LICC / RLINV060 - New quants create many more counts than ABC indicator config

[Former Member]

LICC / RLINV060 uses LQUA-IDATU (the last inventory date of that quant) as a basis for proposing a cycle count.  The problem is that once a new quant is created for a material, the LQUA-IDATU field is left blank and is therefore proposed for cycle counting right away.

This is problematic for us.  Our requirement is that we want to count A items 12 times a year.  When we count an A item, we want to count that A item wherever it is in the warehouse.  We also use mixed bin level storage so we do not want to use LX26 to count the whole bin, we want to simply count a material in every location where it exists 12 times a year.

This is a real world example of what happens:

Material ABC

CC Indicator A

A items counted 12 times a year

So if we have only one quant of ABC, and the LQUA-IDATU is a date of 7 days ago, this item should not be due to be counted for 23 days.  But if we take that material and move it to another bin, or take a portion of the qty of that material and move it to another bin - the LQUA-IDATU of the new quant is blank - and therefore material ABC shows up on LICC as due to be counted.

In a warehouse that has a lot of movement of materials - this means that materials could be counted MANY more times than their cycle count indicator would suggest.  If we moved material ABC every day to a new bin, it would suggest counting material ABC 365 days a year.

Is there a solution to this?  I know this has to be a common problem. 

Thanks in advance.

[former_member639734]

Check the “Stock putaway as invent. Date” in the selection screen.

In cases where there is no entry in LQUA-IDATU (quant not yet counted), LQUA-EDATU is used as the base date in the calculation of the new inventory date when this is checked.

EDATU is basically the quant creation date.

So if you move your A material to another bin and run LICC with “Stock putaway as invent. Date” checked, that material (quant) will be due to be counted in 30 days.

This is useful for warehouses that confirm their putaway quantities.  Since the material is being counted at putaway, then there is no need to immediately cycle count it.

If you find that this does not propose enough counts or the warehouse is "caught up" on their counts, then you can run LICC without “Stock putaway as invent. Date” checked.

Try a sample with checked and unchecked and compare what's proposed.

[JL23]

I dont think this is common problem. if we get goods, then they are put away into a bin. And they leave this bin when they are to be consumed or to be shipped. I would not  know any real world reason why I should regularily move quants from bin to bin

[Former Member]

Thanks for the reply Jurgen - but it is very common practice to use random storage strategies in fast moving distribution environments.  There are numerous reasons to move stock within a warehouse other than shipping and consumption.

Even under the LICC logic - if you were using standard SAP fixed bin replenishment (LP21), the situation I describe above happens if the fixed bin goes to zero qty.  In other words - if my fixed bin (the one that is being replenished) is emptied before it is replenished (happens multiple times every day), once I replenish I have a new quant and that material is due for cycle counting in LICC.  If this happens every day - that material is in LICC every day.

Surely you aren't suggesting that this is not a common warehouse process?

[JL23]

I still doubt that moving quants between bins is a common warehouse process, I certainly agree that the quants get deleted frequently if you have a high inventory turnover. As I only work with batches, I had not even considered that a quant could stay for a long time if it gets always replenished before it is totally zero (a batch is not endless).

But LICC is a quant inventory, so the inventory is only valid until the quant is gone.

In old releases it was not even possible to add a from to range of materials, LICC could only be called for a single material. (compare OSS note 545056)

Unfortunately with your discribed situation, neither LICC nor the standard WM cycle count with LX26 can really help you to count only as much as expected with the CC indicators.

you may need to think about workarounds. e.g. lists with materials already counted in this month, those need to be excluded from the selection in LICC when it is called again the same month.

You may be able to automate  this workaround  with a modification for the select conditions. ( a Z-copy of LICC report RLINV060) , but this requires certainly an approval from your auditors.