SAP Logistics (SD) Interview

What are the components of the SAP SD Module?

The important components in SAP Sales & Distribution module include:

• Master data
• Basic functions
• Sales (including foreign sales and sales support)
• Shipping and transportation
• Billing
• Sales support
• Information systems

What are the important Organizational Elements of SAP SD?

The important Organizational Elements in SAP Sales & Distribution include:

• Sales organization
• Distribution channel
• Division
• Sales area
• Sales group
• Sales person

Explain the ‘Sales Organization.’ How it is assigned to a ‘Plant’?

The ‘Sales Organization’ is the top-most organizational element in SD. It represents and takes care of all the transactions relating to the selling and distribution of products or services. A distribution channel is assigned to one or more sales organization. The customer master can be maintained with different sales organization views.

The sales organization, identified by a 4-character code, is assigned to one or more plants. These plants are, in turn, assigned to a Company Code. So, it follows that any number of sales areas can be brought under a single Company Code.

Even though it is possible that you may have any number of sales organizations, it is recommended that you have a minimum number of these units in your setup. Ideal recommendation is for a single sales organization per Company Code. If you are selling the same product or service from more than one sales organization, then there is a clear indication that you have more sales organizations defined than what would ideally be required.

What is a ‘Distribution Channel’?

A ‘Distribution Channel’ depicts the channel through which the products or services reach the customers after they are sold (for example, wholesale, retail, direct sales, etc.). Represented by a 2-digit identifier, the distribution channel is assigned to one or more sales areas. As a result, one customer may be serviced through more than one distribution channel. Such as in a sales organization, the customer master data may have different distribution channel views.

What is a ‘Distribution Chain’?

A ‘Distribution Chain’ represents the possible combinations of sales organization(s) and distribution channel(s).

What is a ‘Division’?

A ‘Division’ depicts the product or service group for a range of products/services. For each division, you may define and maintain customer-specific parameters such as terms of payment, pricing, etc. The division may come under one or more distribution channels. 

What is a ‘Sales Area’?

A ‘Sales Area’ is a combination of the sales organization, distribution channel, and division.

Explain how ‘Human Elements’ are organized in SD.

There are three distinct organizational units in SD from the human angle:

• Sales Office
• Sales Group
• Sales Person

The Sales Office represents the geographical dimension in sales and distribution. A sales office is assigned to a sales area. The staff of a sales office may be grouped into Sales Groups. This corresponds to sales divisions. A Sales Person is assigned to a sales group. This assignment is done at the personnel master record level. 

Where and how is a ‘Business Area Assignment’ done?

Business area assignment is done at two levels:

• Plant level
• Valuation area level

The ‘business area’ is assigned to the combination of ‘plant’/‘valuation area’ and the ‘division.’

A ‘Plant’ is Assigned to Which of the Entities in the SD Organization?

A Plant is assigned to:

• Company Code
• Combination of Sales Organization & Distribution Channel
• Purchasing Organization

How is the ‘Shipping Point’ determined by the system?

The ‘Shipping Point’ is determined by the combination of shipping condition, loading group, and plant assigned to a shipping point. 

What are the important ‘Customer Master Records’?

Some of the important customer records are:

• Sold-to-Party record
• Ship-to-Party record
• Bill-to-Party record
• Payer record

What are the various sections of the ‘Customer Master Record’?

The different sections in a master record are:

• General Data - You will be able to create general data such as addresses, telephones, contact persons, unloading points, etc., either from the accounting side or from the sales side.
• Company Code Data - You will be able to create data in account management (credit management, payment details, taxations, insurance, etc.) that pertains to the Company Code in which the customer is created. You do this from the accounting side.
• Sales & Distribution Data - The data for pricing, shipping, etc., comes under this category of information. You will create this from the SD area. You can have data for different sales areas for a single customer.

What is a ‘Customer-Material Information Record’?

The information relating to a material that applies only to a specific customer is known as ‘Customer-Material Information.’ This is nothing but the description of your ‘material by the customer,’ and you record this customer-specific information in the customer-material information record.

What is a ‘Sales Order’?

A ‘Sales Order’ is a contract between your Sales Organization and a Customer for supply of specified goods and/services over a specified timeframe and in an agreed upon quantity or unit. All the relevant information from the customer master record and the material master record, for a specific sales area, are copied to the sales order. The sales order may be created with reference to a ‘preceding document’ such as a quotation, then all the initial data from the preceding document is copied to the sales order.

The ‘sales order’ contains:

• Organizational Data (sales organization, distribution channel, division, sales document type, pricing procedure, etc.).
• Header Data (sold-to-party, sales office, sales group, pricing date, document date, order reason, document currency, price group, sales district, customer group, shipping condition, incoterms, payment terms, billing schedule, PO number, etc.).
• Item Data (item category, order quantity, material, batch number, product hierarchy, plant, material group, shipping point, route, delivery priority, customer material, item number, etc.).
• Schedule Line Data (schedule line, schedule line number, delivery date, order quantity, confirmed quantity, material availability date, loading date, proposed goods issue date, transportation date, movement type, shipping point, etc.).

What are the ‘Special Sales Document Types’?

• SO   Rush Order
• G2   Credit
• RE   Return Order
• KN   FoC (Free-of-Charge) Subsequent Delivery Order
• RK   Invoice Correction Request

What is the ‘Consignment Stock Process’?

In the ‘Consignment Stock Process,’ you allow your stock or material to be at the customer’s site. You may also allow your stock or material to be made available at your site, but reserved for a particular customer. And you will allow the customer to sell or consume as much stock as he wants from this. You will then bill the customer only for the quantities that he has consumed or sold.

You will monitor the consignment stock—also known as special stock—in your system customer-wise and material-wise. You will use the standard sales order document type KB and standard delivery type LF for processing a consignment sales order.

Explain ‘Sales Document Blocking.’

You may be required to block a specific sales document type from further processing, when you want to block undesirable customers. You can achieve this for a specific customer or for a specific document type. You may also block it, in the customer master record, for a single sales area or for all the sales areas attached to the customer.

The blocking is done in customizing by assigning blocking reasons to the sales document types. Then in the customer master record do the necessary document block.

Can you ‘Block’ a transaction for a material that is ‘Flagged for Deletion’?

When you set the ‘deletion flag’ for a material at the plant level, you will still be able to enter an order even though the system will ‘warn’ you that the material has been flagged for deletion. If you need to block any transaction for a material, then you need to use the ‘Sales Status’ field in the ‘Sales Organization View’ of the material master. 

Can Items in a ‘Sales Order’ belong to different ‘Distribution Channels’?

No. The various items in a ‘Sales Order’ should belong to a single distribution channel only. However, the various items in a delivery can belong to different distribution channels.

Can the Items in a ‘Billing Document’ belong to different ‘Distribution Channels’?

No. The various items in a ‘Billing Document’ should belong to a single distribution channel only.

Differentiate between a ‘Sales Area’ and a ‘Sales Line.’

A ‘Sales Area’ is comprised of sales organization, distribution channel, and division whereas a Sales Line is the combination of the sales organization and the distribution channel.

Can a ‘Sales Area’ belong to different Company Codes?

No. A ‘Sales Area’ can belong to only one Company Code.

What is the ‘Storage Location Rule’?

The ‘Storage Location Rule’ assigned in the Delivery Document type determines the Storage Location, even when the storage location is entered during delivery creation. This is based on the following rules:

• MALA: Shipping Point/Plant/Storage condition
• RETA: Plant/Situation/Storage condition
• MARE: MALA then RETA

How do you configure the ‘Partner Determination Procedure’ in SD?

The ‘Partner Determination Procedure’ is configured as outlined in the following steps:

1. Create an account group
2. Create and assign a number range to that account group 
3. Create and assign the partner functions to the account group
4. Create a partner determination procedure
5. Assign the partner functions to the partner determination procedure
6. Finally, assign the partner determination procedure to the account group

Where do you define ‘Unloading Points’ and ‘Goods Receiving Hours’?

The ‘Unloading Points’ and ‘Goods Receiving Hours’ are defined in the Customer Master>General Data>Unloading Points tab.

Where do you define the ‘Terms of Payment’ for a Customer?

The ‘Terms of Payment’ for a specific customer is defined in the Customer Master>Company Code Data>Payment Transactions Tab, and also in the Billing Document Tab in the Sales Area Data of the Customer Master.


Click below links for more SAP Logistics Interview Questions and Answers 
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