Goods Movement in SAP PP: MIGO, 261 & 531 Movement Type

By : Olivia Turner Olivia Turner
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⚡ Smart Summary

Goods movements against a production order post the finished material into stock and the components out of it. Movement type 101 records the goods receipt, and movement type 261 records the goods issue.

  • 🔘 Definition: Every production order triggers two inventory movements — the receipt of the product and the issue of its components.
  • ☑️ Goods receipt: Movement type 101 in MIGO increases the stock of the produced material at the receiving storage location.
  • ✅ Goods issue: Movement type 261 in MIGO reduces the stock of every component consumed by the order.
  • 🧪 Reversals: Each movement has a mirror image, so 102 reverses 101 and 262 reverses 261.
  • 🛠️ Automation: A backflush indicator posts 261 automatically, and an auto goods receipt control key posts 101 at confirmation.
  • 📈 Error handling: Failed automatic movements collect in transaction COGI, where they are corrected and reprocessed.
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Goods Movement Against a Production Order in SAP PP Using MIGO

What is Goods Movement Against a Production Order?

There are two types of goods movement against a production order, and both change the inventory of a material. These movements are carried out through movement types in SAP.

  • Goods Receipt (GR) against order is executed with movement type 101 and is done when the material is produced. After the goods receipt, the system increases the stock of the material at the relevant storage location.
  • Goods Issue (GI) against order is executed with movement type 261 and is done whenever the component materials are consumed to produce another material. After the goods issue, the system decreases the inventory of the components at the relevant storage location.

Both movements are posted in transaction MIGO, and both create a material document plus an accounting document. The movement type is what tells SAP which stock and which accounts to update.

Movement Types Used in Production Order Goods Movements

A movement type is a three-digit key that controls the stock update, the account determination and the screen layout of the posting. These are the keys a production planner meets most often.

Movement type Meaning Effect on stock
101 Goods receipt for a production order Increases the stock of the produced material
102 Reversal of movement type 101 Removes a goods receipt posted in error
261 Goods issue for a production order Decreases the stock of the components consumed
262 Reversal of movement type 261 Returns unused components to the storage location
531 Receipt of a by-product or co-product Increases the stock of the by-product from the order
532 Reversal of movement type 531 Removes a by-product receipt posted in error

Every movement type in SAP has a paired reversal key, which is why the table reads in pairs. Before any of them can be posted, the order and the material master have to be ready.

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Prerequisites Before Posting Goods Movements in MIGO

A goods movement fails at posting rather than at entry, so it is worth checking these points first.

  • Order status — the production order must be released (status REL). A created order (status CRTD) accepts no goods movement.
  • Component stock — unrestricted stock must exist for each component in the issuing storage location, otherwise the goods issue is blocked by a deficit.
  • Storage location and plant — the receiving storage location on the order and the issuing storage location on the reservation must both be maintained.
  • Open posting period — the posting date has to fall in a period that is open for materials management, otherwise the document cannot be saved.
  • Batch and quality settings — a batch-managed material needs a batch number, and a material with a quality inspection setup posts the receipt into inspection stock instead of unrestricted stock.

With the order released and the stock in place, the goods receipt can be posted.

How to Create a Goods Receipt (GR) Against an Order

Step 1) From the SAP Easy Access screen, open transaction MIGO. The two dropdown boxes at the top define the action and the reference document.

  1. Select Goods Receipt, because you are going to post a goods receipt.
  2. Select Order, because the goods receipt is posted against a production order.
  3. Enter your production order number.

MIGO header set to Goods Receipt against Order with the production order number entered

After filling in all the fields, click Execute button used to pull the production order data into the MIGO item screen or press Enter to go to the next screen.

Step 2) In this screen, the item data proposed from the order is displayed.

  1. Check movement type “101”, which is the type relevant for a goods receipt against an order.
  2. If the material is subject to quality inspection, the stock type is shown as “quality inspection”.
  3. If the material is handled in batches, enter the batch number in which the inventory will be updated.

MIGO item detail showing movement type 101, the stock type and the batch field

Step 3) In the same screen, complete the item and validate it.

  1. Enter the date of manufacture, that is, the date on which the material was produced.
  2. Set the flag of “Item OK”.
  3. Click the “Check” button at the top, and the result message appears at the bottom of the screen.

Goods receipt item with the date of manufacture entered and the Item OK flag set

Click Save button that posts the goods receipt material document to save the document. The system then confirms the posting with a message like Status bar message confirming that the goods receipt material document was posted.

The components consumed by the same order are posted with the opposite movement.

How to Create a Goods Issue (GI) Against an Order

Step 1) From the SAP Easy Access screen, open transaction MIGO again, and change the two dropdown boxes.

  1. Select “Goods Issue” in the first box.
  2. Select “Order” in the second box, which means the goods issue is posted against an order.
  3. Enter the production order.

MIGO header set to Goods Issue against Order with the production order number entered

After filling in all the fields, click Execute button used to read the component list of the order into MIGO to go to the next screen.

Step 2) In this screen, the reservation created by the order is displayed as a component list.

  1. You can see the list of components fetched automatically from the order together with the required quantity. The quantity can be changed to match the actual consumption.

Component list read from the production order reservation with the required quantities

Step 3) In the same screen, validate the items before posting.

  1. Set the flag of “Item OK”.
  2. Click the “Check” button at the top, and the result message appears at the bottom of the screen.
  3. A green status light indicates that the document is ready for posting.

Goods issue items flagged as Item OK with a green status light after the check

Click Save button that posts the goods issue material document to save the document. The system then confirms the posting with a message like Status bar message confirming that the goods issue material document was posted.

Automatic Goods Movements: Backflush and Auto Goods Receipt

Both movements shown above can also be posted by the system during order confirmation, which removes the manual MIGO step on a high-volume line.

  • Backflush — when the backflush indicator is set for a component, confirming the operation in CO11N posts movement type 261 for that component automatically, in the quantity derived from the confirmed yield.
  • Automatic goods receipt — when the control key of the final operation carries the automatic goods receipt indicator, confirming that operation posts movement type 101 for the finished material automatically.
  • COGI — if an automatic movement fails, for example because a component has no stock, the confirmation is still saved and the failed movement is written to a post-processing record. Transaction COGI lists those records so they can be corrected and reprocessed.

Automatic movements are convenient, but they are also the usual reason a manual posting behaves unexpectedly.

Troubleshooting Goods Movement Errors

  • For a manual goods issue, the material master must not carry a backflush indicator. Otherwise the components are issued automatically at confirmation instead of manually.
  • For a manual goods receipt, the routing operation data must use a control key without the auto goods receipt flag, so the receipt is posted manually instead of at confirmation.
  • A “deficit of stock” message on a goods issue means the component quantity is not available as unrestricted stock in the issuing storage location on the posting date.
  • If MIGO reports that the order is not released, set the order to status REL in CO02 before posting.
  • If the goods receipt lands in quality inspection stock rather than unrestricted stock, the material is set up for an inspection, and the stock is released only when the inspection lot is closed.

FAQs

Machine learning models score postings for anomalies, such as a consumption quantity far from the bill of material, and cluster recurring post-processing errors so the root cause is fixed once. SAP ships similar situation handling inside S/4HANA.

Copilot can draft the ABAP wrapper or the script that calls BAPI_GOODSMVT_CREATE, and generate the test data behind it. The movement type, plant and quantity logic still needs a planner review, and the code belongs in a test client first.

Open MIGO, choose Cancellation with reference to the material document number, or use transaction MBST. The system posts the paired reversal movement type and links the two documents, so the original posting stays visible in the history.

Display the order in CO03 and open the documented goods movements list, which shows each material document with its movement type and quantity. Transaction MB51 gives the same view filtered by material, plant and movement type.

MB31 is the older single-purpose screen for a goods receipt against an order, and MB1A is its goods issue counterpart. MIGO combines every goods movement in one transaction and is the screen SAP recommends today.

Only within the overdelivery tolerance maintained on the goods receipt data of the order. Beyond that percentage the posting is rejected, and either the tolerance or the order quantity has to be changed in CO02 first.

The receipt debits the stock account of the produced material and credits a factory output account, while crediting the production order itself. The exact accounts come from automatic account determination in OBYC for the plant and valuation class.

The posting date, not the document date and not the date of manufacture. It has to fall in a materials management period that is still open, otherwise the material document cannot be saved at all.

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