Planning Transportation

Objectives

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Plan transportation.
Integrate SAP ERP Transportation Planning with SAP EWM.
Integrate SAP Transportation Management with SAP EWM.
Use Advanced Shipping and Receiving.

Transportation in SAP Extended Warehouse Management (EWM)

Warehouse operations and transportation planning are two logistical processes that should work tightly integrated, as one does affect the other. Your transportation planning, and therefore the knowledge which deliveries will finally be transported together, can influence the picking planning and the creation of waves in the warehouse. On the other side, depending on your operations, the availability of products or resources in the warehouse might control the possibilities of loading trucks or other means of transport and therefore be your actual transportation planning.

SAP EWM offers different approaches to transportation planning, depending on the requirements in your warehouse:

"Planning" transportation by creating transportation units in SAP EWM is the most simplest way. When using the shipping cockpit or the reports for automatic creation of TUs, loading weight and volume limits of the packaging material used for the TU can be considered, but otherwise the assignment of warehouse requests to TU is based on simple rules or completely manually. You can use the post processing framework to print a waybill or a freight list. It is also possible to send the information to other transportation planning systems.
SAP ERP Transportation (LE-TRA) enables the manual or automatic creation of shipment documents, where you combine inbound or outbound deliveries which are transported together. An IDoc can be send from a shipment document to SAP EWM for shipment information. Once the shipping process is finished, SAP ERP can create a shipment cost document for cost settlement with the freight forwarder or service agent. LE-TRA is included in SAP S/4HANA as part of a Compatibility Pack and can be used until 31st December 2025. For details see the SAP Notes, 2269324 - Compatibility Scope Matrix for SAP S/4HANA on-premise and 2270199 - S4TWL - Transportation (LE-TRA).
SAP Transportation Management (TM) is a comprehensive solution for performing all activities connected with the physical transportation of goods from one location to another. It can create an efficient transportation plan that fulfills the relevant constraints (for example, service level, costs, and resource availability). You can plan manually or use the vehicle scheduling and routing (VSR) optimization for the automatic creation of freight documents. The integration of SAP TM is possible through LE-TRA or directly with SAP EWM.

In general, the object to represent the transport in SAP EWM is always a transportation unit (plus vehicle, if this is desired).

Illustration comparing two SAP solutions for transport planning: Transportation Management (TM) and ERP Transportation Planning (LE-TRA), shown with a delivery truck.

Besides the classic integration scenarios, SAP S/4HANA 2020 offers the advanced shipping and receiving, which is in fact a simplification topic, as it does not require the use of a transportation unit for the TM integration anymore. Details are described in a separate section.

SAP ERP LE-TRA Integration with SAP EWM

SAP EWM offers integration with the transportation (LE-TRA) component of SAP ERP (SAP ERP refers to a SAP Business Suite ERP as well as to an SAP S/4HANA system, in a decentralized scenario as well as in embedded EWM). Here, you can control and monitor the entire transportation process from the planning stage to goods receipt or goods issue. This integration is based on IDocs. The integration is possible for inbound deliveries as well as for outbound deliveries.

Overview of integration between SAP ERP and SAP EWM: shows how delivery, shipment, and transportation unit documents are exchanged via qRFC and IDoc interfaces.

Inbound Processing with Transportation Integration

For inbound deliveries the transportation planning has to be done in SAP ERP.

You create an inbound delivery in SAP ERP, which is subsequently copied to SAP EWM.
You create a shipment in SAP ERP and assign the inbound delivery. When the planning for the shipment is completed, the system copies the shipment information to SAP EWM through the SHPMNT05 IDoc.
After receiving the IDoc in SAP EWM, the system creates a TU (and, optionally, a vehicle) for the shipment and assigns the inbound delivery.
You can then process the unloading, the goods receipt, and the putaway by using the desktop or radio frequency transactions.

Process flow of inbound transportation planning in SAP, showing integration and data replication between SAP ERP shipment and SAP EWM for delivery and goods receipt activities.

For outbound processes the transportation planning can be done in SAP ERP or in SAP EWM (but this is not flexible, the planning type is set for a warehouse number one way or the other).

Outbound Processing with Transportation Planning in SAP ERP

The process-order for outbound processing with Transportation Planning in SAP ERP is as follows:

You create an outbound delivery in SAP ERP, which is copied to SAP EWM.
You create a shipment in SAP ERP and assign the outbound delivery. When the planning for the shipment is completed, the system copies the shipment information to SAP EWM through the SHPMNT05 IDoc.
After receiving the IDoc in SAP EWM, the system creates a TU (and, optionally, a vehicle) for the shipment and assigns the outbound delivery order.
You can then process the picking (and optionally packing and loading) by using the desktop or radio frequency transactions.
After loading is completed, you can post the goods issue. When the system has set the Goods Issue Posted status of the TU, the system replicates this information to SAP ERP through the SHPMNT05 IDoc as an update of the existing shipment in SAP ERP.

Since EWM 9.4, it is possible to send update information when the truck arrives at the checkpoint, and when loading is started or when loading is completed. With SAP Note, 2181853 - EWM: Multiple updates of SAP ERP shipment by IDoc, it is also possible to implement this in earlier releases.

Process flow of outbound transportation planning in SAP, showing integration and data replication between SAP ERP shipment and SAP EWM for delivery and goods receipt activities.

ERP Planning — TU and Vehicle

Based on the assigned HU data from SAP ERP, the system creates TUs and vehicles as follows:

If you have one HU assigned to the shipment and you have selected the Optional checkbox in Link Between Packaging Material (TU) and Means of Transport (transaction /SCWM/PM_MTR), the system only creates a TU.
If you have one HU assigned to the shipment and you have not selected the Optional checkbox in Link Between Packaging Material (TU) and Means of Transport (transaction /SCWM/PM_MTR), the system creates a TU and a vehicle.
If you have more than one HU at the same level, the system uses the first HU to create a vehicle and it uses the remaining HUs to create TUs.
If you have nested HUs, the system uses the highest-level HU to create a vehicle and the lower-level HUs to create TUs.

Outbound Processing with Transportation Planning in SAP EWM

The process-order for outbound processing with Transportation Planning in SAP EWM is as follows:

You create an outbound delivery in SAP ERP, which is copied to SAP EWM.
In SAP EWM you create a TU (and, optionally, a vehicle) and assign the outbound delivery order.
You can then process the picking (and optionally packing and loading) by using the desktop or radio frequency transactions.
After loading is completed, you can post the goods issue. When the system has set the Goods Issue Posted status of the TU, the system replicates this information to SAP ERP through the SHPMNT05 IDoc and creates a new shipment in SAP ERP.

Illustrates the outbound delivery process integration between SAP ERP and SAP EWM, showing replication, order processing, goods issue, and shipment updates.

Technical Settings

You have set up the IDoc communication between SAP ERP and SAP EWM for sending and receiving SHPMNT05 and TPSSHT01. For details, see the documentation in SAP EWM Customizing under SCM Extended Warehouse Management → Extended Warehouse Management → Interfaces → ERP Integration → Transportation → Define Default Values for IDoc Outbound.
The post processing framework actions /SCWM/SR_SEND_SHPMNT and /SCWM/SR_SEND_SHIPPL are active in the action profile assigned to the TU, vehicle, or both, in SAP EWM.
You can set up the mapping between the SAP ERP shipment number and external TU or vehicle number. In SAP EWM Customizing, choose SCM Extended Warehouse Management → Extended Warehouse Management → Interfaces → ERP Integration → Transportation → Make Settings for Shipment IDoc Processing.
The standard status profiles for SAP EWM document types include a status type DTD Transport Plan. When the transportation planning integration is activated, this status type is responsible for blocking the warehouse request (Delivery is blocked due to the missing shipment info; check DTD status). The block is removed when transportation planning is done (in SAP ERP or SAP EWM, depending on the customizing setting for the integration).
In case transportation planning is delayed and you need to start the warehouse processes, you can use the function TransPl: Set Status to "Fixed Manually" in the warehouse request to unblock it – but only if this is allowed in Customizing.
If the Transportation Planning TypeNo obligatory planning is selected, it is not possible to use any transportation planning integration. Even if the IDoc is sent from ERP, it will not be processed.

SAP TM Integration with SAP EWM

Since SAP EWM 9.0, the integration with SAP TM is possible. In the first release, the communication was not directly between SAP TM and SAP EWM. Instead, it used SAP ERP TM to create shipments and for communication. Since SAP EWM 9.1, the communication between SAP TM and SAP EWM is possible directly.

Communication between SAP TM and SAP EWM is possible directly.

Shipment-based Integration

A shipment-based integration means that the integration is done using the SAP ERP LE-TRA shipment. There is no direct communication between SAP TM and SAP EWM. The transportation planning can happen in SAP TM or SAP EWM.

TM-ERP-EWM: Transportation Planning in SAP TM

The transportation planning is done in SAP TM, either "order-based" or "delivery-based".

Order-based process flow between SAP TM, ERP, and EWM: from sales order creation to shipment, transportation planning, outbound delivery, and warehouse activities.

The process for order-based transportation planning is as follows:

You create a sales order in SAP ERP, which is send to SAP TM for transportation planning.
SAP TM creates an order-based transportation requirement (OTR) and freight units based on the sales order.
During transportation planning the freight units are assigned to freight order.
SAP TM creates delivery proposals and sends them to SAP ERP.
SAP ERP creates the outbound delivery based on the proposal. The outbound delivery is send to SAP EWM for warehouse planning and execution and to SAP TM to adapt transportation planning.
SAP EWM creates the outbound delivery order (directly or based on a outbound delivery request (not shown on the slide)).
SAP TM creates a delivery-based transportation requirement (DTR) based on the SAP ERP outbound delivery. The freight units assigned to the OTR are consumed by the DTR. SAP TM adapts transportation planning and sends the corresponding freight order to SAP ERP to create a shipment.
SAP ERP creates the shipment, assigns the delivery, and transfers the shipment to SAP EWM.
SAP EWM creates a transportation unit based on the SAP ERP shipment and assigns the outbound delivery order to the transportation unit.
The required warehouse activities can now be planned and executed (picking, packing, staging, and loading).
When the goods issue is posted in SAP EWM, this is send as update information to the SAP ERP outbound delivery.
When the system has set the Goods Issue Posted status of the TU, this information is send as an update to the SAP ERP shipment.
SAP ERP sends this information to SAP TM. In SAP TM the freight order is updated.
When the transportation activities have been completed, charge calculation and freight settlement can be performed in SAP TM.

SAP TM, ERP, and EWM integration process for delivery-based planning, showing the workflow from sales order to outbound delivery, shipment, and final delivery.

"Order-based" can also refer to a purchase order or a customer returns order, that means this would be an inbound process. The SAP TM planning process generally is the same, the SAP EWM activities are different (putaway instead of picking) and there is no final delivery in SAP EWM. As the goods receipt can be posted as the first step in the SAP EWM activities, the update information is sent back earlier, before final putaway.
The slides only shows examples for outbound processes.
"Delivery-based" mostly affects the SAP TM planning process. The planning is not based on a sales order, but on an already existing outbound delivery, therefore the transportation planning is not based on an OTR, but on a DTR. SAP TM does not create a delivery proposal. Also this process is possible for inbound deliveries.
The communication between SAP TM and SAP ERP is using enterprise services. The communication between SAP ERP and SAP EWM is using IDocs.
In SAP TM, a freight order (used for road and rail transports) can also be a freight booking (used for air and sea transports).

EWM-ERP-TM: Transportation Planning in SAP EWM

The "planning" process can also start in SAP EWM, sending an IDoc to create a shipment in SAP ERP when the warehouse process is finished. This is similar to the basic SAP EWM - LE-TRA integration. But additionally SAP ERP would send the information to SAP TM. In SAP TM a freight order is created, so that the charge calculation and freight settlement can be done.

Process flow integrating SAP TM, ERP, and EWM for outbound logistics, from sales order to delivery, including freight, picking, packing, and shipment steps.

Note

This process is only possible for outbound scenarios.

Delivery-Based Integration

Delivery-based integration means that the transportation planning information is send directly from SAP TM to SAP EWM. SAP ERP is still involved in the delivery process, but no shipment is created.

The communication between SAP TM and SAP EWM uses enterprise services. This communication can be realized using SAP NetWeaver Process Integration, or using point-to-point communication (Web Services Reliable Messaging).

The integrated order-based planning process flow between SAP TM, SAP ERP, and SAP EWM, highlighting key steps from sales order to final delivery.

Transportation planning is only happening in SAP TM.
Planning can be "order-based" or "delivery-based", and is possible for inbound as well as for outbound processes.
Note
Please pay attention to the difference between "shipment-based" or "delivery-based"integration and "order-based" or "delivery-based"planning.
For details about the supported functions and restrictions, see SAP Note, 1984252 - Supported functional scope of the direct TM EWM Integration for shippers.

Integration flow between SAP TM, SAP ERP, and SAP EWM systems for delivery-based transportation planning, covering all major process steps.

Advanced Shipping and Receiving

Advanced Shipping and Receiving is a streamlined, end-to-end process for transporting and warehousing products. It simplifies communication between the Transportation Management (TM), Extended Warehouse Management (EWM), Inventory Management and Physical Inventory (MM-IM), and Logistics Execution (LE) application components embedded in SAP S/4HANA.

Communication is simplified by using a harmonized data model, by applying the EDIFACT standard to EDI messages, and by providing dedicated apps and expanding existing apps and RF transactions for shipping and receiving processes. Information moves freely between the components, allowing users to monitor the status of the products throughout the Advanced Shipping and Receiving process.

Advanced Shipping and Receiving includes the following features:

The freight order can contain both EWM-managed and IM-managed storage locations, for example at a production location, and the two storage locations can share a loading point.
The Advanced Shipping and Receiving process is based on the TM freight order and doesn’t use the EWM transportation unit (TU) or the EWM vehicle. That means that when a truck has been checked in at a location, it can carry out both loading and unloading activities at that location.
You can use consignment orders to group deliveries for inbound and outbound operations.
EWM sends frequent and detailed updates to TM, for example, about delivery quantity changes or handling unit information.

While Advanced Shipping and Receiving was initially only available for embedded EWM, with SAP S/4HANA 2023 it is also available for decentral EWM, but only for the outbound process.

In Advanced Shipping and Receiving for decentralized Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) and Transportation Management (TM), EWM and TM are deployed on one SAP S/4HANA system ("decentralized EWM and TM"); Inventory Management and Physical Inventory (MM-IM), Sales and Distribution (SD), and Delivery Management (LE-SHP) are embedded in a second system deployed as your enterprise management system, for example, SAP S/4HANA or SAP ERP. This arrangement allows you to work independently in the decentralized EWM and TM system once the deliveries have been transferred from the enterprise management system.

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