The Goods Receipt Processing Time and the Handling Resource
Executive Summary
- The Goods Receipt Processing Time (GRPT) interacts importantly with the Handling Resource.
- There is an issue with the Handling Resource affecting products without GR Processing Times, and we offer an intermediate solution.
Introduction
The GRPT is a way of padding the time before which material is brought into inventory. I have included the following quotes from SAP on the GRPT.
“The time between the delivery or the production of a product and its availability as stock. This time is used, for example, as handling time or time for quality checks, and is added to the transportation duration or the production time of a product.
When creating a planned order, you can instruct the system to take the goods receipt processing time into account during scheduling (that is, the goods receipt processing time you defined in the product master for the product being planned). The goods receipt processing time is added to the end time of the activity on the last line resource. This then gives the end time (availability date) of the planned order.
You can also use decimal points when specifying this value – such as 0.06 days, for example.” – SAP Help
There is also a goods receipt processing time in the transportation lane. However, filling in that field is optional, and for this article, we will just be focusing on the GRPT in the product location master.
In this case, we are discussing a goods receipt handling resource, so it is a handling-in resource, for which SAP has the following definition:
“Resource that is loaded by incoming stock transfers (SNP stock transfers) in the time between arrival of the stock transfers and material availability at the warehouse (goods receipt processing time).” – SAP Help
Background on The Handling Resource
Also referred to as a “handling unit resource,” a handling resource is one of the resource types in SAP APO (the others being production, transportation, and warehouse). Handling resource performs both goods receipt and goods issue (there is both a handling-in resource – for goods receipt and handling out resource – for goods issue). The resource can have both time and quantity restrictions.
The handling resource is designed to model the capacity of the location, sending, and receiving operations. I don’t find many companies that want to model these activities. There are certainly exceptions, but handling operations primarily consist of warehouse workers, forklifts, and roller conveyors. These are not the type of resources that are so scarce or expensive that they need to be constrained.
However, most companies want to have goods issue and goods receipt times, and the handling resource must have to use the GR/GI time. Therefore, the handling resource can be viewed as just more overhead that will rarely have any resource quantity or time values entered into them and rarely constrained.
Prerequisites for using the GRPT
- GRPT is entered on the GR/GI Tab in the product location master
- A handing resource has been created.
- The handling resource is assigned to the Resources Tab of the location master in the Inbound Resource field.
- Requirements based planning have been defined in model mix planning for the procedure used.
This is an issue because the resource is assigned to the location master, not the product location master. On the other hand, the GR/GI Tab is assigned to the product location master. This means that while the “hook” is created at the location if no GRPT is populated, it will not affect those products.
Is There an Issue With the Handling Resource Affecting Products without GR Processing Times?
One issue raised on projects that I have been on is that if a GR time is used, it will require a handling resource that doesn’t affect the receipts for all products, not just the products we are attempting to control.
This issue persists because one can only assign one handling-in resource and one handling-out resource to a location.
It is not necessary to constrain the handling resource. In fact, it is just a necessary master data element to get the GRPT (or the goods issue processing time) to work properly.
Not all products at the location need to have the receipt of the goods processing time filled in.
References
https://help.sap.com/saphelp_em70/helpdata/en/ff/adcf3d2691f30fe10000000a114084/frameset.htm
https://help.sap.com/SAPHELP_NW70/helpdata/EN/bd/53163b9341fc6ae10000000a11402f/content.htm
https://scn.sap.com/thread/697907
https://help.sap.com/saphelp_apo31/helpdata/en/a5/8b623c8a6da167e10000000a11402f/content.htm