Packaging Material Management

Especially for subcontractors and system suppliers working with SAP ERP, the scheduling of Packing materials often difficult. A precise distinction must be made as to whether standard or special load carriers are involved.

The standard load containers, which can originate from suppliers, freight forwarders, customers, load carrier pooling service providers, but also from the company's own sites, and which are to be procured at short notice, are constantly exchanged among each other. The key issue in the scheduling of standard load carriers is primarily knowing which containers are required by which customer, when and in what quantity, and which supplier is to be provided with how many packaging materials at what time.

The situation is different with special containers. These are usually purchased exclusively for a project and, since they cannot usually be used elsewhere, are also only produced in limited quantities. The required special load carriers are calculated before the start of the project and produced in the appropriate quantity. In contrast to standard load carriers, special load carriers usually come into a firmly defined cycle, where disposition is often not necessary in the "push" process. However, if the project runs over several years, the original costing basis may change and the initially functioning cycle may come to a standstill. The calculation and the actual requirements must therefore be regularly compared so that additional special load carriers can be ordered in good time if necessary.

Since the corresponding processes are not included in the SAP standard functions for packaging materials planning, planning is carried out manually in Microsoft Excel or on paper - a labor-intensive and time-consuming feat.