SAP Warehouse Management

• Mapping of the storage complex by means of storage complex number, storage types, storage sections, storage bins and quants.
• Transfer of all storage facilities such as high-bay storage, block storage or fixed bin storage in different storage types
• Division of the warehouse into different storage areas relevant for storage by means of certain storage bin characteristics
• Allocation of storage bins with the same picking activities to picking areas for stock removal
• The physical stock of the material is represented at the storage bin level via coordinates
• Management of stocks of a particular material with the same characteristics in a storage bin by means of quant
   

Benefits: 

• Representation of the logistic processes in the system
• Your own organizational units such as warehouse number, storage types, storage sections and storage bins allow you to recreate the physical warehouse in your system in detail
• With SAP WM, physical inventories can be managed at the level of the individual storage bin
• Complete integration of inventory management (MM-IM) and SAP WM

Advantages:

• High inventory transparency helps monitor stock levels and thus reduce storage costs
• Tracking of stock movements, as the location of a material in the warehouse is known at all times
• Reconciliation and correction of stocks in the SAP MM-IM as well as SAP WM by inventory procedures and stock differences

• The following core logistics processes can be managed with SAP WM:
  • Goods receipts
  • Outgoing goods
  • Internal and external stock transfers
  • Material provisioning for production areas
  • Automatic replenishment
  • Hazardous materials management
  • Processing stock differences
• WM interface to IM: Goods movements are triggered in IM and transferred to the WM-managed warehouse via transfer requirements and transfer orders
   

Benefits:

• Individual implementation of all goods movements in your warehouse complex
• Definition of putaway and retrieval strategies depending on individual inventory
• Logical grouping of several material quantities as one storage unit
   

Advantages:

• Storage strategies and storage units can be used to optimize storage capacities and material flows
• Automatic determination of the optimal storage bins and picking locations for goods, based on the putaway and retrieval strategy as well as the material master
• Optimization of warehouse complex utilization and increase of flexibility in goods handling and storage through storage units

• The interface between SAP WM and production control enables direct staging of materials to the production supply areas (PVBs) from the warehouse
• PVBs are located directly in the manufacturing area
• The production worker himself requests the required material directly via the WM-PP interface

Benefits:

• In PVBs, materials are staged directly at production storage bins for manufacturing
• The PVBs group one or more workstations in the vicinity of the production storage bins, taking into account the material staging mode
   

Advantages:

• Form and location of provisioning can be fine-tuned, i.e. individual components can be provided manually, order-related, cross-order or order-independent
• In the event of changes to quantities or deadlines in the production order, the system can adjust the transfer requirement or create a new one.
• Withdrawal of components can be retrograde, i.e. after completion of the production process in connection with confirmation of the order

• Transport order processing can be coordinated and monitored via the Radio Frequency Monitor
• A clear display of all goods movements and stock levels via the warehouse control station is made possible by the RF monitor
• Functions of the warehouse control center:
  • Automatic storage operation monitoring
  • Automatic error indication and detection
  • Support with troubleshooting and analysis
     

Benefits:

• Planning of workflows such as anticipatory load consideration for upcoming days or early intervention in case of critical warehouse processes
• On-time stock movements
• The warehouse control station provides an overview of:
  • Non-confirmed transfer orders
  • Open transport requirements
  • Open transfer orders
  • Critical deliveries
  • Negative inventories
  • Interface stocks without movement
  • Critical stocks in production supply
     

Advantages:

• Planning and tracking of all goods movements
• Monitoring, planning and optimization of work processes in the warehouse
• Faster error detection, correction and root cause analysis

• Radio Frequency (RF) connectivity for the use of mobile data collection devices in the warehouse is an integrated part of the SAP system
• RF devices receive data directly from the SAP system and transmit it back again
• With barcodes and RFID tags, additional information can be easily captured and verified
   

Benefits:

• Control of the individual work steps of your warehouse employees simply and clearly with the help of RF devices
• Direct access to RF transactions from the SAP menu or from mobile data capture devices
• Generated information is immediately returned to the SAP database and is directly available to the RF user
   

Advantages:

• Basis for efficient and cost-effective work in the warehouse
• Reduction of media discontinuity and acceleration of processes by connecting application and human without paper
• Increased efficiency due to the possibility of labeling or marking
• Fast and error-free data transmission
• Ensuring a high quality standard

• Connection of external systems such as semi-automatic and fully automatic warehouses to SAP WM
• Interface to third-party systems using a WM-LSR interface via automated warehouse systems such as:
  • Warehouse control computer (LSR)
  • Stacker guidance systems (SLS)
  • Decentralized warehouse management systems
• Communication between the systems via the transactional Remote Function Call (tRFC).
   

Benefits:

The WMS-LSR interface includes the following communication operations:

• Transfer of transfer orders from SAP WM to an external system
• Creation of transfer orders reported by the external system in SAP WM
• Confirmation of transfer orders reported as completed by the external system in SAP WM
• Transfer release of collective processing (grouped transfer orders) from SAP WM to the external system
• Movement of bearing units
• Transfer of cancellation requests from SAP WM to a third-party system
• Blocking of storage areas or alleys
• Creation of transfer requirements reported in the external system in SAP WM
• Cancellation of transfer orders not reported as completed in the external system in SAP WM
   

Advantages:

• Customizable task distribution between SAP WM and a third-party system
• A third-party system can take over further control or optimization tasks in addition to material flow control
• Warehouse control computers are integrated into the SAP environment
• Cost savings through defined and release-independent interfaces

• The inventory is considered a prerequisite for proper bookkeeping and accounting
• There is a comparison of the actual physical stocks of a fiscal year with the data kept in SAP WM
• SAP WM masters various inventory procedures:
  • Perpetual inventory as of the balance sheet date
  • Permanente Inventur durch Einlagerung oder Auslagerung
  • Cycle Counting Inventory - place-by-place or quantity-by-quantity
  • Inventory sampling
• It must be performed at least once for each storage bin to be considered complete
• SAP WM is storage bin related
• SAP MM-IM is material related

Benefits:

• A perpetual inventory can be taken both at the time of putaway and at the time of retrieval from storage
• The Cycle Counting Inventory can be performed place-by-place or quantity-by-quantity
• Inventory sampling can be carried out in SAP MM-IM as well as in SAP WM
• In general, an inventory can be performed for quants or storage bins
   

Advantages:

• Inventory management accurate to storage location
• Inventory data can be updated on storage bin level and on quants
• Following the inventory, an inventory indicator is set for this storage bin, documenting the date and type of the inventory
• All inventory differences are recorded via a difference interface to Inventory Management and cleared there