Configuring Automatic packing in Outbound Delivery

Configuration for Automatic packing in Outbound Delivery

Let me introduce you to the basics required to understand the Automatic packing concept in outbound delivery.

1. Packing Materials are material that can be used to pack or transport goods.
2. Items from an outbound delivery when packed into a packing material, the whole unit together is called the Handling Unit.
3. Packing process in SAP is the process of assigning delivery items to packing materials, which will produce Handling
Units, which will then be packed into additional packing materials. Which in turn will create a new handling unit, this
process of packing one handling unit into another packing material is called Multi-level packing.

The packing function is available in:

 Orders (as Packing Instructions)

 Inbound Deliveries
 Outbound Deliveries
 Shipment Document

Packing can be done manually as well as automatically in outbound delivery. Manual packing is done in outbound delivery by
choosing PACK button manually while automatic packing uses the Condition Technique to automatically identify the material to be
packed and create handling units.
As most of us would be aware of how manual packing is done, in this document I have explained how automatic packing is
configured for outbound delivery.
I have noted down few steps that would be required to configure Automatic packing, these are listed below:
a) Activate Delivery Document type with Automatic Packing – OVLK
b) Define Packaging material type- VHAR
c) Define Material Group for Packaging – VEGR
d) Define Allowed Packing Material – VHZU
e) Define Material Master Data – MM01
f) Maintain Packing Transaction Profile for Outbound delivery – OVHU2
g) Set up Condition Technique for Packing Instruction Determination
h) Create Packing Master Data – POP1
i) Maintain Packing Instruction Determination Master Data – POF1
Let us see how each of these steps are accomplished in SAP with screenshots
a) Activate delivery type with Automatic Packing

In this step you can activate the delivery type for automatic packing using the TCode OVLK as shown below.
Before moving further lets understand below mentioned SAP terminologies
Material – A product in outbound delivery that requires packing.
Material Group for packaging – This is a material master field used to group products requiring similar packing. For example say products A
and B can be packed using similar pallets, in this case while creating product master data for A & B, we assign Material Group for
Packaging, say 0001-pallets to indicate that both these material are packed using pallets.
Packing Material – The material used to pack the finished product in delivery.
Packaging Material Type – This is Material Master record field used to set up a Packing Material.(Applies to packing material master data)
This field defines the family of packaging type to which this material belongs, for example Pallets, Truck, Container, Box, Crates,
etc.
b) Define Packaging material types
You can define Packaging Material Types using TCode VHAR. As discussed earlier this field plays an important role in setting up a
packing material master record.
Let’s say we use already defined packing material type 0001- pallets in our case.(If you want to create new please copy an existing one
that matches your requirement and create one) PFB the screenshot for the same.
For packing material type you can set up

 How plant determination occurs for the packing material to which it is assigned.
 Packaging material category (whether packaging material, transport equipment, means of transport or Auxiliary packaging
material)
 Assign a Number Range for the handling units that would be created in delivery.
 Define Output procedure and Output type.
 Handling Unit type

c) Define Material Group for Packaging Material

In this step you can define a Material Group for packaging material using TCode VEGR.
This is a field entered in the Material Master Sales: General/Plant data for materials that require packing. It is used to group together
materials that require similar packaging materials.
In our case we defined material group 0001-Yard Mgmt using tcode VEGR.

d) Define allowed packaging material

This configuration plays an important role in packing for outbound delivery. In this step we define valid combinations of Packaging
Material Type and Material Group for Packaging as shown below. We have defined a valid combination of “Material Group for Packaging”- 0001
Yard Mgmt and “Packaging Material type”- 0001 pallet for our scenario. It is maintained using TCode VHZU.
When packing an item in delivery, the system checks whether an entry for Material Group for Packaging for the delivery item and the
Packaging Material Type for the packing material exists in Tcode VHZU.
By assigning Packaging Material Type to the Material Group for Packaging, you define which packaging materials are allowed for packing a
delivery item.
For materials with no Material Group for Packaging Materials, no check is carried out on the eligibility of the packaging material. These
materials can always be packed.
e) Define Material Master Data (Finished goods and Packing Material)
In this step create Material master record(MM01) for Finished goods and Packing Material based on the configuration done in the
earlier steps.
Firstly define a FERT material code for Sales View having below data related to packaging.
As can be seen in above screen shots we have created a material TATA1 with Material Type FERT and Material Group for
Packaging Material as 0001- Yard Mgmt.
Now, create another Material master record(MM01) with Material Type VERP (packing), so that this material could be used as a
packing material in Deliveries.
Important information required for packing is shown in below:

 Item Category Group (Sales: Organisation 2 tab)

 Packing Material Data (Sales: General/Plant)

Packaging Material Type

Allowed Weight
Allowed Volume
As seen above we have created a packing material PACK1 with Item category group VERP, Packaging Material Type 0001-Pallet and
allowed packing weight as 200kg.

f) Maintain Packing Transaction Profile

The configurations done from this step are specifically valid for Automatic packing in outbound delivery.
In this step, you can modify the Packing Transaction Profiles using TCode OVHU2.
For each application, in which the packing transaction can be used, there is a packing transaction profile. The profiles are set as
standard in the system. You can change the descriptions and the settings for each profile. However, you cannot create new profiles,
delete existing ones, or change the assignment of profile to application.
In our case we will use the transaction profile available for outbound delivery i.e. 0002- Outbound Delivery.
In each profile, the following parameters are set:

 display mode or change mode for HU proposals in the packing transaction

 the procedure used to automatically determine packing instructions
 whether the system expands packing instructions automatically when materials and quantities are entered or changed
 whether the system displays a selection dialog box in the automatic expansion process, so that the user can select a
packing instruction from those proposed by the system (main packing instruction or alternative packing instruction)
 whether the system takes into account rounding and minimum quantities in the automatic expansion process
 whether the system also takes into account alternative packing instructions in automatic expansion, if the main packing
instruction cannot pack the required quantity
 The expansion strategy. This controls whether

o Everything is to be packed automatically, that is, the system creates HU proposals for the complete quantity to be
packed.
o Packages are to be created one at a time, that is, the system creates an HU proposal for exactly one main handling
unit.
  the minimum packing status for packing instruction expansion
 the HU status of the handling units created
 The minimum packing status of HU proposals required to created HUs.

We have a Packing Instruction Determination Procedure ZSHIP1 assigned to the Packing Transaction Profile of Outbound
delivery. This procedure uses the condition technique to identify Packing Instructions maintained as master data which will be
discussed going ahead.
Also we have activated Start packing automatically, Respect Rounding Quantities and Respect Alternate Packing Instructions. Pack
Strategy is set to pack all delivery items.
g) Set up Condition Technique for Packing Instruction Determination:
In this step you can set up condition technique for the packing instruction determination procedure i.e. ZSHIP1(assigned in the
Outbound delivery Transaction Profile). You can set up Determination procedure, Determination type, Access Sequence & Condition table.
You can create each of the components of the condition technique using below Tcodes:

 Condition table – OFP8

 Access Sequence –OFP2

 Determination Type – OFP3

 Define Procedure – OFP4

I am not adding screenshots as this is done similar to any other condition technique setup.
h) Create packing master data – POP1
Once above SPRO configuration are done the only job remaining is to create packing master data.
Go to TCode POP1 and set up master data specifying what Material is to be packed and what is the material that will be used to for
packing.
In our case the master record is maintained as shown below.
TATA1is the material to be packed while PACK1 is the packing material. In the above master data set up I have specified that 1qty
ofPACK1 can be used to pack 4qtys of TATA1.
i) Maintain packing instruction determination record – POF1
The second master data that you need to maintain is how the packing instruction that was created in the previous step would be
determined.
This can be created using TCode POF1.
PFB the screenshot maintained in our case.

In the above screenshot you can see that I have maintained a record for Determination Type SHIP in Procedure ZHSIP1. The condition
table has the combination of Material & Ship-to party while packing instruction number specified is 231 which we have created in the previous
step.
This means that whenever Material TATA1 and Ship-to 4000401 combination occurs in delivery type LF the packing instruction 231would be identified
by using Transaction profile of outbound delivery & Packing instruction procedure ZHSIP1. This will in turn pack the delivery items using the
material specified in packing instruction number 231.
Once you configure all of the above steps Automatic packing would be active in Delivery and Handling Units would be automatically
created based on the master data you have maintained.

Understanding the Packing function in SAP

ECC6.0
Posted on April 8, 2010 by TKReddy - 17 Comments
Packing function in SAP system is very important for Distribution centers and Retail outlet stores in order to exchange their
goods data requirements between suppliers and Ship-to parties. The Ship-to parties can scan and check the goods through
Pallet/Carton label information. This will optimize their business process by knowing the product information with load
carriers and their weight and volume. I would not like to repeat help.sap.com information here in this blog, but i would
certainly cover the SAP packing functionality with business requirements.

Using this SAP Packing function, you can assign your delivery
items to delivery document to a package with packing slips and Pallet/Carton labels. You can also manage stocks of
packaging materials and if required you can bill to your ship-to party.
SAP Packing Terminology:
Before describing more, we need to understand the packaging materials in detail. The finished or trading goods that are
going to ship/receive will be packed in load carriers. The examples of load carriers (term packaging material in SAP) are
containers, pallets, case cartons and inner-boxes. These packing materials need to be created in material master with
material type “VERP”. The Physical unit of packaging material is called Handling unit (HU). This handling units will have a
identification number in SAP by either internal or own international recognized SSCC numbers. You can enter vast amount
of information in HUs like tracking numbers and texts apart from weight and volume.
There are several steps in packing function like manual packing and auto packing with single level and multi level packing.
For Example, you first pack the delivery items into carton box, then pack the boxes on to pallets, and finally pack the pallets
into containers. Here i can not put the screen shots for the below customization steps.
Packing Control:
In customizing, we can set the delivery item category is relevant for packing or not. In general, allow packing control column
remains blank. use can also set “A” must pack and “B” cannot pack. For batches, if you set “column”K” indicator, the main
item is packed but not the split item. i.e item for the total qty with out the batch details is packed.
Logistics Execution >Shipping>Packing> Packing control by item category.
Connection between “material to pack” and “packaging material”:
Packing materials using “Packaging material type” in customizing is as follows.
Logistics Execution >Shipping>Packing> Define Packing Material Types.
Important fields to know are “Plant determine”, “Pack matl cat”, “GenerateDlvitems”, “Number assignment”, “HU type”, “Int
interval” and “Ext interval”. In general the structure of SSCC code is predefined. SSCC stands for “Serial Shipping Container
Code”. I need to explore more on this SSCC18 structure. As of now with my experience i have two examples from two
clients.
The number contains : 1+7+9+1 = 18 digit
begins with “3” + 7 digit ILN number + 9 digit consecutive number + one digit check
other client have like: 7+9+2 = 18 digit
7 digit ILN number + 9 digit consecutive number + two digit check
Group your Materials that are packed in the first instance with the same packing material
(such as boxes, pallets, inner-boxes)
Logistics Execution >Shipping>Packing> Define Material group for Packaging Material.
Combination of “packing material types” and “packing material groups”
Logistics Execution >Shipping>Packing> Define Allowed Packaging Material.
Master Data for Packing material:
Maintain the packing materials using the material type “VERP”.
The “Sales: general/Plant View: important fields “Pakaging mat. type”, “Matl Grp Pack Matls”, “allowed pkg weight”, and
“allowed pkg volume” .
The “Sales: sales org.2: Item category group “VERP”.
Define number ranges for SSCC numbers:
Logistics General > Handling Unit management > External Identification > SSCC Generation Acc. to EAN 128 “ILN
for SSCC Generation at Storage location Level.”
Manual Packing:
To understand Manual packing function first before going for automatic packing, the Tcode Vl02n is best. You can pack,
unpack and delete the HU’s here.
Automatic Packing:
If you want to trigger automatic packing as soon as you have created the the delivery document, you have to select the
“automatic packing” indicator at the Delivery Type level
Logistics Execution > Shipping > Deliveries and select delivery type “LF-Delivery”.
Automatic packing also supports the PACKMODI enhancement.
Packing proposal by packing instructions:
For this you need to make required customized settings, enter packing instructions and determine the rules via condition
technique. This will not be covered in this blog post now. But by now you know all the important requirements in SAP
packing function along with customization path.