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154 CHAPTER 5 The Fulfi llment Process

In our example, after GBI creates the sales order for RMB, the system
automatically performs an availability check to determine whether the materi-
als can be shipped as requested. In addition, it transfers the sales data to the
material planning process to ensure that the materials are available as needed
so that they will be shipped to RMB in a timely manner.

Demo 5.6: Create a sales order

SHIPPING
The shipping step is triggered when orders become due for delivery.
Shipping consists of several tasks that are necessary to prepare and send
shipments. Specifi cally, a delivery document is created which authorizes the
delivery of orders that are ready to be shipped. Then, the necessary materi-
als are picked from storage and placed in a staging area where they can be
packed appropriately. If these tasks are completed through the warehouse
management process, then additional steps in that process are triggered.
After the order is shipped, a goods issue is recorded in the system, which
triggers processes in accounting. These elements of the shipping step are
diagrammed in Figure 5-28.

Figure 5-28: Elements of the shipping step

Data

The central document in shipping is the delivery document, which identifi es
which materials are to be shipped to which partner (ship-to party) and from
which plant. The delivery document further identifi es the storage locations for
these materials. The data in the delivery document are compiled from multiple
sources (see Figure 5-29). Because shipping is triggered when a sales order
becomes due for delivery, sales orders—particularly the schedule lines—are
one source of data. Other sources are similar to the ones we have seen for pre-
vious steps. As we would expect, shipping-related data are the most relevant.
In contrast, pricing data typically are not relevant during the shipping step.
Figure 5-30 illustrates the structure of a delivery document (left side)
and some of the data in the delivery document in our GBI example (right
side). The header includes data applicable to the entire document, such as the

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