive price or
the original price with additional warranty. There are a variety of types of refur-
bishment, including internal repair for refurbishment and external repair for
refurbishment.

3.1 Internal Repair

For internal repair, the customer returns a part to the company, and the company
repairs the product internally. The company procures the necessary components
and supplies for the repair, performs the repair, and returns the product to the
inventory as a refurbished product. The refurbished product is identified as such
so that it can be sold at a different price or with an extended warranty. Figure 3.1
shows the simplified business process of receiving a failed part from the customer
or engineer, repairing it, and adding it into the inventory. In some cases, the cus-
tomer pays for the repair process if the product is owned by the customer, which
is referred to as a paid repair or customer paid repair. We’ll discuss this process
further in Chapter 4, Customer Paid Repair Process in SAP ERP.

As you can see in Figure 3.1, different organizations in the company are involved
in getting the returned product repaired and sold back to customers. Let’s take a
look at each of the roles played by these organizations in more detail.

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Product returned from

customer/engineer

Components and supplies for Product received

repair procured from vendor at repair plant

Repair performed on Refurbished

the returned part product returned
to inventory

Figure 3.1  Internal Repair for Refurbishment Business Process

Example of Internal Repair

A toy manufacturing company makes toy wagons for sale in retail stores. On certain
occasions due to bad handling of the product during transportation from the ware-
house to the retail stores, the wheels of the wagon are broken and customers return the
wagon to the store, which in turn returns it to the central returns processing center of
the company. The company then inspects the wagon and determines that the wheels
need to be replaced. Because the wheels for the wagon are produced in house, the
repair center obtains a replacement wheel from the manufacturing warehouse of the
company and packs the new wheels in the toy box with the wagon and sells the product
as a refurbished toy wagon. The wagon is sold as refurbished because the product was
already sold to the customer and was returned. So the company sells the product as a
refurbished product at 50% of the original price but with the same warranty terms used
at the sale of the original product.

The internal repair for refurbishment is accomplished in SAP ERP using various
system processes and tools. The warranty check is done using a warranty claim
document in SAP ERP. When checking for a warranty claim, the system uses the
functions available in the warranty claim process in combination with the valida-
tion/substitution rules (VSR) checks to ensure that the product is under warranty
and is acceptable for return based on the material condition. You can build custom
requirements for checking the return in the VSR action checks, so that the product
is allowed to be returned to the network for internal repair. After the warranty
claim has been created and the product is accepted for return, a return order is cre-

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 Internal Repair 3.1

ated in SAP ERP using Transaction VA01 with reference to the forward order. The
details of the return order are discussed in detail in Chapter 2, Returns. After the
creation of the return order, the return is processed into the network by creating
a return delivery and receiving the product into the warehouse against the return
delivery. The returns delivery processing contains a step to post the goods receipt
in SAP ERP against a return delivery using Transaction VL02N (Logistics • Logis-
tics Execution • Outbound Process • Goods Issue for Outbound Delivery •
Outbound Delivery • Change • Single Document).

After the product is received, quality inspection on the product is completed using
a combination of quality notifications and inspection lots in SAP ERP. The result of
the inspection determines the product to be repairable. Sometimes, at this point, if
the product is deemed nonrepairable, the product is scrapped locally in the repair
plant or sent to the scrap plant. The receiving warehouse isn’t always the repair
facility, so if the product is repairable, it’s sent to the repair facility by using a stock
transport order (STO) if the repair plant is in the same company code as the receiv-
ing warehouse. If the repairing plant is in a different company code, then the prod-
uct is transferred using an intercompany transport order (ICTO). Figure 3.2 shows
the process of accepting a return and returning the product into the network and
into the repair facility in SAP ERP.

Warranty claim created

to check entitlement Product transferred to
repair facility using STO
or ICTO for repair

Return order created

Inspection pass
Return delivery created

Product transferred to
Product received
scrap facility using STO
in the network
or ICTO for scrap

Quality inspection performed Inspection fail

using quality notification
and inspection lot

Figure 3.2  SAP ERP Process to Receive the Returned Product and
Transfer It to the Repair Location

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 3 Refurbishment

After the product is received in the repair location, the repair location uses a SAP
ERP production order to repair the product by disassembling it to remove the bro-
ken component and replacing the product with new components. When the repair
is just cleaning the product, a production order can be used to capture the materials
and labor used to clean the product.

The repair process can be broken down into subprocesses, such as cleaning, disas-
sembly, and repair as shown in Figure 3.3.

Product returned from

customer/engineer

Disassembly Cleaning Repairing components

Components Cleaned product Repaired product

Figure 3.3  Subprocesses of the Repair Process

3.1.1 Cleaning a Product

Certain repairs actually involve cleaning the product. For example, a customer
returns the dirty product that has been used and can’t be used further without
cleaning. The company provides a replacement product that is already cleaned,
and the customer pays for the service and not for the product itself. This process is
handled in SAP ERP by creating contracts for providing clean products in exchange
for dirty products for a fixed price to the customer.

Example of Cleaning
In the semiconductor industry, kits are cleaned after continuous use to remove residues
and chemical deposits before they can be reused again. The cleaning consists of sand-
blasting or some other form of cleaning to remove the residue and deposits. This clean-
ing is considered a form of repair and can be performed in SAP ERP using a production
order to indicate consumption of consumables, labor, and machine time if the company
completes the cleaning process in house.

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 InternalRepair 3.1

In SAP ERP, you can create a production order using Transaction CO01 (Logistics •
Production • Shop Floor Control • Order • Create • With Material). Figure
3.4 shows a production order created for cleaning a wafer in the semiconduc-
tor industry. This production order is displayed using SAP ERP Transaction C003
(Logistics • Production • Shop Floor Control • Order • Display). The figure
displays the different repair operations, such as Film Stripping, Visual Inspection,
Polishing, Pre-Cleaning, and Final Clean.

Figure 3.4 Production Order Operations in SAP ERP Used for Cleaning a Wafer

The types of operations performed are defined in the control key displayed in
the operations of the production order. For example, in the production order dis-
played in Figure 3.4, the first operation is Incoming Inspection & Sorting. To dis-
play the details of this operation, you can use the pull-down menu of the control
key, and select the control key QM04 as shown in Figure 3.5.

The control key also indicates if the operation is costing relevant, if inspection char-
acteristics are to be maintained for the operation, and if the operation is a rework.
The control keys are configured in the IMG in SAP ERP that is accessed using Trans-
action SPRO. In the IMG, you can go to Production • Shop Floor Control • Mas-
ter Data • Routing Data • Define Control Key to configure control keys.

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 3 Refurbishment

Figure 3.5 Details of the Control Key of the Incoming Inspection

Operation of a Production Order

Here you can define the characteristics of the control key shown in Figure 3.5.
In addition to the control key, the work center where the operation is performed
is also specified in the operations of a production order. The work center is the
organization unit where the operations are performed. Work centers also have a
limited capacity that is defined during their creation. A work center can refer to
machines or people. In Figure 3.4, shown earlier, the work center for operation
0010 is 1710, which is defined for goods receipt inspection for plant 1000 where
the operation 0010 will be performed.

To perform every operation, some components or materials are used. The compo-
nents used for the production order displayed in Figure 3.4 can be displayed by
choosing the Goto • Overviews • Components option in the menu of the produc-
tion order.

Figure 3.6 shows the components of the production order used in the example
shown earlier in Figure 3.4. Component 0010-RW0014 is used in operation 0010
to perform an incoming inspection.

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 InternalRepair 3.1

Figure 3.6 Components of a Production Order

The production order captures the cost of cleaning based on the costing informa-
tion provided in the control data of the production order. The control data can be
accessed from the production order display by choosing the Control Data tab in
the production order header. The control data of the production order displayed
in Figure 3.4 is shown in Figure 3.7.

Figure 3.7 Control Data Containing Costing Information for Production Orders

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 3 Refurbishment

Costing information includes the costing variant for planned costs and the costing
variant for actual costs as shown in Figure 3.7. To display the costs itemized for the
production order, you can choose Goto • Costs • Itemization from the produc-
tion order display menu. The itemized costs of the production order displayed in
Figure 3.4 are shown in Figure 3.8.

Figure 3.8 Itemized Costs for a Production Order

The costs for different cost elements are allocated based on the consumption
of materials and use of the resources in the production order as displayed in Fig-
ure 3.8.

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 Internal Repair 3.1

3.1.2 Disassembly
Disassembly is another process where a component in a kit can be removed and
sold again even though the kit itself has to be scrapped. The disassembly process
can be done in SAP ERP using a production order. In the production order, the
kit is entered as a component, and the kit’s components that can be removed and
sold are classified as by-products or co-products. When the production order is
confirmed, the components that were classified as co-products and by-products
are received into inventory against the production order.

If you don’t want to use a production order, you can create a custom movement
type to consume the kit against a general ledger account or a cost center and a
reversal custom movement type that references the same general ledger account
or costs center that you can to receive the components. This will ensure that
the kit value is consumed, and the component value is deducted from the same
general ledger account or cost center, resulting in the difference of the kit value
and the component value being left out in the general ledger account or the cost
center.

The advantage of using a production order for disassembly is that the production
order can automatically determine components that can be disassembled based on
a BOM (bill of material), whereas the custom movement type solution requires the
user to enter the component manually in the SAP ERP system.

Co-products and by-products can be specified in the BOM of the kit. For co-prod-
ucts, the material master needs to be set up to indicate that the material can be
produced as a co-product. Co-products provide additional flexibility because the
actual costs of the co-products can be displayed at the co-product level, which isn’t
possible with by-products. In SAP ERP, co-products are indicated by the co-product
indicator in the production order line item. By-products are indicated by the nega-
tive quantity of the component in the production order without the co-product
indicator. Figure 3.9 shows a list of by-products in a production order.

As described earlier, by-products are items that are present in the components of
the production order with negative quantity without the co-product indicator. Fig-
ure 3.10 shows a production order with components that include co-products.

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 3 Refurbishment

Figure 3.9 By-Products Listed in a Production Order

Figure 3.10 Co-Products in a Production Order

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 InternalRepair 3.1

To consume the kit against the custom movement type, you use the SAP ERP Trans-
action MIGO, choose the Goods Issue – Other option, enter the custom movement
type (XXX in Figure 3.11) in the GI for Cost Center field, and enter either the G/L
Account or Cost Center information in the Account Assignment tab of the line item
as shown in Figure 3.11. Transaction MIGO can be accessed by going to Logistics •
Materials Management • Inventory Management • Goods Movement • Goods
Movement (MIGO).

Figure 3.11 Goods Issue to Using a Custom Movement Type for Disassembly

After the kit or the parent material is consumed then using the reversal movement
type or another custom movement type, the components can be received back into
inventory. To create the receipt, you can use the same Transaction MIGO, choose
the Goods Receipt – Other option, and then use the custom movement type and
the general ledger account to complete the transaction.

3.1.3 Repair
In certain assemblies that are returned, only one component of the assembly is defec-
tive, and the rest of the assembly is good. In this case, the assembly is disassembled,
and the defective component is removed and replaced. This whole process is done

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 3 Refurbishment

in SAP ERP using a production order to disassemble and then another production
order to assemble the product with good components. The defective component is
then scrapped using Transaction MIGO with the Goods Issue – Other option and
movement type 551. The scrap movement can also be allocated to a general ledger
account or a cost center using the Account Assignment tab in Transaction MIGO.

Now that you have a solid understanding of internal repair, let’s move on to dis-
cuss external repair.

3.2 External Repair

For external repair, the returned product is received into the network, an exter-
nal vendor is contacted, and a quote is obtained for performing the repair. If the
quote is accepted, then the product is sent to the vendor who performs the repair
and returns the product to the company. The company then sells the product as a
refurbished product.

Example of External Repair

A computer manufacturing company receives a laptop that has failed from a customer.
Upon return and inspection, the problem is identified to be the motherboard. The man-
ufacturer then contacts a vendor who is qualified to repair motherboards to obtain a
quote. Upon approval, the product is sent for repair, and afterwards, the product is
returned to the company. The company then advertises the product as a refurbished lap-
top with a selling price that is 50% off the original price with the original manufacturer’s
warranty of 1 year from the sale.

The difference between internal and external repair is that for internal repair, the
activities for repairing the product happen within the company, so the financial
impact is within the company. For external repairs, where a vendor invoices for
the service, the cost needs to be considered for external repair reporting. Some-
times, there are opportunities to repair products inside the company, and the prod-
uct is still repaired by the vendor because of the lower cost of repairing externally.
In addition, for OEM products, the vendor has equipment qualified to do certain
kinds of repair that the company can’t perform in house. Also, most companies
today prefer to have a contract with a third-party logistics (3PL) provider that
handles the repairs for the company. The 3PL in turn either repairs the product or
subcontracts the repair to another vendor. The 3PL bills the company on a periodic
basis for the repairs instead of billing for every repair activity. Figure 3.12 provides
the overview of the external repair business process.

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 External Repair 3.2

Part returned from

customer/engineer

Part received into

the warehouse

Part inspection
complete

Request for
quote from vendor
Part shipped for Repaired part received
repair to vendor back into the network
Quote received
from vendor
Figure 3.12  External Repair Business Process Overview

In SAP ERP, the external repair process is accomplished using the following tools
and process flows. The starting point for both external and internal repairs is the
same. The order entry team obtains the information from the customer or the
engineer and creates a return sales order. But after the product has been returned
to the warehouse and the inspection is complete, if the product is deemed repair-
able, the procurement team identifies a vendor that can repair the material and
contacts the vendor to get a quote. The request is done in the SAP system by using
the request for quote (RFQ) transaction. An RFQ can be created in SAP ERP using
Transaction ME41. This transaction can also be accessed by going to Logistics •
Materials Management • Purchasing • RFQ/Quotation • Request for Quota-
tion • Create.

After the quote is obtained and accepted by the company, then a subcontracting
purchase order or an expense purchase order is created to send the part for service.
The difference between a subcontracting purchase order and an expense purchase
order lies in the tracking and the cost. For a subcontracting purchase order, the
material movement to and from the vendor is tracked in SAP ERP; for the expense
purchase order, the material movement isn’t tracked, and only the cost associ-
ated with the service provided by the vendor is captured in SAP ERP. Because the
subcontracting purchase order provides the option to track both the materials and
the cost of service from the vendor, it’s the preferred solution to handle external

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 3 Refurbishment

repairs. In the subcontracting purchase order, if the company is providing any

components for the service, the components are listed in the purchase order. If the
part alone is shipped to the vendor and received back, then the part is listed both
as the received part or the main part as well as the component. SAP ERP standard
serialization doesn’t allow for the same material number/serial number to be both
sent as a component and received as a repaired part. To overcome this issue, seri-
alization can be turned off for certain movement types, as discussed in Chapter 6,
Serial Number Management in Reverse Logistics.

After the purchase order has been approved based on the release strategy, the part
is then shipped from the warehouse by using a delivery against the subcontract-
ing purchase order. After this delivery is processed and the post goods issued, the
stock shows up in a stock category called stock with vendor. The stock stays in this
category until the repair is complete and the repaired part is returned to the com-
pany. Upon receipt of the repaired part, the component stock is consumed from
the stock with vendor category, and the repaired material is stored in the ware-
house. If additional material was used by the vendor, then another transaction for
subsequent adjustment can be created to provide the additional material to the
vendor. To do subsequent adjustments, you use Transaction MIGO, and choose the
Subsequent Adjustment option. Figure 3.13 shows the process of external repair
in SAP ERP.

Warranty claim created Quote provided by

the vendor

Return sales order created

Quote approved

Return delivery created

Purchase order
created
Receipt of the returned part

Parts shipped to
Inspection complete vendor for repair

Request for quote Repaired part received

sent to vendor back into inventory

Figure 3.13  External Repair Process in SAP ERP

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 External Repair 3.2

3.2.1 Products Returned from Service Engineers

In many industries, products are stored on the customer’s premises to provide sup-
port to the service engineers who provide support and are responsible for maintain-
ing equipment. These products are used by the service engineers to fix issues in the
machines and return the broken machine parts back to the network if they are repair-
able. If they are repairable, then the product follows the same process of the internal
and external repair described previously. The service engineer returns the product to
the closest repair location that is capable of performing quality inspection.

The service engineer return process starts with the product being removed from
the machine that has stopped due to a defective part. The removal of the product
from the machine is shown in SAP ERP by performing Transaction MIGO, using
movement type 262 in the transaction to reverse the goods issue, or performing
a goods receipt against a service order. In some companies, because the stock was
consumed against a forward sales order against a service order, the removal of the
product from the machine is done in SAP ERP by creating a returns sales order and
performing the goods receipt against the returns delivery. For contracts provided
to the customers where the company is responsible for maintaining the machine
and ensuring problems are fixed in the machine ASAP, the company owns and is
responsible for all of the components in the machine. The inventory of all spare
parts that are owned by the company and are stored in the customer’s location
shows in the stock report of the company in the maintenance plant. The mainte-
nance plant is the location where the machine and the parts used for services are
stored in SAP ERP. This is the plant against which service order operations are cre-
ated and performed against.

For returns from the service engineer, the parts are returned to the maintenance
plant first by performing a goods movement transaction with movement type 262
with reference to a service order or by using the return sales order process. After
this return, the part is either returned to the local warehouse or a repair facility
using a STO or an ICTO. From that point on, the process is the same as internal
or external repair. Figure 3.14 shows service order header details in SAP ERP. The
service order can be displayed using Transaction IW33 or by going to Logistics •
Customer Service • Service Processing • Order • Service Order • Display.

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Figure 3.14 Service Order Display in SAP ERP Using Transaction IW33

The service order has components that are entered by the service engineer that
will be used to perform the maintenance on the machine. Every material in the
line item that is used for maintenance may have a corresponding material that can
be returned because the material being installed on a machine means the failed or
defective material with the same material number is removed from the machine.
Figure 3.15 shows the service order header displaying the maintenance plant.

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 ExternalRepair 3.2

The maintenance plant stores the spare parts that will be used for servicing the
machines in that location.

Figure 3.15 Service Order Display Showing the Maintenance Plant

All of the parts ordered in the service order are displayed in the components
screen of the service order. These are the parts ordered by the service engineer to
perform maintenance. Figure 3.16 shows the component screen with a list of all of
the materials ordered against a service order. The plant and storage location listed
in the component screen typically refer to the maintenance plant where the mate-
rial is stored until the service engineer uses it to perform the service.

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 3 Refurbishment

Figure 3.16 Component Listed in the Service Order

The costs associated with the service order are listed in the Costs tab and the costs
subscreen that shows costs associated with labor, material, and services. Figure
3.17 shows the Costs tab and costs subscreen with the costs breakdown of External
Services, Internal Labor, Overhead, and Spares (Own Production).

Figure 3.18 shows Transaction MIGO used with movement type 262 to receive
the returned part. You can see the material document that was posted for the 262
movement type.

As you can see, the service order is referenced in the material document under
the Account Assignment tab. The Profit Center and Functional Area are also speci-
fied to ensure proper valuation and accounting. Figure 3.19 shows the material
document display with the Plant, Storage Location, and the Movement Type in the
Where tab at the item level.

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 ExternalRepair 3.2

Figure 3.17 Costs Displayed in the Service Order

Figure 3.18 Material Document Display of a 262 Goods Movement with Reference to a
Service Order

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 3 Refurbishment

Figure 3.19 Material Document Display with Plant, Storage Location, and Movement Type
Displayed

In certain situations, the stock for the service order is received using a sales order.
This process is based on stock being issued for a sales order that has a reference to
the service order and ensures the value of the material is accounted against a ser-
vice order and isn’t billed directly to the customer. In this scenario, the return from
a service engineer is done using a return sales order, and the receipt of the return
sales order is done by goods receipt against a returns delivery. After the receipt is
completed, a quality inspection follows, which is then followed by contacting the
vendor for a quote, and so on.

3.3 Organization Impact on Refurbishment Processes

Different organizations are involved in enabling the refurbishment process to per-

form smoothly. In this section, we’ll discuss the impact of these organizations.

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 Index

A Batch search strategy, 263

Batch status management, 249
ABAP, 60 Batch valuation, 250
ABAP/4, 60 Billing document, 268
Access Sequence, 255, 258, 259 Bill of material (BOM), 121
Account, 284 Business intelligence, 285
Account assignment, 280 Business process, 17
Account determination, 280
Account determination procedure, 280
Account grouping, 85
Account grouping definitions, 85
C
Account indicator, 57 Carrier, 58
Accounting, 57, 80 Characteristics, 247, 259, 260
Accounting document, 88, 154, 279 Check Acct. Assignment checkbox, 273
Accounting entry, 283 Claimant, 180
Accounting view, 255 Claim processor, 180, 198
Account key, 281, 283 Class field, 259
Account modifier, 88 Classified, 247
Accruals account, 268 class type, 259
Action control, 196, 201 Code, 62
Advance Shipment, 57 Code group, 156
Aerospace module, 176 Company code, 282
Allocation, 273 Compliance, 293
Assemblies, 178 Component, 55
ATP (Available to Promise), 59 Components, 222
Automatic account determination, 273 Condition record, 21
Availability, 135 Condition tables, 255
Available to Promise, 59 Condition value, 282
Configuration, 51, 154, 291, 293
Consumables, 116
B Contaminated, 23
Contract, 35
Batch, 55 Control data, 119
Batch check, 255 Control keys, 117
Batch Determination, 255, 258, 262 Control reason for the movement, 271
procedure, 255 Copy controls, 60
Batch job, 288 Corrective maintenance, 52
Batch management, 247 Cost center, 121
Batch search procedure, 247, 261 Credit, 181, 275
allocation, 255 Credit customer account, 281
definition, 255 Credit memo, 93

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 Index

Credit memo request, 281 Equipment master, 219

Customer, 29, 51 Equipment record, 222
Customer account, 281 Expense purchase order, 125
Customer consignment stock, 57 Express service, 59
Customer engineer, 51 External repair, 113, 149
Customer entitlement, 133
Customer master, 24, 179, 282, 287
Customer master record, 282 F
Customer paid repair, 28
Customer service, 179 Failure analysis, 35
representative, 133 Field catalog, 256
Cycle time, 285 Forecast, 31
Forward order, 60
Functional area, 131
D Functional location, 183
Function module, 246
Data maintenance, 152
Data transfer, 60
Data transfer routines, 62 G
Debit, 181, 275
Debit memo process, 267 General ledger, 283
Debit revenue, 281 account, 121, 273, 278
Debtor, 181 Global Available to Promise (GATP), 104
Decontaminate, 23 Goods movement, 276, 280
Delivery, 60, 231 Goods receipt, 93, 154
Delivery block, 73 document, 105
Delivery item category, 69
Delivery Priority field, 77
Delivery-related billing, 69
H
Delivery type, 135
Discounts, 280 Hazardous, 18
Distribution channel, 57, 58 Hazardous material, 293
Division, 57, 58 Header, 27
DOA, 51
Document flow, 105
Drop ship, 24
I
Identification, 152
E IDOC, 194
Incompletion group, 77
EDI, 194 Incompletion procedure, 79
Engineering and design, 19 Incompletion procedures, 77
Enhancements, 152, 291 In/out movement, 135
Entitlement, 18, 232 Inspection, 18
Equipment, 183 Inspection characteristics, 22
Equipment Category field, 219 Inspection lot, 109

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 Index

Inspection type, 109 N

Installed base, 183
Intellectual property, 18 Network, 57
Internal repair, 113 Nonvaluated, 154
Inventory, 177
Inventory account postings, 277
Inventory management, 238, 255
O
Inventory movement, 270
Inventory posting, 283 OEM, 124
Invoice correction, 269 Offsetting entry, 280
Item, 27 Order administrator, 133
Item category, 55, 69, 156, 170 Order reasons, 67
Item category definition, 69 Order-related billing, 69

L P
Labor, 58, 285 Partner, 282
Legacy, 218 Planning, 31
Lifecycle, 20 Plant, 55
Plant Maintenance, 179
Postcrediting, 192
M Post goods issued, 126
Postings, 284
Maintenance plant, 56, 127 Precrediting, 184, 192
Master data, 179 Prerequisite, 207
Master warranty, 232 Preventive, 52
Master warranty record, 232 Preventive maintenance, 52
Material characteristic, 151 Pricing, 58, 152, 179, 280, 284
Material cost, 282 Pricing conditions, 29, 284
Material document, 154, 277, 283 Pricing for free goods, 69
Material group, 152 Pricing procedure, 29, 281, 282
Material identifier tag, 108, 152 Process order, 255
Material master, 24, 84, 152, 179, 216 Procurement, 34, 177
Material number, 151 Product attribute, 180
Materials Management, 179 Production order, 118, 121, 255
Materials requirement planning, 31, 139, Production resource, 183
154 Profit center, 131
Material status, 152 Purchase order, 125
Material valuation, 283 Purge, 32
Movement, 276 Put away, 107
Movement type, 71, 72, 121, 238, 280,
293
characteristics, 79
Movement type for returns, 276

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 Index

Q Sales document type, 57

Sales group, 57
Quality inspection, 115 Sales office, 57
Quality recall, 32 Sales order, 51
Quotation, 23 Sales order stock, 154
category, 154
Sales organization, 29, 57, 58, 181
SAP Business Workflow, 141
R
SAP ERP, 20
Receipt movement type, 154 Schedule line category, 69, 71, 72
Reconciliation account, 283 Screen layout, 184
Reference document, 272 Search procedure, 261
Refurbishment, 31, 285 Serialization, 151
Reimbursement, 178, 180 Serialization procedure, 220
Reimburser, 180, 192 Serial number
Release procedure, 144 master record, 214
Release strategy, 35, 126, 144 profile, 216
Repair, 31, 170 usage, 222
Repairable, 115 Serviceable material, 170
Repairable item, 170 Service agreement, 51, 52
Repair facility, 115 Service engineer, 51, 127
Repair order, 153, 156, 291 Service level, 58, 59
Repair procedure, 168, 170 Service management, 294
Replacement, 178 Service notification, 156
Request for Quote (RFQ), 125, 141 Service order, 52, 128, 156
Return authorization, 286 Shelf life, 259
Return delivery, 115, 154, 270 Shipment, 231
Returning entity, 291 Shipping condition, 57
Return order, 114 Sort sequence, 262
Returns delivery, 93, 132 Source storage type, 107
Returns line item, 171 Spare part, 127
Reuse, 31 Spare parts, 293
Revenue account determination, 283 Special ledger processing, 207
Revenues and deferred revenues, 267 Special stock, 154
Reverse document, 277 Split processing, 194
Reverse logistics, 17, 104 Split valuation, 250
Reverse movement type, 271 Standard cost, 281
RF, 288 Standard pricing, 69
Route, 58 Stock category, 75, 154
Rules engine, 207, 292 Stock transport order (STO), 115
Storage location, 55, 256
Strategy type, 255, 258, 261
Subcontracting, 125
S purchase order, 125, 171
Sales agreement, 51 Subcontractor, 178
Sales and Distribution, 179, 255 Subsequent adjustment, 126

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 Index

Substitution, 207 V
Supplying plant, 135
Validation, 208
Valuation, 151
T Valuation string, 273
Vendor consignment, 235
Tasks, 157 Vendor master, 179
Third-party logistics providers (3PL), 38, 124 VSR, 114
Transaction, 81, 277, 281
Transaction costs, 151
Transfer order, 105, 106 W
Transfer requirement, 105
Warehouse Management, 151, 152, 255
Warranty, 213
U Warranty claim, 177
document, 133
Update control, 272 Work center, 56, 118
Usage decision, 109 Workflow, 270
User exits, 231
User experience, 285

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