5/20/25, 4:30 AM

Extended Warehouse Management (EWM)

Generated on: 2025-05-20 [Link] GMT+0000

SAP S/4HANA | 2023 FPS03 (Feb 2025)

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Physical Inventory

Use
You can use the physical inventory functions in Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) to carry out a physical inventory of
products and handling units (HUs) for stock control and balance sheet purposes. You have the following options:

Storage-bin-specific physical inventory

The document refers to a storage bin and therefore to all the products and HUs in this storage bin.

Product-specific physical inventory

The document refers to a specific product in one or more storage bins and/or HUs.

To perform a physical inventory, you can choose between various business inventory procedures:

Periodic Physical Inventory Procedure

Continuous Physical Inventory Procedures

Cycle Counting

Integration

To enable you to post differences, integration with the ERP system is necessary.

Prerequisites
You have defined the physical inventory areas in Customizing for SCM Basis. Furthermore, you have made the settings for
the low-stock physical inventory or zero-stock physical inventory and the putaway physical inventory, as required.

For more information, see Customizing under SCM Basis Physical Inventory Basic Settings Define Physical
Inventory Area .

You have made the required settings in Customizing for EWM. If you want to use cycle counting, for example, you have
select the Cycle Counting checkbox under Configure Cycle Counting.

For more information, see Customizing under Extended Warehouse Management Internal Warehouse Processes
Physical Inventory .

Features
You can carry out a physical inventory for the following stock types:

Unrestricted-use stock in putaway

Unrestricted-use stock in the warehouse

Blocked stock in putaway

Blocked stock in warehouse

Quality inspection stock in putaway

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Quality inspection stock in the warehouse

You can take inventory of all stock types in a single operation. For the products to be inventoried, one item is created in the
physical inventory document for each stock type.

 Recommendation
We recommend that you lock the relevant storage bins during the physical inventory. This is not necessary in the radio
frequency (RF) environment.

Activities
1. You create physical inventory documents.

To do so, you can perform one of the following actions:

On the launchpad, choose Extended Warehouse Management Physical Inventory Create Physical Inventory -
Documents .

On the RF device, you can create ad hoc inventory counting documents. For more information, see Physical
Inventory Using Radio Frequency.

 Note
In this transaction, you can create active physical inventory documents immediately. Alternatively, you can first create
the physical inventory documents in this transaction, and then activate them in a separate step. For more information,
see Processing of Physical Inventory Documents.

2. You print out physical inventory count documents for your physical inventory documents.

To do so, you have the following options:

From the warehouse management monitor (Physical Inventory Documents node)

From physical inventory document processing

To do so, on the launchpad, choose Extended Warehouse Management Physical Inventory Process Physical
Inventory Document .

For more information, see Processing of Physical Inventory Documents.

In the background using the report Print Count Documents - Physical Inventory (see Reports in Physical Inventory)

3. You perform a count and then enter the count results in the system. If required, you perform a physical inventory recount.

To do so, on the launchpad, choose Extended Warehouse Management Physical Inventory Process Physical
Inventory .

For more information, see Processing of Physical Inventory Documents and Physical Inventory Using Radio Frequency.

4. You post the physical inventory documents in EWM.

To do so, on the launchpad, choose Extended Warehouse Management Physical Inventory Process Physical
Inventory Document .

For more information, see Processing of Physical Inventory Documents.

5. If differences exist, you can analyze them. You can then use the Difference Analyzer to post the differences to the ERP
system.

For more information, see Difference Analysis.

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Periodic Physical Inventory Procedure

As the periodic physical inventory procedure, Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) supports an annual physical inventory
(storage-bin-specific and product-specific).

In an annual physical inventory, you record all stocks on a certain day or within a fairly short period (in most cases at the end of the
fiscal year). During this time, you can prohibit stock movements.

Furthermore, you use this procedure to carry out the physical inventory for storage bins and quants that are actually subject to
continuous inventory-taking but for which no stock movements have occurred during the current fiscal year.

The product-specific annual physical inventory corresponds to the storage-bin-specific annual physical inventory except that you
carry it out for products.

Continuous Physical Inventory Procedures

In the following, the continuous physical inventory procedures supported by Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) are
described in more detail. For all these physical inventory procedures, you must archive the warehouse tasks (WTs) in accordance
with legal provisions. This is necessary to be able to provide proof of all individual movements involving storage bins or products
over the entire fiscal year.

Ad Hoc Physical Inventory (Storage-Bin-Specific and Product-Specific)

For the storage-bin-specific ad hoc physical inventory, you carry out the inventory-taking for certain storage bins at any time
during the fiscal year. This physical inventory procedure is manually controlled. An ad hoc physical inventory may become
necessary because a product has been damaged, for example.

The product-specific ad hoc physical inventory corresponds to the storage-bin-specific ad hoc inventory except that you perform it
for products. For example, you may have to make a targeted check of the stock of a certain product after receiving a complaint
about the product from a customer.

Low Stock Check (Storage-Bin-Specific)

The low stock check is a physical inventory procedure that you perform when confirming WTs. Here you assume that a storage bin
should only contain a small quantity of a product after a stock removal in accordance with the storage bin data in EWM. You define
this quantity in the form of a limit value that is based on the operative unit of measure for the product per storage type. During the
physical removal of stock from storage, you check whether the storage bin data reflects the actual stock situation. Since the stock
comprises only a small quantity of the product (approx. 3-5 pieces), the picker can establish the stock level at a glance, without
having to carry out an explicit count.

You confirm on the printed WT that you have performed the physical inventory. When you confirm the WT in the system, the
system automatically creates the physical inventory document in the background on the basis of the WT. You can use the WT
number to determine the physical inventory document number.

 Note
A variant of the low stock check is the zero stock check. Here the limit value is zero.

You have the following options:

Low stock check with physical inventory (low-stock physical inventory)

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The first time that the stock falls below the limit value, you carry out the low-stock physical inventory. The system creates a
physical inventory document.

Low stock check without physical inventory

We recommend this setting if you want to carry out the low stock check multiple times to improve stock security. In this
case, no physical inventory document is created. You must therefore carry out a physical inventory for the bin at the end of
the fiscal year to create a physical inventory document.

You can also combine the two options. The first time that the stock falls below the limit value, the system proceeds in the
same way as for the low stock check with physical inventory (low-stock physical inventory). In subsequent cases, it
proceeds as for the low stock check without physical inventory, in other words, it no longer creates physical inventory
documents.

The following situations can occur:

You request the low stock check manually if you discover that a storage bin lies below the defined limit value after stock
removal, but no low stock check has been planned for this storage bin.

The system automatically activates the low stock check as soon as you create a WT for a storage bin that should lie below
the defined limit value after the stock removal.

When the WT is created, the system checks whether the following conditions have been met:

No open WT exists for the storage bin.

Negative quantities are not permitted for the relevant storage type.

Only one quant exists in the storage bin.

 Note
In the radio frequency environment, the check is performed when you confirm the WT.

If these conditions are met, the system requests that you enter the quantity counted when you confirm the WT. The following
situations can occur:

The storage bin should be empty and really is empty (zero stock check) or the quantity in the storage bin lies below the
permitted limit value (low stock check).

In this case, you enter zero or the remaining quantity as the quantity counted. The system creates a physical inventory
document.

The storage bin should be empty, but is not empty (zero stock check) or the quantity in the storage bin does not lie below
the permitted limit value (low stock check). In this case, you have the following options:

You enter the remaining quantity. The system creates a physical inventory document and displays the differences in
the Difference Analyzer.

You reject the physical inventory, for example, because the remaining quantity is too large and you cannot enter the
quantity based on a quick glance, but would need to count each piece. In this case, the system does not create a
physical inventory document and does not display the difference.

 Recommendation
If some storage bins do not fall below the limit value as a result of stock removal within the fiscal year, we
recommend that you also define a periodic physical inventory for this physical inventory area in addition to the
low stock check. This allows you to carry out a periodic physical inventory for the storage bins that have not been
recorded at the end of the fiscal year. For more information, see Periodic Physical Inventory Procedure.

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 Note
When you enter the quantity counted after confirming the warehouse task, the system performs a tolerance check in the
following ways before posting an inventory difference:

If the inventory difference doesn't exceed the predefined quantity-based or value-based tolerance after stock removal,
the system posts the difference for low stock check with or without physical inventory.

If the inventory difference exceeds the predefined quantity-based and value-based tolerance after stock removal, the
system keeps the inventory difference in the application log and cancels the creation of a physical inventory document.
Additionally, the system calculates the product quantity by deducting the picked quantity, instead of using the entered
remaining quantity.

Putaway Physical Inventory (Storage-Bin-Specific)

As with the low stock check, the putaway inventory is a procedure for simplifying the work involved in carrying out a physical
inventory. In this case, the physical inventory for a storage bin is carried out at the time of the first putaway in this bin in the fiscal
year. The warehouse employee confirms during the first putaway that the stock in the warehouse matches the confirmed quantity
in the WT after the putaway.

During the current fiscal year, no further physical inventory is performed for this storage bin, even if a completely different quant is
stored there at the end of the year, or if the bin is empty.

In the case of the putaway physical inventory, the system checks when the WT is created whether the following conditions have
been met:

The storage bin is empty.

The WT is for putaway of exactly one quant.

You are putting stock away for the first time in the physical inventory year.

 Note
In the radio frequency environment, the check is performed when you confirm the WT.

If these conditions are met, the system requests that you enter the quantity counted when you confirm the WT. The following
situations can occur:

The storage bin is really empty.

This means that after the WT has been confirmed, the storage bin quantity is the same as the WT quantity. The system
creates a physical inventory document for this WT quantity.

The storage bin is not empty, in other words, there are still products in the storage bin.

In this case, you reject the putaway physical inventory. The system does not create a physical inventory document.

 Recommendation
If putaway does not take place for all storage bins within a fiscal year, we recommend that you make additional provision
for a periodic physical inventory (see Periodic Physical Inventory Procedure) for the relevant storage type. This allows
you to carry out a periodic physical inventory for the storage bins whose data has not yet been recorded at the end of
the fiscal year.

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Storage Bin Check

The storage bin check is a procedure in which you check whether a product is actually stored in the storage bin in which it is
supposed to be located. The quantity of the product in the storage bin is immaterial in this case. Thus, the storage bin check is not
a physical inventory procedure in the true sense.

Cycle Counting
As a cycle-counting procedure, Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) supports product-specific cycle counting.

Cycle counting means that you carry out a physical inventory of your stock at regular intervals during a fiscal year.

By allocating products to different classes (for example, A, B, C, and D), you specify for those products the intervals or cycles at
which you are going to carry out the physical inventory. This allows you to inventory fast-moving products in your warehouse more
frequently than slow-moving ones for instance.

In the warehouse management monitor (see Warehouse Management Monitor), you can monitor the progress of physical
inventory for cycle counting. For example, you can determine which products are still to be counted.

To be able to provide proof of individual movements involving the products during the entire fiscal year, you must archive the
warehouse tasks (WTs) in accordance with legal provisions.

Processing of Physical Inventory Documents

Use
You can use this function to enter the count results for physical inventory documents (PI documents) and to process PI
documents.

Prerequisites
You have created PI documents.

To do so, on the launchpad, choose Extended Warehouse Management Physical Inventory Create Physical
Inventory - Documents .

In most cases, you have also printed the physical inventory count documents.

In Customizing for SCM Basis, you can influence the fields and functions that are available for processing PI documents.
For more information, see Customizing under SCM Basis Physical Inventory Basic Settings Define Physical
Inventory Area .

Features
The system displays the PI documents per storage bin (storage-bin-specific physical inventory) or per product (product-specific
physical inventory).

The following figure provides an overview of possible statuses in physical inventory processing. It also shows which actions are
permitted for which statuses.

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Depending on the status of the PI documents, you have the following options, for example:

Activate and Deactivate PI Documents

An inactive PI document is not yet assigned to a warehouse order and therefore a resource. By activating the PI document, you
trigger the relevant process in the warehouse. To be able to count and print PI documents, you must activate them first.

Enter and Change Count Results

You can enter count data for PI documents such as the counter, count date, and quantity. You can also change count results that
have already been entered, for example, if you have made a typing mistake.

You can change the book inventory information. To do this, perform one of the following actions:

When you're counting a PI document, implement BAdI: Influencing of Book Inventory Determination of a PI Document
(/LIME/PI_CR_BOOK_QTY) in Customizing for SCM Basis under Physical Inventory Business Add-Ins (BAdIs)
Influencing Physical Inventory Processing .

After you've counted a PI document, but haven’t posted the document, implement the Business Application Programming
Interface (BAPI) Change of Book Inventory Documents (/SCWM/BAPI_PI_DOCUMENT_BOOK).

 Note
In the case of the storage bin check, you cannot enter quantities. You simply specify whether the product is available in the
storage bin or not.

If the product has a serial number requirement B (Serial Number Requirement at Warehouse Number Level) or C (Serial Number
Requirement in Inventory Management), you must enter serial numbers.

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If the product has stock-specific UoMs, the UoM is also considered for difference determination. For more information, see SUoM
in Physical Inventory.

The following table shows the hierarchical levels on which you can enter count results as well as the input help available:

Hierarchy Level Values

Storage bin Empty

Handling unit (HU) Not available, complete, or

empty

Product Enter the quantity

 Example
If you have to count wine bottles that are packed in cases, you can simply confirm that the handling unit (HU) is complete. This
means that you do not have to open the cases.

 Note
A radio frequency transaction is available for entering count results. For more information, see Physical Inventory Using Radio
Frequency.

Post PI Documents

To complete the physical inventory for a product or storage bin, you have to post the PI document. This is necessary for balancing
the stock in EWM when differences exist. The PI document is given the status Posted and it is therefore completed.

If differences exist, you must then post them in the Difference Analyzer to the ERP system.

Trigger a Recount

If you have doubts about a count result, you can trigger a recount. In this case, the system automatically creates a new PI
document with reference to the original PI document.

If you want to keep a four-eye principle for recounting using a radio frequency (RF) device, set up the system to assign the PI
document to a different counter by following the steps below:

Choose a different queue for recounting in the Customizing activity Define Queues for Physical Inventory in Customizing
for Extended Warehouse Management under Cross-Process Settings Resource Management Define Queues .

Select the checkbox Different User to Recount Physical Inventory Documents in Customizing for Extended Warehouse
Management under Internal Warehouse Processes Physical Inventory Warehouse-Number-Specific Settings
Specify Physical-Inventory-Specific Settings in the Warehouse .

Print PI Count Documents

You can print PI count documents on which the counter writes the count results.

Delete PI Documents

You can delete PI documents with the status Active, Inactive, and Counted.

Display Information

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Depending on the status of the PI document, the system displays the following information about the PI document items, for
example:

Cumulative total of PI differences per product

Cumulative book inventory per product

Detailed PI differences

References of the PI document to warehouse orders or recounted PI documents

Change history

Activities
To process PI documents, on the launchpad, choose Extended Warehouse Management Physical Inventory Process
Physical Inventory . This is the central transaction for physical inventory processing.

 Note
You can also use the transactions Count Physical Inventory and Count Physical Inventory - List to enter count results.

Difference Analysis

Use
You use this function to analyze differences and to post them to the SAP S/4HANA system. The aim of posting differences is to
reconcile stocks in the SAP S/4HANA system, and, in particular, in financial accounting. Differences can arise in the following
processes:

Creating physical inventory documents

Confirming warehouse tasks (WTs)

Claims from sales orders

Claims from stock transfers

You analyze differences in the Difference Analyzer.

Integration

To be able to post differences to the SAP S/4HANA system, integration with the SAP S/4HANA system is necessary.

Prerequisites
You have defined priorities and reasons.

For more information, see Customizing under Extended Warehouse Management Internal Warehouse Processes
Physical Inventory Warehouse-Number-Specific Settings Reason and Priority :

Define Priorities

Define Reason for Physical Inventory

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Define Reason for Differences

You have defined tolerance groups for the Difference Analyzer.

For more information, see Customizing under Extended Warehouse Management Internal Warehouse Processes
Physical Inventory Warehouse-Number-Specific Settings Define Tolerance Groups Define Tolerance Group for
Difference Analyzer .

You have assigned each of your users to one of these tolerance groups.

To do so, on the launchpad, choose Extended Warehouse Management Settings Physical Inventory Assign
Tolerance Group - Differences .

Features
In the Difference Analyzer, differences are displayed at both a cumulative and individual level. The individual differences are given a
link to the document that has caused the difference. At a cumulative level, differences with the same stock key are displayed in an
aggregated way. In other words, they are displayed independently of the document and process in which they occurred. The aim of
the cumulative display is to show the balance of the differences to reduce the number of postings to the S/4HANA system (where
possible, to zero), for example. For products with stock-specific UoMs (SUoMs) the cumulative view is not only aggregated by
stock key but also by unit of measure. For more information about SUoMs, see SUoM in Physical Inventory.

The following information, for example, is displayed in the Difference Analyzer:

Tolerance excesses

The system indicates if the absolute difference value of the cumulative row exceeds the threshold value from the tolerance
group for a difference.

Customs blocked stock

The system indicates if the stock for a difference is in customs blocked stock. You can only post the difference if it balances
with another difference from the customs blocked stock to make zero.

Serial number requirement

The system indicates if a serial number requirement exists for a difference. In this case, you cannot post at cumulative level.
For more information about the serial number requirement, see Serial Number.

Priority

The priority of the document is displayed for each difference. At cumulative level, the highest priority is displayed.

Posting date

The posting date specifies when you entered a difference. At cumulative level, the oldest posting date is displayed.

You have the following options, for example:

Lock differences

If you first want to analyze a difference, for example, you can lock it to prevent another user from posting it. You can also
enter a locking reason. When you release the difference again, the lock reason is kept for information purposes.

When you lock a difference at detailed level, you also automatically lock the cumulative row.

Enter notes

When you enter a note at detailed level, you automatically see at cumulative level that a note exists.

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Status

The Difference Analyzer uses the following statuses:

Red traffic light: posting is not possible.

Green traffic light: posting is possible.

Yellow traffic light: posting is possible with a warning.

At detailed level, the traffic light is green if all the following conditions are met:

No tolerance has been exceeded.

You have not locked a difference.

No stock is in customs blocked stock.

As soon as one or more of these conditions is no longer met, the traffic light for the relevant difference is red.

At cumulative level, the traffic light is green if all the following conditions are met:

The balance does not exceed the tolerance.

You have not locked a difference.

The stock in customs blocked stock balances to make zero.

There are no serial number requirements with the attribute C (Serial Number Requirement in Inventory Management).

You can influence this overall status with a customer-specific status (customer status). If, for example, the customer status turns
yellow, the overall status also turns yellow (if it is not already red due to other conditions). You set the customer status in the
Business Add-In (BAdI) Set Customer Status (/SCWM/EX_PI_SET_STATUS). If you have not implemented this BAdI, the
customer status is always green.

Correct

You can only correct differences that arose in the physical inventory. Moreover, you can only correct differences at detailed level.

 Example
During the physical inventory for a storage bin in which 31 pieces of a product should be found, you have only counted 30
pieces and have therefore entered 30 pieces as the quantity counted. Later on, you are informed that two pieces are missing
and not just one. You correct the difference from one piece to two pieces. The system creates an additional physical inventory
document with the quantity counted of 29 pieces and the book quantity of 30, and automatically posts this document. In the
total, you then get the required difference of two pieces.

Change Stock Type

You can change the stock type of differences at the detailed level. You can also schedule this function as a background job using
program /SCWM/R_DIFF_ANA_STOCK_CHANGE.

 Example
During the physical inventory for a storage bin that should have 100 pieces of a product in it, you find that there are only 80
pieces. The difference of 20 pieces is posted to the Difference Analyzer, but in the SAP S/4HANA system, the available quantity

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is still 100 pieces. You can change the stock type of the difference in the Difference Analyzer to make the missing stock
unavailable in the SAP S/4HANA system.

Post Differences to S/4HANA System

You can also post one or more cumulative differences or differences at detailed level to the SAP S/4HANA system. In the SAP
S/4HANA system, a material document is created automatically that reflects the goods movement in Extended Warehouse
Management (EWM) in the SAP S/4HANA system. You can no longer see the stock in the Difference Analyzer.

 Caution
To avoid short dumps in case of posting differences of several products in one mixed HU, we recommend to post single
differences at cumulative level, or to post multiple differences at detailed level.

 Note
Rounding residuals are technical differences that occur when quantities are rounded to different degrees of precision when
EWM communicates with the Inventory Management application component. These differences are collected and displayed in
the Difference Analyzer. You can manually post them at cumulative level, but no other actions are supported.

For more information, see Rounding Residuals.

Activities
To call the Difference Analyzer, on the launchpad, choose Extended Warehouse Management Physical Inventory Analyze
Differences .

 Note
When you enter a new warehouse in the Difference Analyzer, you must perform the search again to update the display.

To schedule the posting of differences to the SAP S/4HANA system as a background job, on the launchpad, choose Extended
Warehouse Management Physical Inventory Periodic Processing Post Differences - Automatic .

Physical Inventory Progress

Use
In the case of the physical inventory, you aim to have completely inventoried all storage bins and stocks by the end of the physical
inventory year. You can display the status of this completeness (physical inventory progress (PI progress)) in the warehouse
management monitor (see Warehouse Management Monitor. You can do this at the following levels:

Storage bin

Product

Cycle counting

Features
Storage-Bin-Specific PI Progress

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A physical inventory area is completely inventoried when you have inventoried all the relevant storage bins. A warehouse is
completely inventoried when you have completely inventoried all the relevant physical inventory areas.

The PI progress refers to the number of storage bins that have been counted and the number that are still to be counted only. It
does not refer to the effort required to count the individual storage bins.

 Note
You have 1000 storage bins in your warehouse. You have counted 100 of them. In this case, the PI progress is 10%.

The completeness of a physical inventory area or warehouse remains intact. This means that if you have completely inventoried
your warehouse in January at the beginning of the physical inventory year, it remains completely inventoried in December at the
end of the physical inventory year. You document the goods movements that occur in the warehouse during this period by using
warehouse tasks (WTs) (see Warehouse Task.

The storage-bin-specific PI progress always refers to a physical inventory period such as a physical inventory year.

Product-Specific PI Progress

A product is completely inventoried when you have counted all the stocks of this product per physical inventory area and party
entitled to dispose. Here the completeness remains intact too.

When you post the physical inventory document, the system performs a completeness check. The system checks for each
physical inventory document whether this is the last open physical inventory document. If it is the last open physical inventory
document, the system sets the completeness.

 Example
Product X is in physical inventory area M in the storage bins A, B, and C.

Physical inventory without movements

If you first count A, then B, and then C, the system sets the completeness when you have counted C. If you then move
stock, for example, from B to D, the completeness remains intact.

Physical inventory with movements

After you have counted A and B, you move the product from A to D. If you now count C, the system realizes that the
product is in B, C, and D, in other words, the physical inventory document for C is not the last open physical inventory
document. For this reason, the system does not set the completeness.

 Recommendation
To avoid goods movements during the physical inventory, we recommend that you count the entire stock per physical inventory
area in a short space of time, or that you lock the stock during the physical inventory. The following example shows how goods
movements affect the behavior of the completeness check.

 Note
For the product-specific PI progress, the storage-bin-specific documents are also included. However, the product-specific
documents are not included in the storage-bin-specific PI progress.

If, for example, you perform a storage-bin-specific PI on A in the example above, but you perform a product-specific PI on B and
C, all the products are completely inventoried in the product-specific PI since A is also included. For the storage-bin-specific PI
progress, the storage bins are not completely inventoried since B and C are not included.

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For the system to be able to determine the completeness, stock of the relevant product must be available in at least one storage
bin in the warehouse. If the product is not available in a physical inventory area (zero stock), the system refrains from making a
statement for this physical inventory area. If the product is available in all physical inventory areas except for this one and it has
been completely inventoried, the entire warehouse is completely inventoried.

The product-specific PI progress always refers to a physical inventory period such as a physical inventory year.

 Note
When the system saves the completeness data, it also stores personal data of the party entitled to dispose and the owner of
the stock. If you want to delete this information, you can use the Delete Completeness Data Sets report. For more information,
see Reports in Physical Inventory

PI Progress for Cycle Counting

The PI progress for cycle counting is the same as the product-specific PI progress with the exception that it does not refer to
physical inventory periods but to the interval in which you count the product. If, for example, you have defined that you must count
a product of the class A once a month, you must recount it every month to ensure that it is completely inventoried again at the end
of the month. However, the first count is sufficient for legal requirements.

 Note
When the system saves the completeness data, it also stores personal data of the party entitled to dispose and the owner of
the stock. If you want to delete this information, you can use the Delete Completeness Data Sets report. For more information,
see Reports in Physical Inventory

Activities
To display the PI progress, on the launchpad, choose Extended Warehouse Management Monitoring Warehouse Monitor
and in the warehouse management monitor, choose Phys. Inventory PI Progress .

To schedule the completeness check as a background job, on the launchpad, choose Extended Warehouse Management
Physical Inventory Periodic Processing Check Product for Complete Count . As a prerequisite, you must have selected the
ComplCheck (Completeness Check Online/Offline (Report)) checkbox. For more information, see Customizing under SCM
Basis Physical Inventory Basic Settings Define Physical Inventory Area .

Performing Physical Inventory on Production Supply Areas

Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) can help you perform accurate physical inventory on production supply areas (PSAs),
where the amount of stock is constantly changing.

Context
When a production worker takes products from a PSA, goods issue posting is often done later as a backflush. To deal with the
difference between the stock quantity on the PSA and the quantity in the system, you can link the physical inventory document to
a production order using the Count Reference field. When you enter the production order as a count reference, the system links
the physical inventory to the production order. The system updates the numbers with the goods issue information from the
production order.

Prerequisites

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If you want the counter to enter a count reference for all physical inventory counts done for a specific reason, you have selected
the Count Reference checkbox in the Customizing activity Define Reason for Physical Inventory. For more information, see
Customizing for Extended Warehouse Management under Internal Warehouse Processes Physical Inventory Warehouse-
Number-Specific Settings Reason and Priority Define Reason for Physical Inventory .

Procedure
1. Create a physical inventory document that is stock based for the specific product or batch on the bin.

Because the activities on the PSA should not be blocked by physical inventory process, we recommend that you create the
physical inventory document without a storage bin block.

You can also select to not freeze the book inventory, especially if this physical inventory document will be counted over a
long period of time.

2. Count the stock in the bin.

For paper-driven physical inventory, you record the time of the count, the count reference, the stock quantity, and detailed
information like the handling unit (HU) on paper.

For physical inventory using radio frequency (RF) devices, you scan the PSA and enters the count reference, the stock
quantity, and detailed information into the system directly.

3. Record the result of the count in the system (paper-driven physical inventory).

You enter the count result into system. You enter the counter, the time of the count, and the stock quantity. You also enter
the production order number as count reference.

 Note
When you're changing count results for a counted physical inventory document, you can't change the count reference.

The system uses this order number to get information about pending goods issue posting warehouse tasks that existed at
the time of counting. The system uses the information, the book stock quantity, and the counted stock quantity to generate
an accurate difference quantity for the physical inventory document.

For physical inventory using RF devices, the system performs this step as part of step 2.

4. Confirm the count result and post the physical inventory.

You check the count result and post the physical inventory item.

The system updates the system stock information in EWM and posts the difference quantity to the difference analyzer.

5. Post the difference to Inventory Management.

You check the differences in the difference analyzer and post them to Inventory Management.

Reports in Physical Inventory

Use
The following reports are available in physical inventory for work scheduling, performing the physical inventory, and correcting
errors.

To call the reports, on the launchpad, choose Extended Warehouse Management Physical Inventory Periodic Processing .

Features
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Reports for Work Scheduling

Determine and Set Prices in Decentralized Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) from an Enterprise Management System

You can use this report to download product prices from the enterprise management system into EWM. The system takes these
prices into account during the tolerance checks when you post physical inventory documents in EWM and when you post
differences to the enterprise management system.

The report creates a snapshot of the prices at the time when the report is executed. If the prices in the enterprise management
system change after you run the report, the prices in EWM do not reflect the current prices in the enterprise management system.
This means that difference values calculated using these prices do not always match the values shown in the enterprise
management system. Therefore, these difference values cannot be used for financial reporting.

The system does not store the difference values in EWM documents (for example, the physical inventory document). The
difference values are used only to control processes or for operational purposes.

 Recommendation
We recommend that you run the report in accordance with the frequency of changes to your product master data. In other
words, if your product master data changes frequently, you should also run the report frequently.

If you use split-valuated products without batches in the enterprise management system, you must run the report to download the
valuation types from the enterprise management system first. The valuation types are handled as batches in EWM.

 Note
To avoid stock inconsistencies between EWM and the enterprise management system, you must run the report before the first
goods movement of a split-valuated product without batches in EWM or before new valuation types are created in enterprise
management.

Operational Reports

Create Physical Inventory Document and Create Physical Inventory Document (Cycle Counting)

You can use these reports to create physical inventory documents in the background. If you have to count a large number of
products, for example, you can have the system create the physical inventory documents overnight and you can then start to
process them in the morning.

Print Physical Inventory Count Document

You can use this report to schedule the printing of physical inventory count documents as a background job. For example, you can
print all the physical inventory count documents for a number of physical inventory documents that you created previously in the
warehouse management monitor. Otherwise, you can schedule the printing as a background job to run overnight.

Post Differences to Inventory Management

You can use this report to schedule the posting of differences to Inventory Management as a background job. As is the case for the
Difference Analyzer, you can post differences at cumulative level and detailed level.

 Note
The system performs the tolerance check with the user settings for the user who starts the report. If required, create a
separate user.

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 Note
If you are using decentralized EWM, this report posts the differences to the connected enterprise management system.

 Recommendation
We recommend that you use this report to post small differences.

Check Product for Complete Count

You can use this report to perform a completeness check in the background. For more information, see Physical Inventory
Progress.

Delete Completeness Data Sets

When you perform a completeness check the result is stored in a table that grows larger over time. This report deletes old data
sets that are not needed anymore. Note that you can only delete completeness data sets created previous to the last period.

You can use this report to delete completeness data sets that contain personal data for the party entitled to dispose and the
owner.

Upload Storage Bins and Count Data and Download Storage Bins and Stock Data

These reports allow you to download storage bin data and stock data to send to external systems or upload storage bin data and
count data that you have received from an external system.

For uploading, you have the following options:

You upload the storage bin data for which you want to carry out a physical inventory. You carry out the physical inventory in
EWM.

You carry out the physical inventory in an external system and then upload the results to EWM.

 Note
For the sample-based physical inventory, you download the storage bin and stock data. You then determine the sample in an
external system. You then carry out the sample-based physical inventory in EWM.

 Recommendation
Save the data in the format csv.

Check Reports (Checking Errors)

Stock Comparison with Inventory Management

You can use this report to identify and correct inconsistencies between EWM and Inventory Management. Since you perform
inventory management for a specific storage bin in EWM, unlike in Inventory Management where you perform inventory
management for a specific storage location, the system always assumes that the stocks in EWM are correct. The system also
assumes that you have to correct the stocks in Inventory Management where necessary.

 Note
If you are using decentralized EWM, this report identifies inconsistencies between EWM and the connected enterprise
management system.

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Adjust Serial Numbers at Warehouse Number Level

For serial number requirement B (Serial Number Requirement at Warehouse Number Level), the system saves the serial
numbers in a global table. When you post differences in the Difference Analyzer, the system does not automatically delete the
serial numbers from this table. Therefore, we recommend that from time to time you reconcile the data in this table with the serial
numbers recorded in the physical inventory. This report suggests serial numbers for deletion that have not been recorded by
physical inventory documents in the period in question. You can then delete these serial numbers.

Physical Inventory Using Radio Frequency

Use
You can also enter the count results using a radio frequency (RF) device. In this case, you must not print a physical inventory count
document or transfer the count results from the physical inventory count document to the system. Moreover, the data is
transferred to the system in a timely way.

Prerequisites

You have logged on in the RF environment. For more information, see Logon.

Features

You can use physical inventory documents to perform physical inventory counting and enter the count results in the RF
device. The device automatically records the count time and the counter. The remaining steps are the same as for physical
inventory without an RF device. For more information, see Physical Inventory.

You can perform ad hoc physical inventory counting without using a physical inventory document. You enter the storage bin
to start counting in the RF device. The device automatically creates the physical inventory document and records the count
time and the counter. The remaining steps are the same as for physical inventory without an RF device. For more
information, see Physical Inventory.

If the storage bin is handling-unit managed, you can carry out the physical inventory counting with handling unit collective
counting using the RF device. For more information, see Collective Counting Using Radio Frequency.

If you find a product in a bin in a physical warehouse, but not in the bin in the system, you can still perform ad hoc physical
inventory counting for the product using an RF device. If there is mixed storage in the physical bin, you can perform physical
inventory only for the product that you found.

Activities

You carry out a physical inventory count and enter the count results in the RF device. The device automatically records the count
time and the counter. The remaining steps are the same as for physical inventory without radio frequency. For more information,
see Physical Inventory.

Count Physical Inventory - Paper-Driven Counting

With this app, you can quickly count physical inventory (PI) documents. In the Overview screen, you can filter PI documents, for
example, by storage type and print PI documents. In a separate process, the printouts of PI documents are handed over to the
warehouse workers for counting. After warehouse workers record the count results on the printouts, you use this app to enter the
results into the system for the corresponding documents. This app is mainly used for paper-driven PI counting.

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Key Features

You can use this app to:

Filter PI documents, for example, by storage type

Print PI documents and define the layout of the printouts

Deactivate or activate PI documents

Count PI items of PI documents

For example, you can choose a status for a handling unit or a storage bin, and change the product quantity or unit of
measure.

Count PI items for serialized products, including assigning ranges of serial numbers to PI items

Add products or handling units

Partially count PI items for a warehouse order

Assign a count reference to a PI item during counting

Supported Device Types

Desktop

Tablet

Additional Information

Physical Inventory Printing

A PI counting list is manually issued in the Count Physical Inventory - Paper-Driven Counting app. The supported channel is
printout.

The PI counting list includes PI counting items for the counting process. It also contains the warehouse order and PI document
number as a bar code on header level.

The PI counting list contains the following information by default:

Storage bin

Handling unit (HU)

Product

Product description

Batch

Quantity (for input)

Unit of measure (for input)

You can add more fields, for example, nested HU, owner, and party entitled to dispose in Customizing for Extended Warehouse
Management under Internal Warehouse Processes Physical Inventory Print Define Print Form for Physical Inventory
Documents . You can use this Customizing activity only for the form template /SCWM/PI_CNT_FIORI for landscape
orientation or /SCWM/PI_CNT_FIORI_POR for portrait orientation.

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Physical Inventory Procedure

You can choose between the following physical inventory procedures in the Count Physical Inventory - Paper-Driven Counting
app:

Annual Physical Inventory (Storage-Bin-Specific)

Annual Physical Inventory (Product-Specific)

Cycle Counting Physical Inventory (Prod.-Specific)

External Procedure (Storage-Bin-Specific)

External Procedure (Product-Specific)

Ad-hoc Physical Inventory (Storage-Bin-Specific)

Ad-hoc Physical Inventory (Product-Specific)

How-To Video

Open this video in a new window

Application Programming Interface

The following application programming interface (API) is available for physical inventory:

/SCWM/IF_API_PI

API for counting physical inventory items, changing count results, and marking physical inventory items as Deleted.

For more information, see the API in transaction SE24.

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