SAP Warehouse Management System

Warehouse Management has become very effective

processing logistic requirement within a company.
It provides flexible ,automated support to assist you
in processing of all goods movements and
maintaining current stock inventories in your
complex warehousing.
 SAP Integration
SAP R/3 has the following modules under Logistics functions.

 Material Management (Inventory Management, MM/IM)

 Production Planning (PP)

 Quality Management (QM)

 Sales & Distribution (SD) ,etc.

The above modules and Remote Data Processing (Radio

Frequency, RF) are the interfaces, for the working of SAP
Warehouse Management System.
Cross Functional Integration
 PURPOSE OF SAP WMS

 Efficient support for all logistics processes

within the warehouse complex
 Systematic and detailed tracking of Materials
 Automated support pertaining to Goods Movement and
storage space at ―Bin‖ Level
 Flexibility in Operations
 Integration with other Warehouse Activities
Warehouse Structure in SAP -WMS
Warehouse Management Structure
The WM components are as below :

 Plant – Organizational unit within Logistics, serving to subdivide an

an enterprise according to production,procurement,maintenance and
materials planning.

 Storage Location – An organizational unit allowing differentiation

between various stocks of a material in a plant.

 Warehouse Number – Number that represents the complex,physical

warehouse structure within WMS.

 Storage Type – It is a sub division of a complex, physical Warehouse.

Warehouse Management Structure Contd…
Storage Types –
The examples of the Storage Types are as below:

• Heady Duty Storage Type

• Shelf Storage Type
• Multiplex
• Open Storage Type
• Bulk Storage Type
• Interim Storage Types such as GR area,GI area etc.

Storage Type Indicator – This is a key to control whether certain

materials are placed into or removed from stock in certain storage
type.
Warehouse Management Structure Contd…
Interim Storage Areas (Types )
The Inventory Management component communicates with WM
through interim storage types.
It is through the interim storage areas that the stock quantities remain
constant in both IM and WM. The total sum of the stock of all the WM
storage areas for a warehouse number, both physical and logical, should
always be identical to the sum of the stock in the IM storage location

The Interim Storage Types are as follows :

• Goods Receipt Area
• Goods Issue Area
• Interim Storage area for differences
• Posting Change Area.
Warehouse Management Structure Contd…
 Storage Section-
Logical or Physical subdivision of a storage type.
Several storage bins with the same characteristics are grouped
together into one storage section.

Examples are –

 Fast Moving Section

 Slow Moving Section
 Total Section
Warehouse Management Structure Contd…
 Storage Bin – Smallest addressable unit of space in a warehouse.

Since the address of a storage bin is frequently derived from a

Co-ordinate system,it is referred to as a coordinate,for example
02-02-03 refers to Row 02, Stack 02 and Level 03.

Bin Structure – It is a combination of letters and numbers for a

Storage bin coordinate.E.g.RR-SS-LL.

 Quant – Unique code within a warehouse number used to identify

The material stock of a particular category in a storage bin.
Storage Bin Structure in WMS
Strategies in WMS

The WMS system supports the strategies in order to receive proposals

From the SAP system

• Regarding which storage bins the goods are to be putaway.

• From which storage bins the goods are to be picked.

There are two basic strategies in the system.

 Putaway Strategies

 Picking Strategies
Strategies in WMS Contd..

Putaway Strategies –
The system searches for a suitable bin in a storage type using these
strategies.

Some of the strategies are

 Fixed Bin Storage

 Open Storage
 Addition to existing stock
 Empty storage bin
 Pallets ( Storage Units)
 Bulk Storage
 No strategy (manual bin location assignment)
Strategies in WMS Contd…
Picking Strategies –
The system searches during a pick for a suitable quant within a
storage type using these strategies.

Some of the strategies are

 FIFO (First In First Out)

 Strict FIFO
 LIFO ( Last In First Out)
 Partial Quantity
 Large / Small Quantities
Movement Types in WM
Definition -
The movement type is a classification key in the WMS that describes
a warehouse movement within a warehouse number.

Together with other indicators, a movement type that is used for

a goods movement in IM refers to a WM reference movement type.

The reference movement type provides the following information:

•Movement type for WM

•Stock category for the quants created by the movement
• Indicator controlling the creation of transfer requirements and
posting change notice
Movement Types in WM Contd…
WM movement types provide the following information that is
needed to move stock into or out of the warehouse:

•Interim storage area

•Type of interim storage bin (predefined, dynamic, fixed)
•Control indicators for processing, confirming, and printing
transfer orders
•Indicator for finding the storage type in the warehouse
Movement Types in WM Contd…
Stock Categories in WM
Stock category gives the status of the stock.
Stock in the warehouse is categorized in WM as follows:

 Available Stock (Blank)

Unrestricted-use stock that is physically located in the warehouse,
valuated, and not subject to any kind of usage restrictions.You can
carry out all stock movements for this stock to include stock transfers,
putaway and picking

 Inspection Stock (Q)

This stock carries the stock category "Q" to indicate that it is in
quality inspection. Stock in quality inspection has been valuated but
does not count as unrestricted-use stock
Stock Categories in WM Contd…

Blocked Stock (S)

In IM it is possible to designate goods as blocked stock. These
materials are a company's own stock that should not be used. Stock
can be blocked, for example, because it has been damaged and for
various other reasons.

 Blocked Stock Returns (R)

When delivered goods are returned by a customer, they are first
posted in the system to "blocked stock returns" with a stock category
of "R". This stock is neither valuated nor is it considered to be
unrestricted-use stock
 FLOW CHART
For Goods Receipts In WM
Receipt-Binning Process Mapping
Scheduling Agreement/Purchase Order
IM/MM
Inbound Delivery

(TR) Material Receipt in Goods Receipt

Area (Interim Storage Area)

OK
Quality Inspection
WM
Not ok
Post change and Reject/Rework
Confirm Transfer
Order for same
Bar code mat id
Material put in Label printing Transfer Order by
Destination Bin Transfer Request
 Receipts Scrap Sale
Vendors Scrap

OK QC Return to vendor
Reject
From Plant & RWH

QR

Prod Yes OK
Items For Kit Making
NO
U/c Packing

Putaway to Storage Areas

Stages In WM

Stages In WM are :

 Transfer Requirement ( Planning )

 Transfer Order (Execution)
 Confirmation (Completion)
 Posting Change Notice ( Stock to Stock Posting)
Stages In WM Contd…
 Transfer Requirement –
This is a document that serves to plan goods movements using the
WMS.
The transfer requirement contains all the necessary information on a
planned goods movement.
•What should be moved?
•Which quantity should be moved?
•When should it be moved?
The planning date is important for further automatic processing.
Stages In WM Contd…
Transfer Requirement –
•Which transfer type is the basis of the goods movement?
Each goods movement in the warehouse is classified by a transfer type
indicator. This key differentiates between:
•A stock putaway
•A stock pick
•A stock transfer
•Why is it to be moved?
Stages In WM Contd…
 Transfer Order –
Document used for executing goods movements with the help of WM.
A transfer order contains all the necessary information on a planned
goods movement.
•What should be moved?
•Which quantity should be moved?
•From where (source storage bin) should the bin be moved, and whereto
(destination storage bin)?
Types of Transfer Order are Putaway,Picking etc.
Stages In WM Contd…
 Transfer Order Confirmation –
• The physical completion of the activity such as Putaway,removal or
stock transfer is done by TO confirmation.
This updates the available quantities in the respective storage types.
Stages In WM Contd…
 Posting Change Notice
A posting change generally refers to a change in information about a
particular material. For most posting changes, such as changing a batch
number or releasing blocked stock, the goods themselves remain in the
same physical location.
Reasons for Making Posting Changes
Posting changes are made for several reasons. These include:
•Releasing stock from inspection into available stock
•Converting blocked stock to inspection stock
Stages In WM Contd…
Reasons for Making Posting Changes contd..
• Designating available material as inspection stock
•Changing a Material Number
•Splitting available materials into two or more batches
•Converting special stock, such as consignment stock or returned
stock, into the company's own stock
•Changing ownership of stock in the same warehouse from one plant
to another
 Benefits of SAP-WMS
 Integration of WM with other SAP modules.
 Inventory tracking at ―Bin‖ level.
 Optimization of resources.
 FIFO can be followed for Put away/Picking using SU
management in WM
 Accurate /Automated data processing.
 Expeditious picking, clubbing deliveries for fast picking.
 Warehouse Activity monitoring.
 Benefits (contd ..)

 Standard Reporting.

 Rough Work-load estimation.

 Physical Inventory can be carried out in different ways.

Business need not be stopped for this activity. This can be an
ongoing activity.

 Improvement in operations and monitoring of the

warehouse activities.
Receipt-Binning Process Mapping
WM IM
• Movement of Material via • Movement of Material is
Interim Storage Types directly in Storage Location
• Storages possible based on
actual Infrastructure • Storage is at a broad level
i.e Storage Location
(e.g..Heavy Duty, Pallets,
Multiplex etc)
• Clear identification of Bins in
respective Storage Types • No Bins exists.
• Storage Sectioning
(Fast/Slow moving) possible • Sectioning not possible.It can
be done manually only
Process Comparison for WM and IM(contd…)
WM
• Material can be tracked at
Bin level
• Automatic Bin Search
possible for Binning
• Inventory is at Storage
Type/Bin level, hence
business can continue even
while Inventory is in Process,
since only selected Bins are
blocked
IM
• Material is tracked at Storage
Location level
• Not possible in IM
• Inventory is at Storage
Location level, which stops
movement of material while
Inventory is in process.Hence
business stops
 Activity Monitor (LL01)
 Unconfirmed transfer orders.
 Open transfer requirements.
 Open posting change notices.
 Negative stocks.
 Critical stocks for production supply.
 Critical Deliveries.

 Interim storage stock without movement.

 Reporting in SAP – WMS
 Stocks ---Per Storage Bin/storage unit,For all materials,Per
material-bin related/aggregated.

 Storage bins —Empty bins,Bin Status report,

capacity load utilization,list of fixed storage bins.

 Physical Inventory,Transfer order,production

supply, Posting change notice related.

 Standard analysis .(MCL1/5/9/D/H)

SAP has provided various ready reports and outputs.

 Warehouse stocks of material on hand

THANK YOU