Creating Packaging Specifications

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to create packaging specifications

Packaging Specifications

Within SAP EWM, you can define packaging specifications for various processes:

  • Palletization determination

  • Packing in the work center (packing station or deconsolidation)

  • Automatic packing in inbound delivery processing

  • Packing during warehouse task confirmation

  • Deconsolidation using the RF framework

  • Value added services (VAS) processing (where a packaging specification is the basis for the VAS order to define the work tasks to be done)

You can use packaging specifications to specify how products are palletized, that is, how the system determines storage bins during the putaway process. As an example, let's say that in your warehouse, you want to put away product A onto pallets that each contain 50 pieces. To configure this, you create a packaging specification with main packaging material, pallet, and the quantity of 50 pieces for the content, Product A. In the goods receipt processing stage of the inbound delivery, the system splits the quantity in the inbound delivery across multiple warehouse tasks to adhere to this packaging specification. For example, if a quantity of 100 pieces is delivered, the system creates two warehouse tasks for 50 pieces each.

Packaging Specification Structure

In EWM master data, the packaging specification defines all the necessary packing levels for a product and the related packaging materials and work steps. The following figure illustrates the overall structure of a packaging specification:

Displays packing levels for a product and the related packaging materials, specification examples and work steps.

A packaging specification consists of the following structural components:

  • Header

    The header contains the name of the packaging specification, the user who created it, and the packaging status.

  • Contents

    The contents component contains either the product to be packed or the ID of another packaging specification.

  • Level

    A packaging specification can contain one or more levels. The level component contains the instructions for packing a previous level, or for Level 1, the content packing in this level.

  • Element group

    Each level has exactly one element group. The element group consists of one or more elements. Element groups can also be reused in multiple packaging specifications.

  • Element

    An element defines either a packaging material and/or a work step. You pack products in or on a packaging material. You define the packaging material along with the packing characteristics and limits such as maximum packing weight and/or volume, in the product master.

    When using an element as a work step, you enter text to describe how the packing is to be performed. The text is given a code so it can be re-used in other packaging specifications.

Packaging Specifications in SCM Applications

Overview of Packing Specifications and how they are used within the SCM application

Packaging specifications can be used in several SCM applications. The figure shows these applications and how packaging specifications are used within the application. Internally, the packaging specifications use the integrated Product and Process Engineering (iPPE) database engine to store the packaging specifications. This uses the condition technique to determine when a packaging specification is to be applied.

You can maintain packaging specifications centrally and then distribute these packaging specifications to the other systems using the qRFC method, so you are able to work with the same master data in all systems.

Packaging specifications can also be defined in a text file and uploaded to the system. In case of existing packaging instructions in SAP ERP, these can also be transferred to SAP EWM through the Core Interface (CIF) after the implementation of some notes in the SAP ERP and SAP EWM system. For more information, see the following:

  • SAP Note 2229816 (SCM: Prerequisite Note for Packaging Specification Transfer)

  • SAP Note 2260173 (Transfer of packaging specifications from ERP to EWM system)

  • SAP Note 2276668 (Prerequisite note for CIF transfer of Packaging Specifications)

  • SAP Note 2260234 (Packing instruction/specification distribution from ECC to EWM)

The distribution through CIF is also available for embedded EWM in SAP S/4HANA.

Packaging Specification Determination

The following processes in SAP EWM use packaging specification determination:

  • Automatic packing in the inbound delivery in goods receipt processing

  • Packaging material determination for the Pick HU during warehouse order creation

  • Packaging material determination during outbound delivery processing in the goods issue process

  • Packaging material determination during deconsolidation

  • Slotting

  • Internal warehouse processes

  • Palletization
  • Cartonization planning

A great deal of flexibility is available for determining packaging specifications when you use the condition technique. What needs to be considered though is which information is available at the moment when the system tries to determine a packaging specification. For example, during the creation of a Pick HU in the warehouse order creation process, the ship-to is not known in the standard because this is not information that is part of the warehouse task. The field documentation where the determination procedure to be used is assigned to the process, describes which standard fields are available. There is also a BAdI available to enhance the determination.

The basic configuration of the condition technique used to determine packaging specifications is illustrated in the following figure:

Shows the basic configuration of the condition technique used to determine packaging specifications

Defining a Packaging Specification Determination Application

To define a packaging specification determination application, you create a determination procedure.

In the example in the figure, the illustrated procedure is 0PAL, which contains a single condition type, 0PAL. This procedure is supplied in the standard system for determining packaging specifications for palletization. The condition type is the link to the access sequence, 0PAL. In the condition technique, the access sequence contains one or more accesses.

Each access is a condition table that contains the fields representing the key to a particular packaging specification. In the standard system, the condition table SAPPAL01 consists of the following fields: supply chain unit and product. With this condition table, packaging specifications are determined based on the supply chain unit and the product number.

In the standard SAP EWM system, you assign all of the condition types and condition tables to a condition maintenance group, PAK. SAP provides a generalized maintenance procedure in the maintenance context, GCM.

All packaging specification objects, such as determination procedures or condition types, are assigned a usage code of PS, which tells the SAP EWM system that the objects are used in packaging specification determination, and an application code of PAK.

Unified Package Builder

Unified package building (UPB) is a generic packaging layer that allows the creation of packages. The UPB is meant to unify the packaging approaches that existed before its introduction. More specifically, in the past several applications in Transportation Management (TM), Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) and Logistics (LO) have used differing packing engines that are based on different packing rules. In addition, these different packing engines handle different persistence approaches for the resulting packaging hierarchies. As the underlying requirements to package materials are similar, SAP intends to align and unify its long-term strategy in this area.

Diagram illustrating the components and flow of Unified Package Building. Arrows indicate data flow between these components and their respective data masters, as well as flow from the unified package building to these components.

Technically UPB is not restricted to embedded EWM. However, for the UPB all the required master data (either packing instructions, packaging specifications, or packing instructions) are required to be in the same system - which is usually not the case in a decentralized EWM. However, even when using only the EWM standard master data, means you use packaging specifications, you can make additional UPB-specific settings.

It is not possible to replace all EWM-specific packaging specifications with the UPB. For example, the packaging specifications used for Value Added Services (VAS) includes information that is not part of any other packing rules. However, unified package building can be used for the following process steps:

  • For receiving handling units (HUs) from production using radio frequency (RF)

  • For deconsolidation and repacking inbound deliveries

  • For packing in the outbound delivery process

  • For packing in the posting change process

  • For packing in the stock transfer process

  • For receiving HUs using synchronous goods movements in the Post Goods Movement app

Learning

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