Batch Management
Batch Management
Batch Management
Batch Management
Many companies are faced with more stringent environmental and consumer protection laws as well as with increasing requirements in the area of
product liability. R/3 batch management contains cross-application functionality enabling you to fulfill the complex requirements of the pharmaceutical and chemical industries, among others.
Introduction
By systematically managing batches, or production lots (as they are frequently called), you can greatly improve customer satisfaction, as you can then
precisely plan and control product quality. A usability check enables you to
locate the optimum batches meeting customer specifications. You can use
this function to find batches you want to use in a production process.
Batch
management
Procurement
Production
Warehouse
Management
Warehouse
Management
A
A A
AA
Purchase
order
Sales and
Distribution
Warehouse
Process/
Production
order
Warehouse
Salesorder
Using the batch management functionality, you can improve the quality of
your warehousing since you can locate the optimum batch to be used or
sold. Using the batch where-used list, you can track batches over the complete supply chain; that is from receipt of a batch of raw material, through
production, right up to final delivery to your customer. Should it be necessary to recall a product, you can initiate the required measures immediately.
7-1
Batch Management
Definition of the
Term Batch
SAPs usage of the term batch (lot) concurs with the following definition
published by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in their Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP):
Batch: a batch is a quantity of any drug produced during a given cycle of
manufacture. The essence of a batch is its homogeneity.
For SAP a batch is thus a quantity of any given material, produced during
one production process. It is characterized by clearly defined specifications.
Using Batch Management, you can manage partial quantities of a material
seperately in stock.
The figure below shows how batches are created during a production process. Depending on the requirements of your industry, you can also combine
batches of materials that have identical specifications during quality inspections.
Process order 1
Process order 2
Quantity 1
Quantity 2
Batch 1
Viscosity
pH value
1930 cst
7.5
Viscosity
pH value
7-2
1950 cst
8.5
Batch Management
Management of
Batch Specifications
Characteristics
Viscosity at 25
Color
Epoxy count
Volatile portion
Material
Epoxy resin X
Viscosity
Color
Epoxy count
Volatile portion
5000-12000
0-5
23-25
0.00-0.50
Batch 1
Epoxy resin
Viscosity
Color
Epoxy count
Volatile portion
7250
1-3
23-25
0.30
7-3
Batch Management
Batch Levels
You can define at which level you want batches, or more precisely batch
numbers, to be unique.
at plant level
at material level
at client level for a material
Plant Level
Choose this option if you want a batch number to be known only in the plant
in which it was created, and not in plants that might also stock the same
material. In this case, the batch number is unique in combination with a
plant and a material. In another plant, the same batch number identifies a
different batch of the same material.
Material Level
Choose this option if you want the batch number to be unique in combination with a material. When you create a batch, it is automatically known in
all plants that use this material. If you use this option, a batch number cannot refer to different batches in two plants. If you transfer the batch from
one plant to another, the batch specifications will also be known in the new
location, even if the batch is stored there for the first time.
Client Level
Choose this option if you want your batch numbers to be unique at client
level. In this case, the batch number is a unique reference to the material for
which you created the batch. The specifications of the batch are identical in
all plants in which you use the batch. You cannot assign the same batch
number to different materials.
Should you decide to change the batch level after you have already created
batches, you can use a conversion tool to change the batch level.
Batch Number
Assignment
7-4
Batch Management
You can also influence the structure or layout of batch numbers. This, for
instance, enables you to link other information with the batch number: information on the plant in which the batch was manufactured, or on the
material type as well as on other application data for a particular business
transaction.
A batch can be either usable or not usable. In the R/3 System, you can portray batch usability using status types unrestricted and restricted. The
appropriate stock type is directly connected to the batch status. If the batch
status changes, a stock transfer posting is automatically triggered from restricted to unrestricted stock or vice versa.
Batch Status
Management
All other stock types (for example, stock in quality inspection, blocked stock,
open purchase order quantities, GR blocked stock) are not affected by this
type of transfer posting. You can post new stocks to them, independent of
their respective status.
Like all other batch specifications, the batch status is stored as a characteristic in the Classification System. You can either set the status manually or
automatically during the usage decision in Quality Management. You can
store all authorized usages of unrestricted stocks and the reasons for
restricted usage using additional characteristics.
You activate batch status management in Customizing. If batches are unique
at client or material level, batch status management is active for all batches in
the client. If the batches are unique at plant level, you can activate batch
status management separately for each plant.
You can use the batch where-used list and the batch record to track batches.
Batch Tracking
7-5
Batch Management
In this way, it is possible to display all materials and respective batches used
during the manufacture of a product that has been supplied to one of your
customers (top-down analysis, see figure 7-4). You can also display all steps
in production during which a specific batch of a material was used (bottomup analysis).
You can use this function not only for raw materials, intermediate and
finished products, but also for trading goods.
Batch Record
The batch record contains all data on the manufacturing process of a batch
that is required to ensure compliance. In PP-PI, the requirements of an
electronic batch record are met using process data documentation. Process
data documentation is a tool that enables you to collect target and actual
data and to store this data in an optical archive. For detailed information,
refer to chapter Process Data Documentation and Evaluation.
Batch Determination
Batch determination is a usability check. You can use this function for all
outward movements to find batches that meet certain specifications. The
functionality is identical in all applications.
You can run batch determination in the following areas:
Inventory Management
Production
Distribution
Warehouse Management
Search strategies are the cornerstones of batch determination. Search strategies are master data and contain information on the selection criteria you
want to use to find batches and on the further handling of the batches found
(for example, wether batch splits are authorized). Search strategies are
defined for individual business transactions.
In process manufacturing, you can use batch determination to find batches
of material components to be handled in batches. There are several methods
you can use to store the selection criteria required for batch determination.
The system automatically checks batch availability during batch determination.
The figure 7-5 shows the screen generated after you trigger batch determination in a process order.
7-6
Batch Management
7-7