In the sales from central stock (drop-shipment) scenario variant, the subsidiary orders products from the headquarters related to a customer sales order. The headquarters distributes the products from the central warehouse directly to the end customer of the subsidiary and informs the subsidiary about the delivery (delivery notification). Subsequently, the headquarters sends an invoice for the products to the subsidiary to account for inter-company revenue and inventory valuation. The subsidiary is responsible for invoicing the end-customer for the delivery. 

Sales from Central Stock Process Steps

The illustration above describes the sales from the central stock process.

1. The subsidiary responsible for sales creates a customer sales order. The sales person selects the customer delivery address in the sales order or changes it directly.
   

Assign a drop shipment warehouse to the sales order items in order to start the internal process to automatically create a purchase order related to the sales order. You order the products for the customer, but the products were delivered by the headquarter directly to the customer.

2. SAP Business One automatically creates a purchase order based on the drop-shipment warehouse with reference to the sales order in the drop-ship process. For the creation of purchase order automatically from sales order, select the Allow Procurement checkbox at row level in sales order. SAP Integration Framework 2.0 transfers the purchase order to SAP S/4 HANA. To ensure direct delivery from the central warehouse to customers, SAP Integration Framework 2.0 transmits the customer delivery address with the purchase order data.
   

This differs from the sales from local stock scenario variant. In this variant, the headquarters delivers directly to the customer of the subsidiary which is in this case the customer delivery address.

SAP Integration Framework 2.0 sends only new purchase orders to SAP S/4 HANA. It does not send purchase order updates. SAP S/4 HANA is the leading system in this scenario.

3. The SAP S/4 HANA system creates a sales order based on the purchase order requirements. The sales order header must contain information about the ordering partner (the subsidiary) and the customer ship-to address. 
   

1. SAP Integration Framework 2.0 stores the address in an extra partner role, which must be previously set up and assigned to a customer master record created for the subsidiary in SAP S/4 HANA.
   
2. The scenario stores all information about pricing, shipping, and billing agreements in this subsidiary-specific S/4 HANA customer record in the headquarters.
   
3. This information has higher priority than the corresponding information in the purchase order. Which means, that prices and schedule date from the subsidiary where overwritten by the SAP S/4 HANA.
   
4. The customer number, representing the subsidiary, is automatically assigned to the SAP S/4 HANA sales order.
   

4. The headquarters sends back information from the sales order to update the subsidiary purchase order. This update includes the reference document number, products, quantities, delivery date, and pricing. 
   

The headquarters SAP S/4 HANA system transfers the sales order number to the Vendor Reference Number field in the subsidiary purchase order. The subsidiary purchase order number and the headquarters sales order number are parts of each document, which facilitates communication between the subsidiary buyer and the headquarters sales responsible.

5. SAP S/4 HANA creates the outbound delivery for the sales order, and the products are shipped directly to the end customer of the subsidiary. When the headquarters posts the goods issue for the products, it transfers the shipping notification information to the subsidiary.
   

Although the products are delivered directly to the end customer, SAP S/4 HANA sends the shipping notification to SAP Business One. The end customer contacts the subsidiary in case of any questions, and the subsidiary needs access to information about the shipment.

6. SAP Integration Framework 2.0 automatically creates a goods receipt based on the delivery note from SAP S/4 HANA with reference to the corresponding purchase order of the subsidiary. The subsidiary purchase order number is transferred with the shipping notification from SAP S/4 HANA. This information is copied from the SAP S/4 HANA reference sales order to the outbound delivery. The SAP S/4 HANA outbound delivery document number is transferred to the Vendor Reference Number field in the goods receipt at the subsidiary.
   

The goods receipt for the drop shipment warehouse, instead of the inbound shipping notification, is created in the subsidiary.

7. The A/R invoice in SAP S/4 HANA completes this scenario. The outbound invoice automatically creates an A/P invoice in the subsidiary system. The A/P invoice in the subsidiary is created with reference to the corresponding goods receipt document.
   

Next Step: Prerequisites for Intercompany Purchasing in SAP S/4 HANA in Integration Hub