Storage Type

 

A storage type is a storage area, warehouse facility, or a warehouse zone that you define in Warehouse Management (WM) for a warehouse number. This is a physical or logical subdivision of a warehouse complex that is characterized by its warehouse technique, the space used, its organizational form, or its function. A storage type consists of one or several storage bins.

You can define the following frequently-used physical storage types in WM:

  • Bulk storage

  • Open storage

  • High rack storage

  • Picking area

  • Shelf storage

You can also define storage types in WM that are shared by both the Inventory Management (IM) and Warehouse Management (WM) application components. These are called interim storage areas and include the following:

  • Goods receipt area

  • Goods issue area

  • Interim storage area for differences

  • Posting change zone

 

These storage types make up the warehousing complex and can be located in one or several buildings. They are all managed using a single warehouse number.

In the standard version of Warehouse Management, several complete storage types are already configured and you can use them right away. These include:

  • A high rack storage area

  • A bulk storage area

  • A picking storage area

  • A general storage area

  • A pallet storage area

These have all been defined with various control parameters for putaway, picking, and inventory.

Note Note

You can use these standard storage types as a basis for your own individual settings, or you can create different storage types to meet the requirements of your company.

End of the note.

Definition of Control Parameters in the Storage Type

You need to define important control indicators at the storage type level that determine the material flow (putaway and picking activities) and the way inventory is handled in each storage type. These include the control indicators for:

  • Putaway

  • Picking

  • Blocking indicators and inventory procedures

Note Note

Some control indicators for storage types are mutually exclusive; legal or internal directives may not allow some combinations of indicators. In such cases, the system issues an error message. We recommend that you check and test any new combinations before they are released in the production system.

Only when there are no further stocks available in a storage type can you activate or deactivate storage unit management.

We recommend that you only change the capacity check function for a storage type if there is no more stock stored there.

You should be especially cautious when changing control indicators that pertain to putaway strategies.

End of the note.

There are indicators in the storage type that can be overwritten in the movement type. That is to say, certain functions, such as confirmation requirement for putaway and picking or allowing posting changes in the same bin, are valid in general for a particular storage type, but not for a particular posting (for example, goods receipts from production do not need to be confirmed).

For more information about how to modify existing storage types or create new ones, see the Implementation Guide (IMG) for Warehouse Management under Start of the navigation path Master Data Next navigation step Define Storage Type End of the navigation path.

Integration

The Inventory Management (IM) application component communicates with the Warehouse Management component through interim storage types. Goods receipts and issues posted in IM are automatically updated in WM in these interim storage types.

These storage types can have characteristics that are not normally defined in purely physical storage types. For example, they can have negative stock; no capacity check is required and no putaway or picking strategies are defined for interim storage areas.

Example

You can define several storage types for each warehouse number. The following figure depicts five storage types assigned to a single warehouse number.