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Background documentation Warehouse Structure in the Warehouse Management System  Locate the document in its SAP Library structure

Before you implement the application component Warehouse Management (Warehouse Management System) you must first define the structure, that is, the physical structure, of your warehouse or warehouse complex and depict it in the system.

Warehouse Structure Without WMS

If you are not using the Warehouse Management System, the storage location is the lowest level of inventory management in the system. In the Inventory Management (IM) component, the storage location is defined as the location of physical stock in a plant. In this case, storage locations make up the various warehouse facilities (or areas) of a warehousing complex (for example, high rack storage, picking area or bulk storage). However, you can only manage material stock in a fixed bin warehouse. Random storage is not possible. This type of fixed bin is different from a WMS storage bin in that it is entered into the material master record at the storage location level.

If you are using Inventory Management without WMS, you can assign one or several physical storage locations to each plant.

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In this example, storage locations are assigned to two plants. The first plant has two storage locations: storage location 0001 (for example, high-rack storage) and storage location 0002 (for example, bulk storage). The second plant has three storage locations: storage location 0001 (for example, high-rack storage), storage location 0002 (for example, bulk storage), and storage location 0003 (for example, picking area).

In this case, Inventory Management supplies information on the stock quantities at storage location level in the form of quantity totals.

In addition to having a warehouse structure without the Warehouse Management System (WMS), you also have the option in fixed bin warehouses to process warehouse activities using Lean WM. Here you can use the advantages of transfer order processing without having to manage stock quantities at storage bin level.

Recommendation

We recommend that you implement Lean WM in fixed bin warehouses for the purpose of picking deliveries.

Warehouse Structure With WMS

When you implement the Warehouse Management System (WMS) in a plant, you define the individual warehouses (high-rack storage, block storage, picking area, and so on) as storage types within a warehouse complex and group them together under a warehouse number. As a rule, it is not necessary to define several storage locations for a plant since you assign the WMS warehouse number to a storage location from Inventory Management (IM).

It is appropriate to define further storage locations for a plant if other warehouses (storage types) exist within a plant that is not managed using WMS but with Lean WM, for example.

In WMS you define storage bins for each of the storage types. In this way, WMS manages stock information on all materials in the warehouse at storage bin level. In addition, the stock quantities of the material are managed in Inventory Management (MM-IM) at storage location level. In order to link the information at storage location level with the information from the storage bin, assign a warehouse number to the storage location.

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This figure depicts two plants that each manage a storage location using WMS.

You can also manage stock for several plants in the same warehouse at the same time. In this case, the same warehouse number is assigned to the storage locations for these plants.

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As a rule, it is a good idea to manage only the stocks of one storage location and the same plant within a warehouse number. However, you can also manage several storage locations of one and the same plant within a warehouse number. For scenarios associated with this structural configuration, see Storage Locations in TRs, Tos and Posting Changes.

For information on how to link a plant storage location in IM with a warehouse number in WMS, refer to the Implementation Guide under the path Enterprise Structure Assignment Logistics Execution Assign warehouse number to plant / storage location

The system uses the links that you create to Inventory Management (IM) to ensure that certain processes in Quality Management (QM), Product Planning (PP), and Sales and Distribution (SD) are carried out in the Warehouse Management System (WMS) for the appropriate warehouse number.

Depiction of the Physical Warehouse in WMS

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The warehouse structure in Warehouse Management is hierarchical and consists of the following elements:

You can define an entire physical warehouse complex in WM using a single warehouse number.

Each of the warehouse facilities or areas that make up the warehouse complex can be defined as a type of storage area or "storage type" on the basis of its spatial, technical, and organizational characteristics.

Each storage type is divided into storage sections. A storage section generally includes all bins that have certain characteristics in common, such as bins for "fast-moving items" near a goods issue area.

Each storage type and storage section consists of a row of storage spaces that are referred to in WMS as storage bins. The coordinates of the bins indicate the exact position in the warehouse where goods can be stored.

The quant serves to perform inventory management of a material at the storage bin.

To depict the setup of your physical warehouse in the system, first define the warehouse structures in WMS in the Customizing application. We recommend that you adhere to the following sequence when setting up your warehouse structure in the system.

  1. Define the warehouse number in Customizing under the path Enterprise Structure Definition Logistics Execution Assign warehouse number to plant / storage location
  2. Define the storage types in Customizing under the path Logistics Execution Warehouse Management Master Data Define Storage Type.
  3. Define the storage types in Customizing under the path Logistics Execution Warehouse Management Master Data Define Storage Type.
  4. Create the storage bins.

 

 

 

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