Movement Types in SAP WM

In Warehouse Management, goods movements are controlled through the movement type. Postings to inventory in IM are also identified by movement types. Together with other indicators, a movement type that is used for a goods movement in IM refers to a WM reference movement type.

The reference movement type provides the following information:
Movement type for WM
Stock category for the quants created by the movement
Indicator controlling the creation of transfer requirements and posting change notice
WM movement types provide the following information that is needed to move stock into or out of the warehouse:
Interim storage area
Type of interim storage bin (predefined, dynamic, fixed)
Control indicators for processing, confirming, and printing transfer orders
Indicator for finding the storage type in the warehouse

The movement type is a classification key in the Warehouse Management system that describes a warehouse movement within a warehouse number.
The movement type not only specifies the direction of the goods movement, it also decides on the update of the stock and consumption accounts and the screen layout of the transactions for the movement posting.


The Warehouse Management (WM) also has movement types, similar to the IM movement types, to control the process flow in the warehouse. In particular, WM movement types influence the interim storage types which serve as the bridge between IM and WM.

The IM movement type is linked to the WM movement type via a so-called WM reference movement type. Technically, these links are defined in tables T156S (IM mvmt to WM reference) and T321 (WM reference to WM mvmt).

The reference movement type itself has no controlling function. This allows it to be possible to:
Connect various IM movement types to a single WM movement type, e.g. IM 601 and 641 to WM 601.
Assign one IM movement type to several movement types in WM, e.g. to control different processes for certain materials, stock categories, etc.

If you do not want to connect the IM movement type to WM movement type, you must assign reference movement type 999 (in table T156S).

Adding a Reference WM movement type to an IM movement
In WM customising, a reference movement type is created and is assigned to an IM movement. This is done in table T156S. The customising menu path is:
SPRO -> Logistics Execution -> Warehouse Management -> Interfaces -> Inventory Management -> Define Movement Types -> Assign WM Movement Type References to IM Movement types
 The entries in table T156S are not changeable – i.e. the IM movements, value update, quantity update settings, etc. cannot be changed.
In addition to the reference movement type, the system uses the settings for the warehouse number and the following indicators to determine the WM reference movement type:
Stock special indicator
Movement indicator
Special stock indicator
Special movement indicator
The entry of *** in the Warehouse Number column of the table indicates that the reference movement type is valid for all warehouses. The system finds that the movement type for WM (column MTy) is also 101. If the TR column is selected, it means that a transfer requirement will be created automatically by the IM component when the goods receipt is posted. This line also contains special indicators for stock and movements.

Assigning WM Movement Types to Reference Movement Types
Once the reference WM movement types have been assigned in table T156S, the WM movement type needs to be assigned in table T321. The customising menu path is:
SPRO -> Logistics Execution -> Warehouse Management -> Interfaces -> Inventory Management -> Define Movement Types -> LE-WM Interface to Inventory Management