Module 7 · Outbound + SAP EWM/MM

Goods Issuance, Picking & Dispatch

Reservation, goods issue, picking methods, packing, staging, loading, outbound delivery and OBD processing for on-time-in-full shipments.

Course reading

Understand the process

Part 1

From an order to the right picked goods

An outbound requirement specifies what quantity must leave and by when. Picking selects the material from the recorded bin; packing protects and identifies it; staging places it ready for loading. A reservation or outbound delivery in SAP links the order to stock movements, while a goods issue records the stock leaving the business.

A picker may report an order complete because the system shows 20 units picked, yet the customer receives 18. Compare order, pick confirmation, packed quantity and loading scan at the moment each handover occurs. A later reconstruction from memory cannot identify which two units went missing.

Part 2

Confirm the delivery outcome

Check item, quantity, batch where relevant, address and carrier before posting goods issue. Capture dispatch time and proof of delivery, then compare actual delivery against the promise. OTIF means on time and in full: an order only qualifies when both conditions are met under the same agreed definition.

If 9 of 10 orders arrive on time but only 8 of those are complete, the OTIF result is 8 out of 10, not the average of two percentages. Record the failure reason per order so picking, transport and order entry problems do not get mixed together.

What you must take away

OTIF is measured against the customer's requested date, not the date you re-promised.
A picking error costs more downstream than the time it saves upstream.
Scan-confirm at the bin removes the two most common errors: wrong item and wrong quantity.

In the SAP process

Create the outbound delivery from the sales order, then create and confirm the picking tasks.
Post goods issue only after packing and quantity confirmation.
Record delivery-note discrepancies against the delivery, not by adjusting the stock later.

Case study

The order that shipped complete and arrived short

Setting. A distribution store dispatching 120 to 150 order lines a day.

Problem. Customer complaints for short and wrong deliveries kept rising while internal picking accuracy 'looked fine'.

How it was investigated

Compared complaint lines with pick confirmations and packing records.
Found pick confirmation was done in batch at the end of the shift, from memory.
Found no independent packing check for multi-line orders.

What was changed

Moved confirmation to the moment of pick with bin and quantity scanned.
Added a short packing check for orders above four lines.
Started publishing weekly picking accuracy by picker, with coaching rather than blame.

Outcome. Complaint volume fell and the remaining cases became traceable to a specific pick and person.

Lesson: Confirm at the point of action. Anything confirmed later is a memory, not a record.

Illustrative composite of common shop-floor situations — no client names or confidential figures.

Practical template

Daily dispatch and OTIF log

Measure on-time and in-full at line level so the causes stay visible.

Date	Order	Lines	Lines shipped	Requested date	Actual ship date	On time?	Reason if not
12 Mar	SO-8841	6	6	12 Mar	12 Mar	Yes	—

How to use it

OTIF % = orders both on time and in full ÷ total orders. Do not average the two separately.
Every 'No' needs a reason from a fixed list so the Pareto is usable.
Review the top reason every week; ignore the tail until the top one is fixed.

Download workbook & KPI template (PDF)

Quick quiz — check your understanding

1. Goods issue means:
2. A pick list tells the picker:
3. FIFO means:
4. Packing checks help to:
5. Dispatch documents usually include:

Earn your certificate