Advance Complaint Management and its Integration with Advance Returns Management

Overview on Advance Complaint Management:

The Advance Complaint management in SAP CRM integrates with the Advance Returns management in SAP ECC. It facilities creation of logistical follow up activities in SAP ERP like creation of Advance Returns Order, Inbound Deliveries, post goods return, credit memo automatically to name a few in SAP ERP. Repair and Replacement Process are also integrated in the Advance Complaint Management by selection of certain item level fields which I would be explaining later in my blog. The Advance Complaint Management uses the lord framework for triggering subsequent follow up documents in ERP.

Business Function Object Activation in CRM

Certain business function objects need to be activated in SAP CRM and in the ERP Module for the Advance Complaint Management to trigger the Advance Returns Order in SAP ERP. In SAP CRM the following business function object CRM_COMPL_ARM_1 needs to be activated. Once the business function object is activated the customization settings can be viewed in the following node under

CRM-Transactions-Settings for Complaints-Integration-Logistics Integration-Advance Returns Management

Following Catalogs from K1 to K5 also get activated in crm base customization, they can be seen in the following menu path

CRM- Basic Functions-Catalogs Codes and Profiles, These fields should not be copied to custom fields as they do not work in the transaction hence standard fields provided by SAP should be used during customization 🙂

Business Function Object Activation in ERP

The following business function objects need to be activated in the ERP Module. The help document of SAP mentions only one object however we had a tough time to get the other objects activated  😥

These objects in ERP are required namely to perform the configurations in SAP ERP and to ensure an error free system when the advance complaint transaction triggers the advance return order in SAP ERP.

a) SD_01

b) ESOA_OPS01

c) OPS_ADVRETURNS_2

d) LOG_SD_SIMP_02

e) LOG_SD_C1_01

The Configuration Settings in ERP need to be performed under the below menu path

Logistics General- Advance Returns Management

Design Considerations in SAP CRM

The line item level fields namely( Return Reason, Follow Up Activity, Refund Control and Refund Type) in Advance Complaint Management which are highlighted below are important since these item level fields control the subsequent process which needs to get triggered in SAP ECC. These fields need to be enabled from Available to Display which helps us to view these fields in the advance complaint transaction.

Similarly certain fields need to be entered when the line item is edited hence the component which is highlighted below needs to be activated using the configure page icon as shown in the below screen shot.

Triggering Advance Return Order in ERP , Credit Memo and Replacement Scenario’s

The second line item which is the return request item triggers the Advance Return Order in SAP ERP, ensure that copy controls have been maintained with the first line item which is the complaint item. The status of the second line item should be in release mode as shown below. Document types(Advance Complaint and Advance Return Order) in SAP CRM and ERP should be the same along with the return item category in both systems.The mapping of the ERP Order Type and Item Category needs to be mapped with the CRM Item category which needs to be done in CRM base Customization. Item level field Refund type which is highlighted below controls if you need to give a credit memo to the customer by triggering a credit memo document in SAP ERP or by selecting the refund type as replacement the replacement order in SAP ERP gets triggered automatically during customer returns. If along with the Advance Returns Order the Return Delivery and the Post Goods Receipt needs to be created automatically then the field immediately should be selected in refund control. SAP Notes 2082743 and 2074829 can be considered when implementing the credit memo process and SAP Note 2178689 for the replacement process. These notes are relevant from the ERP side.

In House and External Repair Scenario’s

The field follow up Activity needs to be selected if an in house repair or external repair scenario needs to be implemented. Subsequent processing like Repair Order and its follow up documents would be processed in ERP. Other options include Immediately move to Specified Stock and Transfer to Specific Stock. The SAP Help document gives a detailed write up about the actions which the follow up activity perform in ERP.

http://help.sap.com/erp2005_ehp_06/helpdata/en/e3/9b7fc41e21465498820a32fe158821/content.htm

Design Considerations in SAP ERP

In SAP ERP the correct document types need to be selected. RE2 Document type is the standard document provided for Advance Returns Management, RA2 is the document provided for repair and SD2 is the document for replacement. Ensure that  required copy control settings are maintained for the respective delivery document along with assignments like item category determination,pricing, sales area assignments to document types and incomplete procedures. If documents in ERP do not get created automatically check if the document’s are incomplete or if they are blocked because of a credit check which need to be released through transaction vkm5. Ensure that the relevant document types which are customized  are marked as relevant for Advance Complaint Management in SAP ERP in base customization.

Kind Regards

Atul