Creating Storage Bins

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to create storage bins

Storage Bins

Lists warehouse location attributes using an image of a forklift locating items in a warehouse

The smallest spatial unit in a physical warehouse is a storage bin. Storage bins represent the exact storage position of a product. A storage bin can be referred to as a coordinate (not to be confused with the geo-coordinate of the bin, which is also available in SAP EWM) because the address of a storage bin is often derived from a coordinate system. For example, the coordinate 01-02-03 could be a storage bin in aisle 01, stack 02, and level 03. In SAP EWM, the bin coordinate is up to 18 characters in length and must be unique within the warehouse.

Storage bins are located within a storage type. The storage type represents a physical area in the warehouse, and controls how products are placed in and removed from the storage bins that are assigned to the storage type. The storage type may also be divided into storage sections due to handling and/or storage requirements of the products. Therefore, in SAP EWM, the system represents the location of a product in a warehouse movement as a combination of the storage type, storage section, and bin.

Storage Bin Data

To each storage bin, you assign the warehouse number in which the storage bin is located, and a storage type. Note that the bin coordinate assigned to a storage bin must be unique within the warehouse.

You can also define the following additional attributes for a storage bin:

  • Storage bin type: used to indicate relative size of bin and/or actual bin dimensions

  • Storage section

  • Bin access type: used to control what resources can access the bin

  • Verification: used to store the bin coordinate-related data used in RF scanning or for Pick-by-voice to verify that the correct bin is being accessed

  • Geo-coordinates of storage bin: used by SAP EWM to compute distances between the bins in goods movements

  • Capacity checking attributes (max weight, volume, total capacity): used to control the amount of product assigned to a bin

  • Fire containment section: used in product hazardous material reporting

When you define the attributes for the storage bin, you can use any combination of letters and numbers for storage bin coordinates. However, you should ensure that you align the parts of the structure to the indicators defined for the warehouse for aisle, stack, level, and so on.

Storage bins can be created in various ways: they can be created individually, generated with the help of a structure, or uploaded with a file.

Storage Bin Generation

In Customizing, you define the storage bin coordinate structure by assigning, first of all, a unique identifier to represent each of the following components of the bin coordinate:

  • Aisle

  • Stack

  • Level

  • Bin subdivision

  • Bin depth

You then use these identifiers to create a template used to generate the storage bin master record automatically. Only when using the identifiers properly, the aisle / stack / level information in the bin is correctly filed. The storage bin generation structure is shown in the following figure:

Diagram illustrates using coordinate identifiers to create a Storage Bins Generation Structure

With the Template field, you define which parts of the bin name are:

  • N - numeric characters
  • A - alphabetic letter
  • C - constant characters

    Note

    Furthermore, a space or blank in the bin name is a constant.

The Structure field is for the identifiers described above.

Bin x / y / z coordinates

The geo-coordinates of the bins are used to calculate the travel distances of resources and are an important part of the overall time calculation in warehouse orders. Defining the coordinates takes a little bit of effort when doing it for the first time. One thing is important to know for the coordinates as well as for the aisle / stack / level information defined by the identifiers: there are no mass maintenance transactions for these fields, only through the generation of the bins using a template this information is entered automatically correctly. When using the upload function for bins this information can be contained here as well, but especially defining the geo-coordinates is not simpler in a spreadsheet.

The coordinate of the bin is always a corner of the bin, the alignment describes how the bin is oriented around this corner. In the standard we assume that the coordinate is always the lower left corner of the bin, in that case the alignment is zero.

Shows Coordinates for shelf structure related to bin corner location where the standard is he lower left corner of bin

You must also specify which part of the location structure each coordinate relates to, for example, whether the aisle is denoted by the X or the Y coordinate. To do so, you use the same identifiers described above for the aisle / stack / level information. This way you define it for the system if, for example, you move by n meters in x direction, if this is the next aisle, or the next stack.

Graphical Warehouse Layout

The graphical warehouse layout (GWL) displays the interior and exterior of the warehouse as a two-dimensional graphic. You can use the graphical warehouse layout to see how the warehouse is customized, check stock levels, or view an overview of the distribution within your warehouse. You might use the GWL, for example, when using travel distance calculation, which is based on the coordinates of the bins.

Blueprint and a tablet showing the design of a warehouse

To view the graphical warehouse layout, you select your warehouse number. To reduce the number of displayed elements, you can also enter storage types or storage type levels.

The unit used for length details in the GWL corresponds to the unit of length that you defined in Customizing for your warehouse number. The display size relates to the largest coordinates that you have defined for a master record. This means you can quickly see, for example, if a rack was defined incorrectly and is located outside the warehouse.

Display of Bins

As an example, let us say that you have created storage bins in Customizing for SAP EWM, and you have defined the template in Customizing in such as way that one side of the aisle contains stacks with even numbers, and the other side of the aisle contains stacks with odd numbers. SAP EWM groups the storage bins that are located on one side of the aisle into racks by default. The graphical warehouse layout can display these racks. To switch to the front view of a rack, click the graphical display of the rack. This means that, even for multi-level racks, all storage bins of one side of the aisle are visible. If you choose bin level, EWM displays the individual storage bins instead of the rack in the view from top.

Display of Other Objects

You can create your own warehouse layout objects, such as walls, offices, and so on. You define these objects in Customizing for EWM, and assign them to a GWL object category.

In addition, the graphical warehouse layout can show resources (the last location where a resource has made a confirmation), the status of MFS elements, and where you have empty or blocked bins (in a very simple view).

Activity Area

An activity area represents a logical subdivision of the warehouse that groups storage bins based on defined warehouse activities.

Activities

Every movement or process you do in the warehouse has an activity. Examples for activities are as follows:

  • Putaway

  • Picking

  • Physical inventory

You define activities with reference to a warehouse process category, which is predefined by SAP. The available warehouse process categories are as follows:

  • Putaway
  • Stock Removal
  • Internal Warehouse Movement
  • Physical Inventory
  • Posting Change
  • Cross-Line Stock Putaway

You can define several activities for the same warehouse process category. For example, you define the activities Picking and Express Picking, both with reference to the warehouse process category Stock Removal. This way you can control movements in the warehouse depending on your requirements.

The activity is read from the warehouse process type in the warehouse task, with two exceptions:

  • Physical Inventory

    This is directly set through the process of creating a physical inventory document.

  • Cross-Line Stock Putaway

    If the system finds an activity area for cross-line stock putaway during the creation of warehouse tasks, it uses this information to influence the determination of the destination bin (depending on the putaway rule).

Activity Areas

With the activity area and the assigned activity you control the size or volume of a warehouse order respectively the area in which a resource will work in the warehouse.

You define activity areas and assign them to storage bins. The assignment can be very broad, just by using the storage type, or more detailed, by using the aisle / stack / level information in the bin. An activity area can include just a small part of a storage type, but it can also stretch over more then one storage type.

You can create a 1:1 relationship between an activity area and a storage type by "generating" the activity area. The definition and the assignment is then done in one step.

In the picture below, you see one storage type with several activity areas. The activity area AA10 is assigned to the complete storage type. It will be used for putaway and for express picking. In addition there are 5 smaller activity areas, which are only used for standard picking. That would mean that for putaway or for express picking resources could go to several bins in the different aisles, each processing one warehouse order. For standard picking one resource would process only tasks which are in the one aisle, while another resource could work in parallel in the same or in another aisle.

Shows a storage type with several activity areas

Note

With the exception of the activity area for physical inventory, no activity areas are required. However, activity areas control the creation of warehouse orders and can also be used for queue determination, so they are very helpful.

Activity Areas and Storage Bin Sorting

In addition to assigning bins to an activity area, you also assign a bin sorting sequence for each required activity. This sorting can be used to control the sequence of accessing the bins for a given process such as picking.

Note

You can also define other sort sequences for picking or other activities. This is controlled by the sort profile in the warehouse order creation rule. However, the sorting according the activity area and activity is nevertheless necessary for the connection of the storage bin to the activity area.
Illustration shows Aisles,Stacks and Bin Sorting Sequence examples

The definition and assignment of activity areas, the definition of sort sequences for a combination of activity area and activity are customizing steps. The bins sorting itself is a master data function, as this is then written into the storage bin at the time the "sorting" is done. The bin sorting must be performed anytime there is an addition, change, or deletion to the storage bin master data or related activity areas.

Learning

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