Depot Repair Order Flexibility after SO created

[Former Member]

Hi everyone,

I have a client who's looking into using the Depot Repair functionality to handle all returns. What we're finding so far is that everything works well so long as you know what you're going to do with the material before you create the service notification. We need to be able to receive the material back in before we decide if we're going to repair it, replace it, or just credit the customer. The Notification type creates and drives the SO processing. W/in the SO, the item categories seem to be driving the returns subline, the repair subline, and the outboud delivery subline. I thought perhaps we could change the item cateogories in order to control subsequent processing (ie, before the return is actually processed in VL01n, update the item category on the return to reflect an item category for return for replacement vs return for repair, etc. but the item categories are protected in the SO.

Does anybody have a better way of being able to provide the flexibility of determining the type of processing after the Service notification has been created? If not, does anybody know how to "unprotect" the item category fields so we can update them manually?

thanks for the assistance,

Christie

Edited by: Christie Monacos on Aug 4, 2010 3:53 AM

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hello Christie

I am not a CS specialist, but my current role affords me the opportunity to provide some thoughts. Here the repair process has been automated to 2 distinct stages: a) Receipt and b) Inspection and repair, to create multiple documents and even objects ( Equipment if required) from Service, Sales, Logistics, and Inventory Management perspectives.

1) For one you can divide the service notifications into 2 types: a) Customer facing, and b) Internal (fault) Notification.

2) When you receive you can have 3 types of dispositions: a) Review receipt, b) Return for Repair and c) Exchange at Receipt. If all information is available, in case of the last 2 dispositions, the following documents are created:

a) Equipment if serialized

b) Customer facing notification

c) repair order

d Inbound delivery

e) Material document for movement into stock

f) service order/s

g) Internal Fault Service notification

3) The first one, Review receipt is used when there is not enough information to create a Repair order. At that time the documents created are: a) Customer facing notification, b) Equipment u2013 if serialized, c) Goods receipt material document. A task is added automatically to the notification for administration action and/or follow up with the customer.Once all info is available, the remaining documents are created using the reference of Customer facing notification.

4) Thus the repair order created will have requisite sub-lines, e.g. Return, Exchange, Repair etc.

So I believe you need to follow the business process as it happens in SAP.

Hope this helps. Let me know.

4)

4) Once information becomes available, all other documents created.

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Thanks for responding. I'm still unclear. Are you able to determine part way through the process whether the notification will be customer facing vs internal? In our case, we need to receive the product before we know if we're going to repair it or replace it. The service notification and Return SO will already be created and a return delivery booked against the Return SO. Do you have the ability to decide at this point whether you'll be repairing the product vs replacing it w/out creating a new service notification and starting the process again?

thanks!

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Both (customer facing as well as Internal) types of Service Notifications are always created. Whether they are created together or apart will be dependent upon information upon receipt of the equipment and its disposition.

In our case too, we need to receive the product before we know if we're going to repair it or replace it. The internal notification and repair order are created only after in house ( or at service center) inspection and disposition actions decided thereof.

In our case receipt is the trigger for all actions and if it is to be reviewed ( i.e. disposition unknown) only the receipt document ( material doc) and the customer facing notification are created.

After the inspection, the internal notification and repair order are created with return line, repair line etc. Then the Service Reps go back to same custom transaction to create these documents. And if this is decided to be a return for repair, the return delivery and Goods Receipt will also be posted and the original material document is reversed. Service order also will be created for capturing the components and labor.

If it is to be returned to customer for some reason without any action at our end, even that action (document) will also take place then.

Thus like I said it is a 2-step custom workbench process with 2 custom transactions. 1) for receipt, 2) Inspection and repair processing.

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

It sounds like you guys have a custom solution developed. Is that right? It also sounds like the service notification is created after the material is returned. Does this mean you bring the material back under regular returns processing and log all the information about the customer's complaint into the return order rather than the service notification?

thanks for responding. It helps to hear what others are doing.

Christie

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Yes it is a custom solution, I would rather term it as a custom facilitation which executes several transactions and creates several objects (documents) at once. It is not changing the core SAP processes or their sequence. In stead of the user trying to remember and create several SD/CS/MM documents, this transaction takes care of all of them by collecting all the required info in one screen.

In the most used scenario the Notification is created at the time of receipt but it can be created before (only that) and used in the custom transaction as reference to produce all other documents. Like I said we use 2 types of notifications and that distributes the information needs. Another interesting thing is the same transaction can be used to produce what is possible and later all the others can be generated from the same transaction.

All the complaint related info is in the service notification itself. If the disposition is not known, then the initial receipt document is

just a place holder to take the Material into stock.

Also I am wondering why can't you add return lines post- inspection in an already existing Repair order?

[bcrao]

Hi,

You can control this using repair procedure - look in to customization undel-

SD-Sales-Sales doc-cs-Returns and repair-Repair procedure

here create and assign actions in the procedure

Based on action say 101- you need to customize item cat. determination as item usage R101 etc.

refer: Building blocks: Returns and Repairs at Plant for IT Services (D42),

Easy Depot Repair (275),Depot Repair (217)

Thanks

Chidambaram