activating has less prerequisites than removing.

Usually it is only the quantity that must not be present in current and previous period to activate
batch managment.
SAP note 533276 says:
The attempt to set the batch management requirement indicator for a material in the material master
record maintenance fails because there are stocks or documents that are not completed, such as
production orders, sales orders, deliveries or Warehouse Management (WM) transfer orders.
Edited by: Jürgen L. on Feb 6, 2012 11:42 AM
In MM02 you receive a message that you shall look into the log if the batch management indicator
cannot be saved.
In that moment, hit enter and a new button will appear, there you can exactly read which document
is hindering you.
Usually it is stock in previous period that is forgotten to make zero.
Check in MM03 at accounting view what your previous period stock is.
As you have already cleared current period stock,
you have to add again as much stock in the current period as you have to remove from previous
period.
then issue the stock with a previous period date. (you may have to allow previous period posting in
MMRV first, and FI period has to allow it as well -> OB52)
2598111 - Same Batch Number for Different Materials
Symptom

You execute the report MB51 for specific plant(s) and a specific Batch, the system
unexpectedly returns information for two different materials with the same Batch
Number.

Environment

 Materials Management (MM)

 SAP ERP Central Component
 SAP ERP
 SAP enhancement package for SAP ERP
 SAP enhancement package for SAP ERP, version for SAP HANA
 SAP S/4HANA
 SAP S/4HANA Cloud

Reproducing the Issue

1. Go to transaction MB51.
2. Enter Plant(s) and a Batch.
3. Execute the report.
4. Here the system returns information for different materials with the same Batch
Number.

You can also check table MCHB for a specific Batch Number to determine which
Material/s it is assigned to.

Cause

This happens due to the customizing setting in transaction OMCT. If Batch Level is set
to 'Batch unique at material level' the system can automatically assign the same
batch number to:

i) The same material in different plants.

ii) Different materials in same plant.

iii) Different materials in different plants.

Example:
a) Plant 0001 Material X Batch 1
b) Plant 0002 Material X Batch 1
c) Plant 0001 Material Y Batch 1

Resolution

This is standard system behaviour when a system has this customizing setting in place.

For guidance on how to change the Batch Level customizing setting see note 891902.