Purchase return orders

A return order is a purchase order on which returned shipments are reported. A return order can only contain negative amounts. With a purchase return order, you can send back inventory units or return rejected goods to the supplier. Most of the time, these goods are rejected during inspection.

Return order settings

Before you can use return orders, you must complete these steps.

Step 1. Define a purchase order type for return orders

Define a purchase order type for return orders in the Purchase Order Types (tdpur0194m000) session. The Return Order field for this order type must be set to Return Inventory or Return Rejects.

If the Direct Delivery check box is selected for the order type, you can only select Return Inventory from the Return Order field.

Step 2. Link a warehousing order type to the purchase order type

Link a warehousing order type to the return order type in the Warehousing Order Type field of the Purchase Order Types (tdpur0194m000) session. You must select a warehousing order type for which the Inventory Transaction Type reads Issue in the Warehousing Order Type (whinh0110m000) session.

If you want the received goods to be inspected, you must select a warehousing order type with an inspection procedure linked to it.

If the Direct Delivery check box is selected for the purchase order type, you cannot select a warehousing order type.

Step 3. Link activities to the return order type

You must link activities to the order type in the Purchase Order Type - Activities (tdpur0560m000) session.

LN automatically links the following mandatory activities to the return order type:

  • Release Purchase Orders to Warehousing (tdpur4246m000)
  • Purchase Receipts (tdpur4106m000)
  • Process Purchase Orders (tdpur4223m000)
Step 4. Enable inspection

If you want purchase orders and purchase return orders to be inspected, select the Inspection check box in the Purchase Order Lines (tdpur4101m000) session.

Return order procedure
Step 1. Purchase Orders (tdpur4100m000)
  1. Create a purchase order header with a purchase order type for return orders.
  2. Define the Original Document Type field.
  3. Define the Original Document No field.
  4. Define the return reason for the return order in the Return Reason field.

    If the return order type is:

    • Return Inventory, the reason type must be Return of Goods.
    • Return Rejects, the reason type must be Rejection of Goods.
  5. If you created a link between a return order and an original document number, you can click Copy from Orig Doc on the appropriate menu. As a result, a session is started from which you can copy lines to the return order. The lines that are added to the purchase order have a negative quantity and a negative amount. If desired, you can change these lines.

If you created a link between a return order and an original document number, you can still manually add purchase order lines for return orders of the Return Inventory order type. For return orders of the Return Rejects order type, this is not allowed.

Step 2. Release Purchase Orders to Warehousing (tdpur4246m000)

After the purchase return order is approved, release the order to Warehousing. As a result, the purchase order status is In Process and the activity status in the Purchase Order Line Status (tdpur4534m000) session reads Awaiting Shipment.

Step 3. Generate Outbound Advice (whinh4201m000)

If the Include Return Orders check box is selected in this session, LN generates an advice for the outbound and shipment for the quantity that must be returned.

Step 4. Process Purchase Orders (tdpur4223m000)

After the shipping process is executed by Warehousing, the purchase order status still is In Process, but the activity status in the Purchase Order Line Status (tdpur4534m000) session reads Process Purchase Orders. As a result, you must process the return order in the Process Delivered Purchase Orders (tdpur4223m000) session.

Returning pegged goods

Specific conditions are applicable for returning pegged goods.

Return inventory

If a return order line is linked to an original document, the linked peg distribution is copied. If a return order line is not linked to an original document, you can manually specify a peg distribution for the return order line.

You can manually update a copied peg distribution. The return order line's pegs can differ from the pegs on the original document.

If two purchase return order lines are linked to a specific original schedule line/schedule receipt line, for both order lines, the same return order quantity and peg distribution are defaulted. As a result, you must manually decrease the return order quantity and update the peg distribution.

Return rejects

A return rejects order line is always linked to an original document with a rejected quantity.

If inventory disposition is not applicable, rejected goods are customer owned and are not pegged. As a result, no peg distribution can be linked to the return order line.

If inventory disposition is applicable, the rejected goods are stored in inventory, are company owned, and can be pegged, which means the original peg distribution is copied.

The return order line retrieves its rejected quantity and pegs from Warehousing. If two purchase return order lines are linked to a specific original schedule line/schedule receipt line, for both order lines, the same return order quantity and peg distribution are defaulted. As a result, you must manually decrease the return order quantity, after which Warehousing updates the peg distribution with the new quantity. Warehousing knows which rejected goods must be returned first.

You can manually update the peg distribution, but the peg distribution of a return rejects order line must be available as rejected inventory in the warehouse of the order line.

Note
  • If you want to notify a supplier about the return of the goods, you can add the Print Return Notes (tdpur4411m000) session as an activity to the order type in the Purchase Order Type - Activities (tdpur0560m000) session.
  • If goods are returned on a direct delivery order, the steps related to the direct delivery procedure apply. For more information, refer to Direct delivery.