I often get the question about the difference between Equipment Records & Functional Locations. So I figured, what better way to answer it than to post it on the blog so everyone can see it :).
So, onto the question. An Equipment Record and a Functional Location are very similar as far as SAP functionality. They can both do pretty much all the same things, hold the same data etc. The difference between these items is really more fundamental in terms of what they represent.
Equipment: this is typically any piece of equipment, say an Iphone, a printer, a laptop. They can be anywhere, with anyone etc. Typically serialized, etc.
Functional Location: This is typically more of a permanent structure. For example, this may be a punch press machine, a central office for your cable company etc. A functional location is just that, a fixed location. It can often contain equipment records (especially in the case of a central office, there may be racks, switching devices, fiber optic routers, etc.). In my experience, I tend to see FL’s used much more in plant maintenance for items that are fixed in the plant.
Thanks for reading,
As always, thanks for reading and don't forget to check out our SAP Service Management Products at my other company JaveLLin Solutions,Mike