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246       CHAPTER 7  Inventory and Warehouse Management Processes



                                          distination bins are often proposed automatically by the ERP system. However,
                                          they can also be provided by the individual who is executing the transfer.
                                               A transfer order consists of a header and one or more line items, as illus-
                                          trated in Figure 7-24. The header includes data that are applicable to all line
                                          items. Examples are the transfer order (TO) number, reference document
                                          number, dates, and warehouse movement type. Line item data include mate-
                                          rial number; source storage type, bin, and quant; destination storage type, bin,
                                          and quant; target quantities; and actual quantities moved. Note that a particu-
                                          lar material can have more than one line item if the material has to be moved
                                          from multiple source bins or to multiple destination bins. This scenario can
                                          occur in the case of picking when there is insuffi cient quantity in one source
                                          bin and in the case of putaway when the destination bin is not large enough to
                                          hold all of the materials moved.
















                                          Figure 7-24: Structure of a transfer order

                                          Tasks
                                          The key task in the execute warehouse management step is the creation of a
                                          transfer order, with or without a reference document, as illustrated in Figure 7-25.
                                          Transfer orders can be created either manually or by the ERP system. When they
                                          are created manually, the user selects the appropriate reference document or
                                          documents, verifi es the data in these documents, and then creates the orders.
                                          When a reference document is not used, the user must provide all of the data
                                          that would have been contained in the reference document. The ERP system
                                          can create the TOs automatically, but only when a reference document exists.
                                          The system also can be confi gured to automatically create transfer orders from
                                          reference documents that meet certain criteria (e.g., transfer date). Finally, the
                                          system can be programmed to directly create transfer orders as soon as a mate-
                                          rial document or an outbound delivery for shipment to a customer is created.

                                          Outcomes
                                          The obvious outcome of this step is a transfer order. When the TO is created, the
                                          reference document used to generate it is updated to indicate that this step
                                          has been completed. In addition, the storage bin data for the source and des-
                                          tination bins are updated to note planned movements (an example of this is
                                          provided in the section on reporting later in this chapter). As in the case of
                                          a transfer requirement, creating a TO has no FI impact. The transfer order
                                          essentially is a transaction document that authorizes warehouse employees to
                                          physically move the materials from the source storage bin(s) to the destination
                                          storage bin(s) indicated in the document.






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