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WM Cycle Counting Interview Questions and Answer

Updated May 18, 2018

Cycle Counting FAQ

Question: During the process of customization of the cycle counting physical inventory, a warning message has to be set as M7 834. Why is an error message displayed in spite of this?

Answer: The system has been set up in such a way, that the message M7 834 is always issued as an error message for the cycle counting procedure.

Question: For displaying or changing the customizing settings for the cycle counting physical inventory (OMCO), the system issues message M7 523, M7 524 or M7 525 on doing so, Why?

Answer: All table entries are required to be consistent. You must always check the entries in the following tables, including those delivered by SAP as examples:

  • T001W: are all plants defined?
  • T001K: are all valuation areas from T001W defined (OX18)?
  • T001: are all company codes from T001K defined (GCB1)?
  • MARV: are current period included? Where necessary, open the period using transaction MMPV.
  • T159C: are all plants available (OMCO)?

Question: There is no clarity on how the system regulates the inventory date in the cycle counting physical inventory. In the SAP System, how is the planned date or the inventory date determined?

Answer: Generally, the program thoroughly calculates the planned date of physical inventory in accordance with the below listed formula:

planned date = base date + interval (Trans.OMCO/Tab.XT159C-ININV)

The base date is typically the 'date of the last physical inventory'. All depending on the type of stock or the requirement of the batch management, this date is read from one of the following table fields listed below:

  • MARD-DLINL (normal materials)
  • MCHB-CHDLL (batch materials, split valuated materials)

For a material, if no physical inventory has yet been carried out and this date field is also not filled, then the base date is the date the material was created. The base date is derived from one of the following table fields:

  • MSTA-ERSDA (normal materials)
  • MCHB-ERSDA (batch materials, split valuated materials)

Generally, the cycle counting physical inventory always works for the present fiscal year, the date of the physical inventory can be considered a minimum of January 1 and a maximum of December 31 of the present year. The interval of the physical inventories and the buffer time in transaction OMCO relates to the working days. The working days are then determined on the basis of the assigned factory calendar for the plant.

The program automatically proposes the next available working day in case the date of the physical inventory falls on a non-working day.

Question: The buffer time in customizing for the cycle counting physical inventory can be specified. How does this buffer time impact the cycle counting physical inventory?

Answer: The report utilizes the buffer time for calculating the urgency behind completing a physical inventory. This refers to initiating the report for a material for which a physical inventory document is already active within the system, that’s when the system uses the buffer time for calculating the maximum permissible inventory date. The report then shows whether the physical inventory still is required to be completed and if its urgent or not.

The report always includes the working days in the calculation.

Question: Post the report for the cycle counting physical inventory has been run, some materials are not visible in the output log as expected under 'Für X Bestandseinheit(en) ist die Inventur dringend abzuschließen' [EN: The physical inventory has to be completed urgently be completed for X stock management unit(s)] but instead listed under 'Für Bestandseinheit(en) kann ein Inventurbeleg erzeugt werden' [EN: A physical inventory document needs to be created for stock management unit(s)]. Even though a physical inventory document is active for the material, why does the system behave in this manner?

Answer: The response of the system is correct. As per the general principle, the cycle counting physical inventory always tends to relate only to the present year (field in the report: 'Planned Count Date'). This refers to that materials only appear under 'must urgently be completed' if the system proposes the material for physical inventory in the current year and if a physical inventory document is active in the current year. Active physical inventory documents from the previous year or earlier are not evaluated by the cycle counting program.

If the selection is incorrect, then inspite of this, an 'initialization' of the physical inventory indicator with the help of a specific physical inventory, for example, by using transaction MI10, can provide a solution for this problem. This entire process seems accurate, under certain circumstances for materials which were created in a release <4.6B or were initially migrated from an R/2 system.


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