Merchandise management software for midsize companies: SAP Business One
SAP Business One runs purchasing, warehousing and sales on one shared database. Stock levels, valuations, price lists and batches sit where orders and invoices are created – not in spreadsheets next to the system.
For postings by scanner in the warehouse, init consulting AG adds Init Warehouse.One. In the live demo you see the processes in the system itself.
SAP merchandise management: what the system covers in a midsize company
Merchandise management software maps the path of the goods – from the purchase order to the supplier, through goods receipt, stock and order picking to the delivery note and the invoice. In midsize companies it is rarely a separate program; it is part of the ERP system.
As an SAP inventory management system, SAP Business One is built for midsize companies: inventory management and stock control, purchasing and sales are part of the standard. Item master data, inventory valuation, serial numbers and batches, bin locations, price lists and special prices, stocktaking, and pick and pack are included without an add-on. Material requirements planning uses the same item data.
Where the standard stops, init consulting AG adds what is needed: Init Warehouse.One for postings by scanner and Produmex for full warehouse management. Which of these your company needs is settled before we send a quotation.
- Core system
- SAP Business One
- Merchandise management as standard
- Warehouse, stock, purchasing, sales, prices, MRP
- Inventory valuation
- Moving average, FIFO, standard cost, serial/batch
- Scanner in the warehouse
- Init Warehouse.One
- Warehouse management
- Produmex
- Database
- SAP HANA or Microsoft SQL Server
- Deployment
- Cloud or on-premise
- Typical company size
- 5 to 250 users
- Partner status
- SAP Gold Partner since 2006
Every feature with its source: fact page Inventory Management in SAP Business One
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How a midsize company changed its merchandise management
Cetex Rheinfaser GmbH talks in the video about introducing SAP Business One with init consulting AG. The video is in German.
- The company Cetex Rheinfaser (from 0:38)
- Requirements for an ERP system (from 1:11)
- SAP Business One in practice (from 1:37)
- How the implementation ran (from 2:04)
- What has improved (from 2:21)
Where grown merchandise management typically fails in midsize companies
We hear these patterns often in first conversations. They do not prove that things are like this in your company – but they are a good checkpoint before you choose a new system.
Nobody trusts the stock figure in the system
Goods receipts are posted in the evening, transfers are made on request, stocktaking differences are written off instead of explained. Purchasing then orders more to be safe – and ties up capital in the warehouse.
Prices and terms live in several places
List prices in the ERP, customer terms in a spreadsheet, volume prices in the sales team's heads. Every price change has to be repeated several times, and errors only show up on the invoice.
Batches and serial numbers are traced by hand
When a complaint or a recall comes in, the search starts in delivery notes and folders: which batch went to which customer? Without traceability in the system, the answer takes hours instead of seconds.
Stocktaking brings operations to a halt
Everything is counted once a year, all at once, on paper lists. Recording takes staff away for days, and the differences can hardly be explained afterwards.
SAP Business One inventory management: what the standard covers
The following features belong to SAP Business One and need no add-on. Which of them are set up in your project depends on your processes.
Item master data
Inventory, purchasing and sales items in one master record, with separate units of measure for purchasing, inventory and sales. Stock is visible per warehouse – available, ordered and committed.
Planning data and material requirements planning
The item holds procurement method, order interval, minimum order quantity and lead time. Material requirements planning uses these values and proposes purchase orders or production orders.
Inventory valuation
Selectable per item: moving average, FIFO or standard cost, and for serial and batch managed items also valuation per serial number or batch. The default comes from the item group and can be overridden per item.
Serial numbers and batches
Serial numbers track every single unit all the way to the customer. Batches group quantities with shared attributes – such as an expiry date or attributes you define – and are carried through orders, delivery notes and stock movements.
Warehouses and bin locations
Any number of warehouses with their own stock. Bin locations are enabled per warehouse; receipts and issues can be allocated to a bin automatically by rule or manually. Default bins apply per item, item group or warehouse.
Stock movements
Goods receipts and goods issues without reference to a purchasing or sales document, inventory transfers between warehouses, and the entry of opening balances at go-live.
Stocktaking
Counts are recorded and posted in the system. Using counting cycles, SAP Business One recommends which items to count and when – important items more often, uncritical ones less often, instead of everything on one cut-off date.
Price lists
Every business partner has a price list. Derived price lists are calculated from a base list by a factor and change automatically as soon as the base is adjusted.
Special prices and volume scales
Special prices per customer or supplier, with a validity period and quantity-based scales. In a document, a special price takes precedence over list prices; period and volume discounts build on an existing price list.
Availability check and alternative items
If the order quantity exceeds the available stock, the availability check opens. If an alternative item is maintained and in stock, the quantity can be taken from it directly.
Business partner catalog numbers
Your customers' and suppliers' item numbers are linked to your own. Purchase orders can then be entered with the number the supplier uses on its documents.
Pick and pack
The pick and pack manager shows lines in three areas: open, released and picked. Pick lists can be split by customer, document, item group, item or warehouse.
The feature descriptions follow SAP SE's training material for SAP Business One. Individual sources are listed on the fact page.
Init Warehouse.One: inventory management in SAP Business One by scanner
Init Warehouse.One is init consulting AG's scanner-based solution for SAP Business One. Postings are made where the goods are moved – at goods receipt, during picking and at the bin location – instead of later at a desk.
General characteristics
- for SAP HANA and Microsoft SQL Server
- multi-company capable
- batch management
- serial number management
- bin location management
Processes
- purchasing and goods receipt
- delivery notes in sales
- pick and pack
- inventory transfer
- stocktaking
Information on the device
- Item info: quantities per serial or batch number and bin location
- Batch info: quantities per warehouse and bin location
- Bin info: quantities at the scanned bin
Goods receipt by scanner
- The user is enabled for the scanner in SAP Business One and receives a separate password.
- Scan the supplier number or reference number, or enter the supplier name. All open purchase orders of this supplier appear; with a unique reference or only one order, the next step opens directly.
- Select the purchase order, select an item or scan the item number, and enter the quantity.
- For serial or batch managed items, scan the number; the prefilled quantity of 1 can be changed. Without serial or batch management, just check the prefilled quantity.
- Save the entry. Once all lines are recorded, the document is posted and the goods receipt is created in SAP Business One.
Delivery note by scanner
- Scan the customer number or reference number, or enter the customer name. All open sales orders appear; with a unique reference the next step opens directly.
- Select the order and scan, enter or select the item.
- At the press of a button, the device shows in which bin location and in what quantity the item is held – also per serial and batch number.
- Scan or enter the serial numbers. For items without serial or batch management, the quantity from the sales order is prefilled and can be changed; the document is saved as a draft.
- Post the document. The delivery note is created and the goods are taken out of stock.
Init Warehouse.One requires an existing SAP Business One installation. Whether it is enough or full warehouse management with Produmex makes more sense is covered in the section Scope and limits.
From the live demo to merchandise management in daily operation
init consulting AG accompanies the project from the first demo until well past go-live – consulting, implementation, training, hosting, maintenance and support all come from one house.
Live demo
We show you the processes in the system: from goods receipt through stock to the delivery note. If you bring a typical order, you see your own case instead of a sample.
Requirements review
We establish the main process, the bottleneck and the number of users. Only then is it clear whether the standard is enough or whether Init Warehouse.One or Produmex are added.
Concept and quotation
Processes are recorded and mapped onto SAP Business One. You receive a quotation covering licences, implementation effort and running costs; the choice between cloud and on-premise is made here.
Configuration and data migration
Warehouses, item groups, valuation methods, price lists and authorisations are set up. Item, customer and supplier masters and opening balances are taken over from the legacy system.
Training, go-live and operation
Training takes place at our head office in Kösching or remotely, including on the subject of logistics. After going live we remain your point of contact: ticket support, hotline, remote access, maintenance and version upgrades.
Published projects with a focus on merchandise management
The reports below are published on our German website and are in German. They are agreed with the companies concerned – we only repeat what can be read there.
What the standard does not do – and what the add-ons do not replace
We would rather answer these points here than in the first meeting.
The standard posts at the desk, not at the shelf
SAP Business One manages stock, bin locations and movements. Postings by scanner directly in the warehouse are not part of the standard – that is what Init Warehouse.One or Produmex are for.
Init Warehouse.One is not full warehouse management
The solution covers goods receipt, delivery note, picking, inventory transfer and stocktaking by scanner. If you want to control warehouse strategies, picking routes and shipping processes, you need a warehouse management system such as Produmex.
Add-ons are separate products
Init Warehouse.One and Produmex are not part of the SAP Business One standard. They carry their own licence and implementation costs and are only added when the requirement justifies them.
No replacement for production control
SAP Business One includes production and material requirements planning. If you need more manufacturing depth – capacity planning, shop floor data collection – beas Manufacturing is added.
An implementation is not a software update
Master data is cleaned up, warehouses and valuation methods are defined, users are trained. A considerable part of the effort lies with your own team. Underestimating this postpones the go-live.
Terms used on this page
- Merchandise management
- The part of the ERP system that maps the path of the goods: procurement, stock control, order picking and sales, including the related documents.
- Inventory valuation
- The method used to determine the value of the stock. SAP Business One offers moving average, FIFO and standard cost per item, and for serial and batch managed items also valuation per serial number or batch.
- Batch
- A quantity of an item with shared attributes, such as the same production or expiry date. The batch is carried through all documents and makes the goods traceable.
- Bin location
- The smallest storage unit within a warehouse, such as a shelf compartment. In SAP Business One, bin location management is enabled per warehouse.
- Order picking
- Putting together the items of an order from stock for shipping or collection.
- Warehouse management system (WMS)
- An add-on that controls warehouse processes down to the individual bin and triggers postings where the goods are moved – usually by scanner.
What companies want to know before choosing merchandise management software
Isn't SAP Business One oversized as merchandise management software for a midsize company?
SAP Business One is SAP's solution for midsize companies, not the enterprise product. init consulting AG's customers typically work with 5 to 250 users. Whether the system fits depends less on company size than on how many processes currently run in spreadsheets next to the system.
What does the live demo show?
The merchandise management processes in a running system: item master, purchase order and goods receipt, stock and valuation, sales order with availability check, picking and delivery note. If you bring a typical order, we work through your case. The demo is non-binding.
What does SAP Business One cost?
There are two models: cloud as a running fee per user and month, or on-premise as a one-off licence per user. Implementation, training and maintenance come on top, plus licences for add-ons where needed. A reliable figure only emerges after the requirements review. The cost factors are on the page Prices and costs.
Do we need Init Warehouse.One or Produmex, or is the standard enough?
The standard manages stock, bin locations, valuations and picking on screen. Init Warehouse.One is added when goods receipt, delivery notes, transfers and stocktaking are to be posted by scanner. Produmex makes sense when warehouse strategies, picking routes and shipping processes also need to be controlled. We settle this in the requirements review, before licence costs arise.
Which valuation methods are available for stock?
SAP Business One values each item by moving average, FIFO or standard cost. For serial and batch managed items there is also valuation per serial number or batch. The default is set in the item group and can be changed per item.
Can our items and stock be taken over from the legacy system?
Item, customer and supplier masters are usually taken over, and opening balances are entered in the system at the start. How cleanly this works depends on the state of the legacy data. The migration is also a good moment to clean up duplicate item numbers and dead records.
Cloud or on-premise – which makes more sense?
Both are possible, including hosting operated by us. Predictable running costs and no own server operation speak for the cloud; existing infrastructure and internal data storage requirements speak for on-premise. More on the page Cloud ERP.
How long does an implementation take?
There is no general answer. The duration depends on the number of users, the state of the master data, the number of interfaces and how much time your departments can contribute alongside daily business. We give a reliable estimate after the process review.
Who supports us after go-live?
The same team that carried out the implementation. init consulting AG provides ticket support, a telephone hotline and remote access as well as ongoing maintenance, patch management and version upgrades. Go to support
See your merchandise management in a live demo
Bring a typical customer order, your last stocktaking difference and the list of places where prices are maintained today. We show you in the system what SAP Business One covers as standard and where an add-on would be needed.
Direct contact
- Phone
- +49 8456 2 78 04-0
- Head office
- Ruppertswies 14
85092 Kösching, Germany - Offices
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