Troubleshooting Missing STO Shipping Data

[richard_heimburger2]

One of the most frustrating areas to troubleshoot in SAP is the creation of STOs and the subsequent shipping data (or lack thereof!) that is required to completely process a transfer.  SAP does not always offer much direction when issuing errors in this area, which makes it difficult to get to the root causes.  Plus, I have not found a central location that will help troubleshoot STO shipping issues, therefor hours of research are often necessary to resolve issues.

Through the years, I have collected the common issues and subsequent resolutions that I have faced supporting STO functionality from the purchasing side, which are summarized in this post, though this commonly bleeds into sales and shipping functionality.  I regularly refer to this guide when I hit any STO issues, so I think that it will be useful for anyone who is implementing STO functionality in SAP.

1) Missing vendor when creating STO

• The internal vendor does not default – this is most likely because the Intercompany vendor does not have a plant assignment.
  
  
  
  1. Maintain the plant assignment in the vendor master (Purchasing Data>Extras>Add. purchasing data):
  
  
  
  

2) Missing Storage Location in the Outbound Delivery

• The storage location is blank when the outbound delivery is created – this is because the system cannot locate a picking storage location. There can be one of two causes:
  
  
  
  1. The Storage Condition is missing from the material master (Plant Data / Storage 1 view)
  
  
  2. In Picking Location Determination (SPRO>Logistics Execution> Shipping> Picking> Determine Picking Location> Assign Picking Locations), an entry is missing for the ShpgPt/Plant/Storage Condition/SLoc combination:
  
  
  
  

3) Zero Quantity in Outbound Delivery

• When the outbound delivery is created, the quantity delivered is zero despite the STO order quantity.

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   1. This means that there was not sufficient stock in the source plant/storage location. You can add inventory, as appropriate through transaction MB1C, using movement type 501.
   
   
   
   

4) STO Does Not Appear in Delivery Due List (VL10B)

• When the delivery due list is run to create the outbound delivery, the STO does not appear.

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   1. This is typically because the Delivery Creation Date on the STO is in the past – the standard system back schedules according to the planned delivery time. You can override this by activating shipment scheduling for the document type and delivery type combination in customizing (SPRO> Materials Management> Purchasing> Purchase Order> Set up Stock Transport Order> Assign Delivery Type and Checking Rule).
   
   
   
   

5) Not Possible to Determine Shipping Data for Material

• This means that the system was not able to retrieve sufficient data to create the Shipping tab on the STO. This is perhaps the most frustrating error you can receive as there are several root causes:

1) The customer for the receiving plant is not assigned in the Shipping Data for Plant customizing activity. The plant must be set up as a customer in the correct Sales Organization and Distribution Channel, with the customer master record number maintained in STO configuration (SPRO> > Materials Management> Purchasing> Purchase Order> Set up Stock Transport Order>Define Shipping Data for Plants). The customer master for the receiving plant must be set up in the sales area maintained for the shipping organization’s plant.

2. The material master is not extended - the sales views must be created for the shipping plant and sales area maintained in customizing (see a. above).

1. 3. No shipping point is assigned to the shipping plant in Enterprise Structure customizing (SPRO> Enterprise Structure> Assignment> Logistics Execution> Assign shipping point to plant).


2. 4. The shipping point may not be properly maintained in Shipping Point Determination – an entry must be maintained for the storage condition and loading group combination of the shipping plant that is proposed for the STO. The shipping condition can be found on the customer master record of the receiving plant. The loading group can be found on the material master for the shipping sales area (Sales: Genera;/Plant view)

Again, these are the common issues I’ve encountered in troubleshooting STO shipping issues.  I’d love to hear feedback on this list, as well as any additional issues and resolutions you’ve come across.  Please click Like if you find it helpful,

Thanks!

Richard Heimburger

Dickinson + Associates