Stock Transfer between plants in SAP ERP

Stock Transfer from a plant to another plant in SAP – Intra Company and Cross-Company Codes

For some reasons, we may need to transfer stock from one plant to another plant. In SAP ERP, it can be done using several procedures. Each procedure is different with others and may fit with a certain situation or business requirement. In this post I will explain about the procedures of how to transfer stock between plants in SAP ERP, so you can choose the best procedure according to your business requirement.
In SAP ERP, stock transfer from one plant to another plant can be done through:

1. Stock Transfer Posting

   Stock transfer posting can be done from one plant to another plant. The plants can be in a same company code, or cross company codes.
   Stock transport posting can be done solely with SAP MM Inventory Management component, no other SAP components or modules involved.
   The main advantage of this procedure is the simplicity of the process.
   We can transfer stock between plant with:
   
   • One-step procedure
   With one-step procedure, we can transfer stock from one plant to another plat in a single transaction. The transaction can be done with MIGO, MIGO_TR, or MB1B tcodes. The movement type for the transaction is 301 (and 302 to cancel it).
   When the transaction is posted, the stock in issuing (from) plant will be decreased and the stock in receiving (destination) plant will be increased directly.
   
   
   • Two-steps procedure
     With two-steps procedure, we must do two transactions to transfer stock from one plant to another plant. The first one is “Remove from storage” transaction, that will decrease the stock in the issuing plant and increase the stock in transfer in the receiving plant. The transaction can be done with MIGO, MIGO_TR, or MB1B tcodes. The movement type for the transaction is 303 (and 304 to cancel it). The second one is “Place in Storage” transaction that will decrease the stock in transfer and increase the stock in the receiving plant. The transaction can be done with MIGO/MIGO_TR or MB1B tcodes. The movement type for the transaction is 305 (and 306 to cancel it).
   Stock transfer posting transaction can be used to transfer stock from one plant to another plant in:
   
   • A same company code
     If the plants are in a same company code and the valuation area is on plant level, then the stock transfer posting will create accounting journals that will credit the inventory account in the issuing plant and debit the inventory account in the receiving plant. If the material valuation procedure is “moving average price”, then the material valuation in the receiving plant will be adjusted accordingly. If the material valuation procedure is “standard price”, than the difference between material standard price in issuing plant and the receiving plant will be posted in the price difference account in the receiving plant. If the plants are in a same company code and the valuation area is on company code level, then the stock transfer posting will not create accounting journals and have no effect to material valuation.
   • Cross company codes
     If the plants are in the different company codes, we have to maintain the clearing account for each company code. We can maintain it with OBYA tcode. The stock transfer posting will create accounting journals in both company codes. In issuing plant company code,  it will credit the inventory account and debit the clearing account. In receiving plant company code,  it will credit the clearing account and debit the inventory account.

2. Stock Transport Order

   Stock Transport Order involves other component such as SAP MM Purchasing and also can involve SAP SD module.
   Stock transport order (STO) is actually a Purchase Order (PO) with “Transport (T)” as Control indicator for purchasing document type (in the document type configuration) and “U” item category (in the purchasing document item).
   We can process Stock Transport Order between plants:
   
   • Without Sales and Distribution (SD) Delivery – Intra company (plants are in a same company code) & Cross company codes (plants are in different company codes)
     STO is created in receiving plant. Based on STO, Goods Issue is posted in issuing plant. Goods Receipt (GR) is posted in receiving plant.
   • With SD Delivery – Intra company
     STO is created in receiving plant. Based on STO, Delivery is created in SD module. Based on Delivery, Goods issue is posted in the issuing plant. Goods Receipt (GR) is posted in receiving plant.
   • With SD Delivery and Billing – Cross company codes
     STO is created in receiving plant. Based on STO, Delivery is created in SD module. Based on Delivery, Goods issue is posted in the issuing plant. Based on Delivery, Billing document is created in the issuing plant.Goods Receipt (GR) is posted in receiving plant. Based on STO, Invoice document is created in the receiving plant.
   In Stock Transport Order we can enter the delivery costs.
   Stock Transport Order can be included in Material Requirement Planning (MRP).
   We can post Goods Receipt of the Stock Transport Order directly to consumption (if we don’t want it increase the receiving plant stock).
   We can monitor the transfer process in the purchase order history tab at the item details of the Stock Transport Order.
   We can set up Release Strategy for Stock Transport Order documents.