SAP Extended Warehouse Management (SAP EWM) 

Purpose

Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) offers you flexible, automated support for processing various goods movements and for managing stocks in your warehouse complex. The system supports planned and efficient processing of all logistics processes in your warehouse.

Introductory Notes

If you manage your warehouse stocks using the application component Inventory Management (MM-IM), you manage the quantities and values of stocks in several storage locations.

In contrast, EWM gives you the option of mapping your entire warehouse complex in detail in the system, down to storage bin level. Not only does this give you an overview of the total quantity of a product in the warehouse, but you can also always see exactly where a specific product is, at any time, in your warehouse complex. With EWM, you can optimize the use of various storage bins and stock movements, and can store together stocks from several plants in randomly-managed warehouse. Using EWM, you can control and optimize various processes in the warehouse.

Integration

EWM is completely integrated into Inventory Management and Delivery Processing. Business processes, which you trigger in other application components, lead to physical goods movements in your warehouse. You organize, control, and monitor these goods movements using EWM.

Features

Storage Bin Management and Optimization

You map the entirety of your storage facilities in EWM. You can set up different storage facilities such as automatic warehouses, high-rack storage areas, bulk storage areas, or fixed bin warehouses, in various storage types, according to your requirements.

You manage the stocks at storage bin level. You can define these storage bins according to your own requirements. Every storage bin in your warehouse is mapped in the system. This enables you to constantly track all stock movements in detail. You can see exactly where a specific product is located in your warehouse. You can also use EWM to optimize storage bin management, since EWM takes on a large part of optimizing the products, so that each product is assigned to the correct storage bin, depending on its size and frequency of access.

Inventory Management and EWM are fully integrated. Using the physical inventory procedures and the entry of stock differences, the system ensures that the book inventory balance in Inventory Management always matches the warehouse stock in EWM.

Goods Movements

You process all goods movements that affect your warehouse using EWM, such as goods receipts, goods issues, stock transfers, and automatic replenishment. These movements can include goods receipts, goods issues, stock transfers, automatic replenishment, management of dangerous goods, layout-oriented and process-oriented storage control, effective work preparation using automatic wave pick creation, resource optimization using rule-based bundling of warehouse tasks, or processing of inventory differences in your warehouse.

EWM optimizes warehouse capacities and material flows using putaway and stock removal strategies that you can adjust to your needs, or by you using handling units.

Work Center

You can use the work center to map a physical unit in the warehouse, which you use to carry out warehouse activities such as packing, deconsolidation, weighing, quality inspections, and counting. You can personalize each work center, so that each user sees exactly those fields, data, and tab pages that are necessary for their work.

Physical Inventory

You use physical inventory to regularly perform a physical stock take in your warehouse. You compare the actual, existing, physical, stock with the data managed in EWM. By entering physical inventory differences, you update the accounting data for the stock, according to the results of the physical stock take. If you have performed physical inventory at least once in a fiscal year for each storage bin/each product, the physical inventory is classed as complete.

If you use EWM, the physical inventory is performed at Warehouse Management level. You can perform a physical inventory based on products and/or based on storage bins. There is a difference monitor available, with configurable tolerance groups, which you can use to define maximum values for posting differences for each user. In addition, the system supports automatic posting according to time intervals, different priorities for each individual inventory procedure, a zero stock check, and a low stock check. The radio frequency functions are integrated into the physical inventory and support you when you perform the different physical inventory procedures, such as cycle counting, physical inventory during putaway, and physical inventory using zero stock check. Handling units are fully integrated into the physical inventory process.

Planning and Monitoring

EWN gives you an overview of all goods movements and warehouse stocks. The system supports you in planning, monitoring, and optimizing work processes. For example, it gives you a preview of the workloads for the coming days, or enables you to take preventive action in critical warehouse processes, so that you can perform stock movements on time. The extensive monitoring functions give you a current view of all activities in the warehouse. You can control the actual work in the warehouse using the individual monitors.

Radio Frequency Connection

To structure the work in the warehouse efficiently and cost-effectively, you control the warehouse workers’ work steps clearly and simply via mobile radio-frequency terminals.

The radio frequency connection (RF connection) to mobile data entry achieves fast and accurate data transfer. The RF devices receive data directly from the SAP system and transfer data back to the system. You can enter and verify information using bar codes. This means that you ensure a high standard of quality in your warehouse.

Warehouse Control

EWM also contains an interface to external systems (warehouse control units). This enables you to integrate automated putaway and stock removal systems, or forklift control systems for all stock movements using this Application Link Enabling interface (ALE interface) in the warehouse management system.