Your Inventory Management Data Template

The Activity Name describes a specific step or event in the inventory management lifecycle. These events are derived from SAP transactions or movement types and represent key milestones like receiving goods, moving stock, performing quality checks, or issuing materials.

Analyzing activities is the foundation of process mining. It allows for the visualization of the process map, identification of common and rare process variants, and detection of bottlenecks or rework loops. Each activity serves as a node in the discovered process graph.

It defines the steps in the process, enabling the discovery and analysis of the actual inventory flow and lifecycle.

This attribute is derived by mapping SAP Movement Types (MSEG-BWART) or Transaction Codes (MKPF-TCODE) to user-friendly activity names during data transformation.

This attribute captures the precise date and time of an inventory event. It is the temporal foundation of the process log, ordering all activities chronologically to reconstruct the process flow as it happened.

Event Time is essential for all time-based analysis, including calculating cycle times between activities, measuring event durations, analyzing throughput, and identifying time-related bottlenecks. It is used to calculate KPIs such as Put-away Cycle Time and Quality Inspection Hold Times.

It provides the chronological sequence of events, which is critical for calculating durations, analyzing performance, and discovering the process flow.

Typically composed from the posting date (MKPF-BUDAT) and entry time (MKPF-CPUTM) in the material document header.

The Inventory Batch or Lot number groups all activities related to a distinct stock quantity. It enables the end-to-end tracking of a batch's lifecycle, from its initial receipt into inventory, through various movements and transformations like quality inspections, and to its final issue or disposal.

In analysis, this attribute is fundamental for tracing the complete journey of inventory. It allows for the reconstruction of each batch's process flow, calculating its total residence time, and identifying all touchpoints within the warehouse. This is essential for traceability, quality control, and compliance dashboards.

This is the core identifier that connects all related inventory movement events into a single process case, making end-to-end analysis possible.

This is typically a composite key derived from the Material Number (MARA-MATNR or MSEG-MATNR) and the Batch Number (MCHA-CHARG).

The Material Number, or SKU, identifies the specific item in the inventory. It is a fundamental master data attribute that links inventory movements to the product master.

In process mining, this attribute is crucial for product-centric analysis. It allows for filtering the process by specific products or product groups, comparing inventory flows for different types of materials, and identifying which products are most affected by issues like scrapping, discrepancies, or inspection delays.

Enables product-level analysis, helping to identify which materials are associated with process inefficiencies or costs.

Found in material document item table MSEG, field MATNR. Master data is in MARA.

The Movement Type is a three-digit key in SAP that controls how an inventory posting behaves. For example, '101' for Goods Receipt for PO, '311' for Transfer Posting between Storage Locations, or '551' for Scrapping.

This attribute provides critical context for each activity. It is often the source for deriving the user-friendly Activity Name. Analyzing by Movement Type allows for deep dives into specific process areas, such as understanding the drivers of all '551' scrapping movements or the frequency of '321' quality-to-unrestricted transfers.

It's the technical key that defines the business purpose of an inventory transaction, providing essential context for analysis.

Found in material document item table MSEG, field BWART.

A Plant represents a physical location such as a factory, distribution center, or warehouse. It is a central organizational unit in SAP Logistics.

This attribute is essential for location-based analysis. It allows for comparing process performance across different sites, identifying plants with the longest cycle times or highest discrepancy rates, and understanding regional variations in the inventory management process.

Allows for performance comparison and root cause analysis across different physical locations or facilities.

Found in material document item table MSEG, field WERKS.

This attribute records the amount of stock affected by the movement. It is always represented in the material's base unit of measure (e.g., kilograms, pieces) to ensure consistency for aggregation and comparison.

Quantity is a critical measure for any volume-based analysis. It is used to calculate KPIs like Inventory Scrapping Volume Rate, analyze throughput, and quantify the business impact of discrepancies or movements. It helps prioritize issues by focusing on high-volume or high-value movements.

Quantifies the physical volume of each movement, which is essential for impact analysis, throughput calculation, and cost assessment.

Found in material document item table MSEG, field MENGE.

A Storage Location denotes a subdivision of a plant, such as a receiving area, quality inspection zone, or bulk storage section. It allows for a more granular tracking of stock within a facility.

In analysis, this helps pinpoint bottlenecks at a sub-plant level. For example, it can reveal if delays are concentrated in the 'Quality Hold' location or if internal transfers between specific storage locations are inefficient. It directly supports Warehouse Layout Utilization analysis.

Provides granular location data within a plant, enabling detailed analysis of internal movements and storage bottlenecks.

Found in material document item table MSEG, field LGORT.

This attribute stores the date on which a batch of material is no longer considered usable. It is a critical piece of master data for perishable goods or materials with a limited shelf life.

This date is essential for monitoring stock rotation compliance. By comparing the Expiration Date with the Goods Issue date, analysis can determine if FEFO (First-Expired, First-Out) policies are being followed. This helps prevent inventory obsolescence and scrapping losses.

Crucial for analyzing stock rotation compliance (FEFO/FIFO) and identifying risks of inventory spoilage or obsolescence.

Found in the batch master table MCHA, field VFDAT (Shelf Life Expiration Date).

This calculated attribute identifies activities that represent an adjustment to inventory levels due to a discrepancy found during a cycle count or physical inventory. It flags events where the recorded stock quantity is corrected to match the physical stock.

This flag simplifies the analysis of inventory accuracy. It allows for easy calculation of the Inventory Discrepancy Rate KPI by counting the number of cases with at least one such event. It also helps filter the process map to focus specifically on the flows leading to or following adjustments.

Directly supports the Inventory Discrepancy Rate KPI by flagging adjustment events, making it easy to analyze inventory accuracy issues.

Calculated during data transformation. Set to 'true' if the Activity Name is 'Inventory Discrepancy Adjusted' or if the Movement Type belongs to physical inventory adjustments (e.g., 701, 702).

This attribute indicates the freshness of the data. It records the date and time of the last data extraction or update, which is critical for understanding the timeliness of the analysis and dashboards.

Users rely on this attribute to know if the insights they are seeing are current. It is often displayed prominently in dashboards to inform users about the data's recency and to manage expectations about the visibility of the very latest transactions.

Informs users about the recency of the data, ensuring they understand the time window covered by the analysis.

This value is generated and stamped on each record by the ETL or data integration process at the time of execution.

Every inventory movement in SAP generates a material document, which serves as proof of the transaction. This document contains header and item level information about the movement.

This attribute is a key transactional identifier. While not the case ID, it is crucial for data validation, reconciliation, and providing a direct link back to the source document in SAP. Users can use this number to look up the original transaction in SAP ECC for detailed investigation.

Serves as the primary key for the transaction in SAP, enabling easy drill-down and verification of data against the source system.

Found in material document header table MKPF, field MBLNR.

The Reason for Movement provides additional context beyond the Movement Type. It allows users to specify why a particular transaction was performed, for example, the reason for a stock adjustment or a scrapping event.

This attribute is invaluable for root cause analysis. It is a key dimension in the Inventory Discrepancy Rates and Inventory Scrapping Cost Analysis dashboards, as it helps categorize and explain the drivers behind inventory adjustments and losses. Analyzing these reasons helps target process improvement efforts effectively.

Explains the 'why' behind inventory adjustments and write-offs, enabling targeted root cause analysis for discrepancies and scrap.

Found in material document item table MSEG, field GRUND.

This metric measures the efficiency of the outbound order fulfillment process within the warehouse. It captures the time it takes for warehouse staff to collect the required items from storage and prepare them for shipment.

This KPI is visualized in the Picking and Packing Performance dashboard to monitor operational efficiency. Analyzing this cycle time helps identify bottlenecks in picking routes, packing stations, or resource allocation, guiding efforts to accelerate order preparation and improve customer delivery times.

Measures the speed and efficiency of the outbound fulfillment process, a critical factor in customer satisfaction and operational cost.

Calculated as the timestamp difference between 'Packing Completed' and 'Picking Initiated' events for the same order or batch.

This attribute links an inventory transaction, most commonly a goods receipt, to the original purchase order that triggered it. This creates a connection between the inventory management and procurement processes.

Analyzing this attribute allows for a broader, cross-process view. For example, it can help measure supplier delivery performance by analyzing the time between PO creation and goods receipt, or identify which POs are associated with quality inspection failures.

Links inventory movements to the procurement process, enabling end-to-end Purchase-to-Pay analysis and supplier performance evaluation.

Found in the material document item table MSEG, field EBELN.

This metric measures the efficiency of the receiving and put-away process. It calculates the total time elapsed from the moment goods are officially received into the facility until they are moved to their final storage location.

This attribute is a direct KPI used in the Put-away Cycle Time Analysis dashboard. It helps identify bottlenecks in the receiving area, measure the impact of process improvement initiatives, and compare performance across different plants, products, or times of day.

Directly measures a key performance indicator for warehouse receiving efficiency, highlighting delays in making inventory available for use.

Calculated in the process mining tool or during data transformation by taking the timestamp difference between the 'Put-away Completed' and 'Goods Receipt Posted' events for the same case.

This metric quantifies the time inventory is unavailable for use because it is undergoing quality control procedures. It measures the duration from the creation of a quality inspection lot until a usage decision is made, effectively releasing the stock.

This is a key performance indicator used in the Quality Inspection Hold Times dashboard. It helps to identify delays in the quality lab or decision-making process, analyze the performance of quality teams, and understand the impact of inspections on overall inventory availability.

Measures the duration of a critical bottleneck, as inventory is typically unavailable for use while held for quality inspection.

Calculated by finding the time difference between 'Quality Inspection Lot Created' and 'Inspection Usage Decision Made' events for the same batch.

This attribute links an inventory transaction, usually a goods issue for a delivery, to the customer's sales order. This creates a connection between the inventory management and order fulfillment processes.

In analysis, this allows for an end-to-end Order-to-Cash process view. It helps measure fulfillment cycle times from order creation to goods issue, and identify which sales orders are impacted by picking delays or stockouts. It is key for analyzing fulfillment performance.

Connects inventory movements to the sales process, enabling end-to-end Order-to-Cash analysis and customer fulfillment tracking.

Found in the material document item table MSEG, field KDAUF.

This attribute specifies the originating system instance, for example, 'SAP ECC PRD' or 'S4HANA US'. It is crucial in environments where data from multiple systems is combined for a holistic process view.

In analysis, it allows for filtering and comparing processes across different systems, regions, or business units that might be running on separate instances. It ensures data lineage and provides context, especially during data validation and quality checks.

It provides context about data origin, which is crucial for data governance and for analyses that span multiple source systems.

This is typically a static value added during the data extraction process, identifying the specific SAP client and system ID (e.g., from table T000).

The Storage Bin represents the smallest addressable unit of space in a warehouse managed with SAP Warehouse Management (WM). It indicates the precise location of an inventory batch.

This attribute is essential for detailed warehouse layout and utilization analysis. Tracking movements between storage bins helps identify inefficient travel paths, high-traffic areas, and excessive reorganization of stock. It is a key field for calculating the Storage Bin Re-movement Frequency KPI.

Provides the most granular location data, enabling analysis of warehouse efficiency, layout, and internal stock movement paths.

Found in Warehouse Management transfer order item table LTAP, fields VLPLA (Source Bin) and NLPLA (Destination Bin).

The Transaction Code identifies the specific SAP screen or program used by the user to execute the inventory posting, such as MIGO for goods movements or MB1B for transfer postings.

This attribute provides technical context about how an activity was performed. It can help differentiate between activities performed through standard user interfaces, custom programs (Z-transactions), or automated interfaces. Analyzing by T-Code helps understand system usage patterns and can be a source for deriving the Activity Name.

Reveals how users are interacting with the system, which can inform decisions on system training, simplification, or automation.

Found in material document header table MKPF, field TCODE.

This attribute specifies the unit for the 'Quantity' field. The base unit is the standard unit of measure defined in the material master record to ensure all quantities can be compared on a like-for-like basis.

While all quantities should be in the base unit, this field provides important context for data validation and for displaying units in dashboards and reports. It ensures that users correctly interpret the quantity values being presented.

Provides context for the 'Quantity' attribute, ensuring accurate interpretation of volume metrics.

Found in material document item table MSEG, field MEINS.

This attribute identifies the user responsible for posting the inventory movement. It links process activities to individual employees or system accounts (for automated postings).

Analyzing by user helps identify training needs, recognize high-performing individuals or teams, and investigate process deviations. It is also key to understanding the level of automation in the process by distinguishing between human user IDs and system or batch user IDs.

Attributes activities to specific users, enabling workload analysis, performance measurement, and identification of automation levels.

Found in material document header table MKPF, field USNAM.