Step by Step Approach for Configuration of Warehouse Management

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Define Storage Unit Types

With the indicator for the storage unit type, it is possible to distinguish pallets or other containers on which a material is stored or transported.

The classification of your storage units allows you to use the stock placement strategies in an optimal way.

The storage unit type is taken into account during stock placements if you have activated the "storage bin type search".

Default settings

In the SAP standard system, examples are preset for warehouse numbers 001 and 002.

ACTIONS

1. Decide whether you want to use the storage bin type search.

2. Classify your storage units (for example, Europallets, wire boxes) according to certain criteria (for example, certain packing height for Europallets).

3. Create your storage unit types with the respective descriptions/names.  

Define Storage Section Indicators

The storage section indicator divides materials into groups with the same characteristics.  With the storage section indicator, you can assign certain material groups to special storage sections.

With this classification method, you can use the stock placement strategies in an optimum way.

Default settings

In the SAP standard system, examples are preset for warehouse numbers 001 and 002.

Actions

1. Decide whether you want to use "storage section search".

2. Classify your materials according to certain criteria (for example, fast-moving items, bulky materials, extremely heavy materials, and so on).

3. Create your storage section indicators with the corresponding description.  

Strategies

In the Warehouse Management system (LE-WM) you support strategies in order to receive proposals from the SAP System

• Regarding which storage bins the goods are to be put away

• From which storage bins goods are to be picked.

There are two basic strategies in the system:

• putaway strategies

• picking strategies

With the help of these strategies, the SAP system can use the available transfer and warehouse capacity optimally.

For each storage type, you must define a putaway and a picking strategy.

Recommendation

To be able to take a closer look at the processes involved in the storage bin search (that is, processes that involve interaction between the materials master data and the data from the system configuration menu in Warehouse Management), you can use the function "Log Bin Search".

You can call up this function from the preparation screens for stock placements and stock removals and from the single item screen for creating transfer orders (menu option "Environment").

This bin search log supports, on the one hand, the work of the project team in the implementation phase and, on the other hand, the analysis of customizing errors during productive operation.

Activate Storage Type Search

For putaway or pick operations, the Warehouse Management System (WMS) must know:

• into which storage types materials can be placed

• from which storage types materials can be removed

In the WMS, a storage type is determined as follows:

1. In the case of a put away, you generally know where the material for the put away is coming from. In the case of a pick, you generally know to where the material to be removed is to be transferred.  

Information on the location from where the material is to be picked is either stored in the transfer requirement or determined by the system using the WM movement type.

2. The system must then know into which storage type the material should be placed, or from which storage type the material should be removed.  The table "Storage type search", which you are setting here, provides this information.  In this table, you store the preferred sequence of storage types to be searched for the material for putaways or picks.  

If you have activated the storage unit check, this check also influences the storage type search.  In this case, the storage unit type from the transfer order is also checked against the allowed storage units per storage type.  The system finds this information via the table "Allowed storage unit types / storage type", which you are also setting here. For further information on this subject, refer to the chapter Storage type search.

3. Furthermore, you can influence the storage type search using other indicators:  

• process indicator (for example, stock placement or removal)  

• storage type indicator from the material master  

• stock category indicator  

• special stock indicator  

• storage class  

•  water pollution class (WPC) 

•  reference movement type

The indicators storage class and water pollution class influence the storage type search. If you are not implementing Hazardous Material Management, you do not need to pay attention to these parameters.

For information on how to activate Hazardous Material Management, refer to the chapter Hazardous materials".  

4. As mentioned above, different indicators influence the storage type search.  If, however, you are using storage type indicators and you also have materials with different stock categories or materials with different special stocks, the number of required entries in the storage type search table can become quite large.  

To reduce the number of entries, you can define an access strategy for the storage type search table. With the help of this access strategy, the system determines the required entries in the storage type search table as follows:

Ø  The system first tries to find a suitable match, that is, an entry in the storage type search table with all the relevant indicators from the material master and, if available, from the hazardous material master.

Ø  If the system does not find a suitable entry in the storage type search table, it again tries to read this table, but this time using the access strategy.

Actions

Set the required parameters for the "Storage type search" in the specified sequence:

1. Storage type indicator

Using the storage type indicator, you can ensure that certain materials are only removed from certain storage types or placed into certain storage types in the order of preference you have defined.  

You define the valid storage type indicators in the table for "Storage type indicators".  

2. Storage type search

Now define the sequence of storage types to be searched by the system for stock putaway and stock pick proposals.  

Make sure that you enter the correct indicators for stock putaway and stock pick in the appropriate column.  

If you want the system to search through the entire warehouse number for a stock pick, enter "***" (stands for stringent FIFO) as the storage type. The system will then search the entire warehouse for the oldest stock of the material. The entry "+++" means that the system branches to the user exit to the stringent FIFO process (MWMTO013).  

If you are using the 2-step picking procedure, make sure that the destination storage type of the pick step is used as the source storage type for distributing the accumulated quantities. For the storage type search with the 2-step picking process, define activity type "2" (Column "Activity").  

3. Movement type references

In the Warehouse Management component, you can set up the system so that for each WM movement types certain storage types are proposed.  If you want to use this mechanism, set up the necessary reference movement types for the movement types concerned. These reference movement types must be taken into account in the table "Storage type search".

4. Access optimization for storage type search  

Instructions for access strategy for the storage type search table

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