SAP IM Tutorial

 

Welcome to SAP IM Tutorials. The objective of these tutorials is to provide an in-depth understanding of SAP IM. In addition to free SAP IM Tutorials, we will cover common interview questions, issues, and how to’s of SAP IM.

Introduction

Inventory management software is a computer-based system for tracking inventory levels, orders, sales, and deliveries. It can also be used in the manufacturing industry to create a work order, bill of materials, and other production-related documents.

Investment Management Overview

The Investment Management (IM) component provides functions to support the planning, investment, and financing processes for:

Capital investments, such as the acquisition of fixed assets as the result of of-house production or purchase

Investments in research and development

Projects that fall primarily under overhead, such as continuing education of employees or establishing new markets.

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Maintenance programs

The term investment, therefore, is not limited only to investments you capitalize for bookkeeping or tax purposes. An investment in this context can be any measure that initially causes costs, and that may only generate revenue or provide other benefits after a certain time period has elapsed (for example, plant maintenance projects).

The IM component contains functions for managing investments in the area of fixed assets. Financial assets are managed in the Treasury component.

The integrated planning process allows you to roll up planned values from appropriation requests and measures on the investment program to which they are assigned. You carry out budgeting measures, on the other hand, from the top down within the investment program.

Features Integration in Materials Management

As a component of Materials Management, Inventory Management is directly linked with Material Requirements Planning, Purchasing, and Invoice Verification.

Inventory Management provides information for MRP, which takes into account not only physical stocks but also planned movements (requirements, receipts).

When a material is ordered from a vendor, Inventory Management posts the delivery as a goods receipt with reference to the purchase order. The vendor invoice is processed later by Invoice Verification. Here, the quantities and values from the purchase order and the goods receipt document are checked to ensure that they match those in the invoice.

Integration in Production Planning

Inventory Management is closely linked to the Production Planning module:

• Inventory Management is responsible for the staging of the components required for production orders.
• The receipt of the finished products in the warehouse is posted in Inventory Management.

Integration in Sales & Distribution

As soon as you enter a sales order, you can initiate a dynamic availability check of stocks on hand.

When the delivery is created, the quantity to be delivered is marked as "Scheduled for delivery". It is deducted from the total stock when the goods issue is posted.

It is also possible to create sales order stocks.

Integration in Quality Management

In the case of a goods movement, the system determines whether the material is subject to inspection operation. If so, a corresponding activity is initiated for the movement in the Quality Management system

Integration in Plant Maintenance

Inventory Management is linked with Plant Maintenance as follows:

• It is possible to post goods movements with reference to equipment BOMs.
• It is possible to withdraw parts for maintenance orders.
• When serial number management is active, the individual serial numbers are entered in the case of every goods movement. Serial numbers are managed in the Plant Maintenance system.

Integration in the Logistics Information System

With the Inventory Controlling component, the Logistics Information System offers a tool for collecting, compressing and evaluating inventory management data.

Inventory Management and the Warehouse Management System

The Inventory Management system can be extended by the Warehouse Management system (LE-WM) which manages storage bins in complex warehouse structures.

While Inventory Management manages the stocks by quantity and value, the Warehouse Management component reflects the special structure of a warehouse and monitors the allocation of the storage bins and any transfer transactions in the warehouse.

Reporting in Inventory Management

Use: To simplify your day-to-day work with the Inventory Management component, there is a range of functions and reports that provide extensive information on all materials with their stock data. This section provides an overview of the reporting function in Inventory Management. For more information, refer to the documentation on each function or the relevant report documentation.

List displays: This provides reports for documents posted in Inventory Management. Example: material documents for a material.

Stock: This provides information on a material’s stocks. Example: current stock/requirements list. The stock overview provides an overview of all stocks of material overall organizational levels.

Information: This allows you to display data (master data, transaction/movement data) from other applications. Example: displaying a purchase order.

Balances display: This provides reports on the GR/IR clearing account.

Consignment: You can use this to display all information on consignment stocks. Example: displaying vendor consignment stock.