With SAP Business One Warehouse Management you can, among other things item master data create and manage inventory, define pricing structures, perform inventory-related transactions, define storage bins and create inventory-related reports.
This also includes the functions around barcodes, receipt printing, storage locations, item management, stock transactions, price lists, picking and packing, and stock reports.
As much storage as you need
The defined warehouses form the basis of warehouse management in SAP Business One. In principle, you can create any number of warehouses in SAP Business One. They can be
completely separate in the management of the warehouses (calculation of the cost of articles, conduct at
Minimum stocks etc.). The warehouses created in SAP Business One do not necessarily have to be physically separated from each other. It is quite conceivable that the main warehouse and the spare parts warehouse are located in the same warehouse, but are separated for logistical reasons.
Storage bins in SAP Business One
Storage bins are the smallest storage units in the SAP Business One warehouse. If storage bins are activated for a warehouse, a storage bin is required for each stock transaction. The location from which the stock is issued or where it is received must be defined there. These are then physical subdivisions of the warehouse with up to four levels. This can be a row, an aisle, a shelf, a box, a container, a carton, a crate, a box, etc.
Valuation methods in SAP B1
Before using inventory management in SAP Business One, the optimal valuation method for the company must be determined. This allows the programme to calculate the current cost of goods sold. At the same time, it can also precisely determine prices and discounts. The direct and indirect consumption determination thereby create a basis for the valuation within the warehouse management.
Indirect consumption determination
The current stock withdrawals are unknown when determining indirect consumption. The consumption values result from the remaining quantity. This can be determined as the opening stock, purchases and closing stock are recorded. Nevertheless, the disadvantage of this calculation of consumption is that shrinkage, breakage, theft and price erosion are not listed separately but are included in consumption.
Direct consumption determination
The quantity and the withdrawal date are determined. A target closing stock can be calculated from these components and compared with the actual closing stock according to the inventory. The comparison between the target and actual closing stock results in over- or under-recoveries at the end of the financial year. The category of direct consumption determination includes the valuation methods used in SAP Business One such as "moving average price" or First In ? First Out (FIFO).
Valuation according to standard price
Valuation according to standard prices follows a very simple concept. First, a standard price is set. This price is then used as the basis for the ongoing valuation of an item. All postings on the Stock account are made at this fixed unit price. The procedure does not take into account the actual cost price of the item in question. If a purchase is made at a price that differs from the standard price, the price difference is posted to a variance account.
Moving average price
With the moving average price method, a new average price is determined for the entire stock of an item. The withdrawals until the next purchase of the item are valued at the calculated average price. For this purpose, the sequence of purchases and transfers is recorded. This results in the determination of the new average price after each purchase, at which the next purchase is then valued.
First-In-First-Out (FIFO)
The First-In-First-Out method is based on the premise that the items that are put in first are also taken out of the warehouse first. In SAP Business One, each specific purchase price is stored accordingly, which is then used for valuation in this case. As the price increases, the FIFO method usually results in the remaining stock being valued higher than the outgoing goods.
Rate by serial & batch number
Based on serial number or Batch numberassigned in the goods receipt, the purchasing costs can be tracked very easily in SAP Business One on the item in question. If such an item is sold and outsourced, the referencing costs can always be determined exactly.
Units of measure in SAP Business One Warehouse Management
In SAP Business One, units of measure are used to represent all those items that are not bought or sold in pieces, kilos, litres, metres, etc.
Units of measure groups, to which units of measure can be assigned, are used to describe the relationship between the different types of units of measure for items in sales, purchasing and stock. Once set up, unit of measure groups can be assigned to any number of similar items.
Example:
Suppliers sell an item in boxes or on pallets. The item is then offered and sold either in packs, small packs or in groups of 6 packs.
Each item master record contains the units of measure used for the purchase, storage and sale of that particular item.
When you create an item master record, you assign a unit of measure group.
The group contains all relevant units of measurement needed for the item and the relationship between the units.
In the article master data, one defines different types of units of measurement for which the following applies:
- The stockkeeping unit of measure - The programme uses this unit of measure for posting all stock transactions
- The stockkeeping unit cannot be changed once transactions have been made for that item.
- It is important to note that the stock unit field is not displayed in the item master data if the group "manual" is assigned.
- The sales units - Several sales units can be assigned to an item.
- Any of these units of measurement can be used in a sales or inventory document.
- Purchasing units of measure - Multiple purchasing units of measure can be assigned to an item.
- Each of these codes can be used in a purchase or inventory document.
All stock tracking and reporting is done in the stockkeeping unit. The availability check is done for the stockkeeping unit.
Catalogue numbers in SAP Business One Warehouse Management
In SAP Business One, one has the option to keep catalogue numbers per business partner for the respective items. These foreign catalogue numbers are used to adapt the procurement and sales documents to the requirements of the supplier or customer accordingly.
You can assign several business partner catalogue numbers for the same item number. The maintenance of Business partner catalogue numbers can become tedious, so SAP Business One offers global updating to simplify this process. In doing so, you can:
- Replace all items: This option copies all catalogue numbers of the business partner from one business partner to another.
- Replace existing items only: This option updates articles that exist for both business partners.
- Do not replace items: This option copies new articles without affecting existing articles in the target business partner.
Pricing in SAP Business One
SAP Business One Warehouse Management provides a comprehensive price management module that takes into account units of measurement, currencies, quantities, dates and other characteristics from the item master data.
One can create different price management logics that are hierarchised in the following way:
- Are there special prices for business partners?
- Are there time and volume discounts?
- Is there Discount groups?
- Is there a price in the price list linked to the business partner?
For a marketing document (e.g. a sales offer), SAP Business One checks among these four different hierarchised options whether they are configured, and if so, the programme uses the corresponding price.
price lists
Ten price lists are available by default, but you can easily delete unused price lists
or create additional price lists by right-clicking on a price list and choosing
to navigate to the Summary menu.
A price list can be based on itself (e.g. a purchase price list) or on a base price list be based with a factor. For example, a sales price list can be based on the purchase price list with a factor of 1.5, which means that the sales price is 1.5 times the purchase price.
special prices
Special prices are prices that can be offered to one or more business partners.
for special articles. In SAP Business One, the special prices created can be limited in time. Special prices can be transferred from one business partner to another using additional functions.
Period and volume discounts
A time and quantity discount takes precedence over the list price.
To create period and quantity discounts, select a price list for which you can define a period and quantity discount.
Price report
With the price report function, the price history of an item can be called up directly from a document line. The prices in all price lists for this item and all special prices are displayed.
Management of serial numbers and batches
serial numbers
In the serial number is a unique number that a company assigns and/or manages for products for documentation or business purposes (such as guarantees, warranty claims, quality management, etc.). Serial number management affects all stock movement transactions in SAP Business One, from purchasing to stock transactions, inventories and sales.
Batches
In contrast, batches are used to track a quantity of an item with common characteristics. These characteristics can be attributes defined by you, such as a colour, a grain size or ingredients. However, the characteristics can also be dates, such as the expiry date, the date of manufacture or the date on which the items were added to the stock.
Mandatory entry for every transaction
In SAP Business One Warehouse Management, the system can prompt the user to assign batch or serial numbers for each individual unit in each transaction when it first enters stock.
In this way, you know exactly which items or batches are in stock and which items you have dispatched to a customer. When you put the serialised items into stock for the first time, you can either enter the serial numbers manually or create them automatically with the selected serial number sequence.
Only when issued from stock
However, you can also control items so that serial numbers are only required on receipts that issue an item from stock.
Release documents include not only: Goods issueThe system not only handles the transfer of goods from one warehouse to another, delivery, outgoing invoices and goods issues to production, but also stock transfers between warehouses as well as returns and credit notes.
Alternatively, one can select the option 'Automatic serial number creation on receipt'. When purchasing the serialised item, SAP Business One Warehouse Management automatically creates consecutive numeric serial numbers for the purchased quantity.
Manual stock transactions
Manual stock movements are all stock movements that do not take place as part of purchasing or sales documents. These are special cases in which certain goods movements are carried out. In this context, the following transactions are available Goods ReceiptThe following are the main tasks: stock transfer, goods issue and stock revaluation.
Inventory in SAP Business One
Various methods are available in SAP Business One Warehouse Management for carrying out an inventory, i.e. counting, measuring or weighing the stocks in the company. Stocktaking can be carried out on the balance sheet date or on a different key date. In the case of perpetual inventory, on the other hand, the inventory is recorded according to an inventory plan within the financial year. With inventory sampling, samples are recorded on the basis of mathematical-statistical procedures.
Beyond the conventional inventory However, at the end of the financial year
also in the course of the year, an unlimited number of Inventories make. SAP Business One enables such an approach through the use of inventory cycles. Such inventory cycles can be assigned per item and include a reminder function.
Picking and packing
Picking and Pack is a powerful function for prioritising the allocation of stock to sales orders, advance invoices, production orders and stock transfer orders. The SAP B1 Pick & Pack Manager in SAP Business One Warehouse Management searches the system for the following open documents. It then sorts them by requested delivery date and priority and displays the cumulative quantities available for picking and dispatch. If there is not enough quantity available, there is no release. However, one can configure the system to release a pick list for unavailable quantities.
Inventory reports for warehouse management
SAP Business One offers a variety of inventory reports that provide the information needed for the
for warehouse management and financial accounting. These reports can be previewed in SAP Business One, printed as a PDF file or exported to Excel.
Here is a selection of the most important reports on the subject of warehouses in SAP Business One.
Report article list
This report contains a list of items that can be filtered by item number, item groups and properties.
Report on inactive elements
This report shows the items that were not used in the selected documents.
SAP Business One Warehouse Management Inventory Posting List
Lists all transactions that affect the accounting.
Stock status report
This report contains a list of articles: The quantities in stock, confirmed, ordered and available. The application totals these quantities for all warehouses selected in the selection criteria
Stock report
The stock report contains, for each item, the quantities in stock, confirmed, ordered and available, detailed by warehouse.
Stock audit report
The stock audit report is probably the most frequently used report in the stock module. It provides traceable information on cumulative quantities and values as well as all the details of the transactions relating to the quantities or values of the stock. The information can be grouped by item or G/L account and by warehouse.Inventory check of batches and serial numbers
Batch and serial number stock check lists all transactions linked to the serial number or batch number: Transaction Type, Transaction Number, Posting Date, Stock Code, Quantity, Cost of Transaction, Cumulative Quantity and Serial or Batch Number. The selection criteria for running the reports are the posting date, item code, batch number, serial number and stock code.Stock assessment Simulation report
This report enables a "fictitious" evaluation of selected articles. The selection can be limited to warehouses or locations. In this way, different scenarios of the valuation can be presented.