Setting Up Material Return Processing

Successful implementation of the RMA creation functionality depends on several setup steps:

1. Define inventory business units.

   Define business units in your inventory system that represent the warehouses that are to receive returned material. Activate the Business Unit EIP to insert the business units that are defined in your inventory system in the BUSINESS_UNIT_FS table in the PeopleSoft CRM system automatically. This enables you to select the appropriate inventory business unit on the RMA Form.

   We discuss this procedure in more detail in the documentation for transferring stock between business units.

   See PeopleSoft FSCM: Inventory.

2. Synchronize item, product, and customer masters between PeopleSoft CRM and your purchasing and inventory systems.

   Activate the Item Master EIP, the Product EIP, and the Customer EIP to populate your PeopleSoft CRM tables with the master data in your inventory and purchasing systems. Alternatively, you can manually enter item, product, and customer information in both PeopleSoft CRM and your inventory system.

3. Define requisition processing defaults in your purchasing system.

   Call center business units in PeopleSoft CRM that can create RMAs must be defined as a valid source of requisitions in your purchasing system. If you are integrating with PeopleSoft Purchasing, use the Requisition Loader Defaults component in PeopleSoft Supply Chain Management to define each call center business unit as a Loader BU. Using the same component, establish processing defaults for requisitions that are staged by the call center business unit, including the purchasing business unit in PeopleSoft Purchasing that is used to process the requisitions.

   When you define procurement options in PeopleSoft Supply Chain Management, you can associate the call center business unit with an appropriate distribution network on the Ship To Locations page. You can configure sourcing processes in PeopleSoft Purchasing to verify the available quantity in the distribution network before creating a purchase order with an external vendor. If the quantity exists in one of the inventory business units in the defined distribution network, the system creates a material stock request to fulfill the requisition.

   See PeopleSoft FSCM: Application Fundamentals.

4. Define requesters in PeopleSoft CRM and your purchasing system.

   The requester ID represents a person or an entity that initiates a requisition request. For advanced exchange RMA lines, the system populates the Requester field with the default requester ID that is defined on the User Preferences - Overall Preferences page. You can modify the requester ID as necessary. However, if you integrate with PeopleSoft Purchasing, the requester ID that you select for the RMA line created in PeopleSoft Support must be a valid user ID and requisition requester in PeopleSoft Purchasing.

5. Activate the associated service operation queues.

   In your PeopleSoft Support and Inventory systems, activate the Return Material Authorization service operation. For advanced exchange RMAs, activate the Purchase Order Requisition service operation in PeopleSoft Support and in your purchasing system.

6. Define problem codes in PeopleSoft CRM and reason codes in PeopleSoft Inventory.

   When you create an RMA in PeopleSoft Support, you must specify a problem code. You set up problem codes for RMAs on the Problem Codes page under select Set Up CRM, then select Common Definitions, then select Codes and Auto Numbering, then select Problem Codes. If you are integrating with PeopleSoft Inventory, the problem codes that you select for RMAs in PeopleSoft Support must match the reason codes that are established on the Reason Code page in PeopleSoft Inventory. Also, the matching reason codes in PeopleSoft Inventory must be defined with a reason type of Return Material Authorization. When the RMA form is created in PeopleSoft Inventory, the problem code is used as the reason code. If the reason code on the RMA form does not exist in PeopleSoft Inventory, the system logs an error when the RMA service operation is processed.

7. Create a case for a customer.

   Create a case using the Case component in PeopleSoft Support. RMAs must be associated with a case in your system. You cannot create an RMA without first creating a case.