Serial numbers and inventory management

In 3.0, serial numbers can be included in the following business transactions:
Sales order - delivery note - goods receipt - goods issue - contract (SD) - inspection lot.
The aim of the 3.0 development was to detail the quantity specifications of a material for these operations using a list of the assigned serial numbers without forcing a continuous transaction history of individual serial numbers.
However, a complete stock check on individual part level is not supported in 3.0. This would require an expansion to the areas such as

Stock category (stock in quality inspection, blocked stock, ...)
Special stocks (consignment, subcontracting, ...)
Warehouse management
Physical inventory.
The planning dimension (availability of serial numbers) is also not part of 3.0.
For this reason, there is intentionally no strict check of the stock information of a serial number when including in business transactions.
The data fields of a serial number, plant (EQUI-WERK) and storage location (EQUI-LAGER) are not checked during inventory management transactions (MB01, MB04, MB0A, MB11, MB1A, MB1B, MB1C, MB31, MBRL, MBSL, MBST). This has the result, that stocks of a material that requires serial numbers cannot always be explained using the serial numbers of the material or its stock information.

In 4.0, you can execute a verification of the plant and storage location data in the serial number via Customizing.

In 4.5, this verification is expanded on all characteristics of the inventory management (see notes)

However, a serial number physical inventory is also not realized in 4.5. This is part of 4.6.


If only the serial numbers whose plant/stock assignments match the movement document should be offered for selection for a business transaction, then you can use the "serial number selection" function in all outward stock movements. The plant and storage location of the material document are then used as selection criteria for the selection report.