Regarding the complexity of enabling customs management module

[Former Member]

Dear Gurus,

Could you please share your thoughts on the complexity on enabling customs management module under the GTS? For example, 1 legal entity with 1-3 warehouses in the duty free zone.

It will be very nice, if you could also share your thoughts on what will be the key factors which determines the level of complexity, such as number of warehouse, mater data etc.

Best Regards,

SL

[former_member215181 · Accepted solution]

Hi SL,

Unfortunately you do not mention in which country you aim to implement Customs Management, so in some ways it's difficult to comment.

Assuming that it is a country for which GTS is fully "localized", then the main challenges are usually around the Master Data and the complexity of the logistics warehouse operations - the extent to which movements in the ERP system are really consistent with the intended inbound and outbound processes.  If you have a situation where the logistics staff are continually having to make corrections to the transactions and stock balances, then you are likely to have a hard time with the inventory management in GTS.

I hope that helps a little.

Regards,

Dave

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi, Dave,

Very very much appreciated your reply. It helped a lot.

Actually, I'm trying to validate if GTS could help us in China. And yes, what you mentioned on the  logistics staff is what we are facing now. Could you please share your thoughts on if GTS is capable to resolve the inventory management requiremet without any customized development or enhancement?

And based on your comments, I feel the maturity of GTS solution varies different countries, could you please help elaborate more on this?

Thanks again for your help, have a nice week end!

SL

[former_member215181 · Accepted solution]

Hi SL,

Yes, GTS should be able to handle it without any special enhancements.  The technique is to carefully analyse each Movement Type and choose carefully the corresponding effect required in the GTS Warehouse inventory.  You may also be able to ignore some Movement Types if they really should have no effect in GTS.

Even after that, you might find that, although the feeder system movements can be processed correctly in GTS, the Customs Department have to carry out investigations in order to make the right decisions - for example about which duty type to use.  In that case, the staffing levels will need careful attention.  It's sometimes the case that the inventory exceptions consume more resource than the intended standard processes, due to poor logistics behaviour.

And yes, the extent to which GTS is localized varies considerably from country to country.  In some cases that is due to the need to gain official accreditation; in others, only that customers have not so far asked for some customs processes to be provided.  You should check (by testing or through conversations with SAP) before agreeing the project scope with the custommer.

Regards,

Dave

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Thank you so much, Dave,

Your comments gave me a lot of inspiration. It makes a lot of sense to consult SAP China first before we finalize the project scope.

Best Regards,

SL