ED GUTKOWSKI, SENIOR DISTRIBUTION CONSULTANT
When moving goods from one branch to another in JD Edwards, the process most often used in the transfer order (aka ST/OT). This works well especially when there is distance between the locations as shipping paperwork may be required to transport the materials. Also, there may be a time delay between the shipment and receipt and the ST/OT process removes the quantities from the stock status report while the goods are in transit. You would also need this process in the event the shipping branch is transferring the products with a markup, allowing for the proper recording of revenue and cost of goods sold.
But what if the transfer was much easier than that? Would we still need the overhead associated with the ST/OT? Is there an easier way?
The answer is simpler than you think. You can use the standard 'IT' transfer transaction to produce similar results, just be wary of some caveats:
1. The distance of the transfer should be feet or yards, not miles. This would happen if you are using "virtual warehouses" (e.g. consignment or returns) where the branch plants in JDE are in the same building.
2. Related to the above item, the 'IT' transaction moves the material instantly. There is no time delay between the 'from' and 'to' locations so keep the distance to a minimum.
3. Accounting instruction table 4141 for the 'IT' document type. Time and time again I see this populated with the balance sheet account for inventory instead of cost of goods or other expense account. This table is used to offset any cost differences, intentional or not, between lots or locations.
Keeping these things in mind, you may be able to reduce some overhead and simplify processing using an 'IT' transaction instead of the ST/OT. Try it out in your test environment and see what I mean!
Happy reconciling!