Assets management and inventory Management.

Question

This may be simple situation often encountered in industries. The need is to manage an item as an asset as well as manage inventory functions of purchasing, receiving, physical inventory and issue of these assets to customers as inventory materials. The materials are also needed to accounted for depreciation functions.
Can experts throw some light on the kind of best practice process flows that we could often consider.
Thanks in advance for contributors.

Answer 1

Good questions: I think I need to explain the full scenario.
This is for a health care industry. The intention is to purchase the materials as assets and these come from different vendors, but often, it could be the same material. The current thinking is as follows:
1. Forecast the reqiuirement of the materials according the different sizes. For example : small, medium and large.  Each of these sizes could come from different vendors with different model numbers, but are groupd under the sizes.
2. Based on the forecast probably using APO, the materials are purchased in ERP for these sizes. But we still need to carry the vendor model number as part of the attributes of the materisl. Here there seems to be three options.
- One is to use Material classification and use capture the model number of the vendor.
- second is to utilise the Form Fit Function functionality of SAP IS for A&D.
- Third potential option might be to use Batch management and capture manufacturer number in batch characteristic.
Once the materials are purchases these are settled to assets and then there is a need to manage their inventory as the requirement is to utilise Logistic execution functionality including sales, delivery and goods issue functionality. In addition the materials also  need to be transferred between different  SAP plant locations.
There is also a challenge to manage the requirement as more often, the need is for just the size. but sometime there is a requirement for a specific model within a particular size.
I am not too sure whether there is an absolute need to manage seralisation for individual material numbers, but from asset management perspective, is there a need> Pl clarify
Any comments / suggestions on the above is very welcome.
Appreciate your time and thinking and value contribution.
Venkatesh