Stock Transfers and Transfer Postings
The terms stock transfer and transfer posting are both used in SAP applications
to describe the movement of materials. However, a stock
transfer refers to the physical movements of materials, and a transfer
posting is used to describe a logical movement of material.
Stock Transfer Between Storage Locations
The transfer of material between storage locations in your company’s
plant occurs every day because of normal plant operations.
Material is moved to the shipping area to fulfill customer orders, and
to the staging area for production orders, because of storage limitations,
for quality testing, and so on. The process of moving material
between storage locations in your company’s plant is made simple by
SAP ERP functionality.
Stock Transfer Between Plants
The transfer of material between plants occurs when material is
moved to replenish stock levels at another plant within your company,
to deliver material from a production site to a distribution center,
or to move obsolete or slow-moving stock.
Transfer Posting
A transfer posting differs from a stock transfer because it reflects a
logical change in material, rather than a physical change. There will
be everyday situations in your plant that require a transfer posting in
the SAP system.
When material is received at a company’s plant, it may require a quality
inspection. If the material passes that inspection, it’s moved into
inventory; if not, then the material is given a status in SAP, reflecting
its quality hold.