Creating Warehouse Orders

In EWM, the warehouse order is the document that represents an executable work package that a warehouse employee should complete within a specific time. The warehouse order consists of warehouse tasks or physical inventory items.

When products are received, picked, or moved internally, warehouse tasks are created. Warehouse tasks are grouped together into warehouse orders and SAP EWM makes them available for processing. For example, in the goods receiving process, warehouse tasks are created to move the products into the warehouse and to their destination storage bin. SAP EWM groups these tasks together, according to warehouse order creation rules (WOCRs), to form the warehouse orders. The WOCRs are defined in Customizing.

The overall process that SAP EWM uses to create warehouse orders is shown in the following figure:

The SAP EWM system performs the following to create warehouse orders:

1. Process step 1 - Wave release/Warehouse task creation:

   The process begins when the system releases a wave and creates warehouse tasks or when warehouse tasks are directly created, with or without a reference to a warehouse request.

2. Process steps 2 and 3 - Grouping:

   The system sorts single task items and groups them by activity area. Which activity area is used for this (source or destination), is controlled by the warehouse process type.

3. Process step 4 - WOCR determination:

   The system determines warehouse order creation rules based on the activity area and the activity from the warehouse process type. As soon as SAP EWM applies a WO creation rule, it sorts the warehouse tasks according to these sort rules. Sorting is used by warehouse order creation to sort the warehouse tasks that are assigned to a warehouse order. A maximum of 15 sort fields can be configured for each warehouse task sorting rule.

4. Process step 5 - Apply item filters:

   The system applies item filters, which check an individual warehouse task for the defined filter criteria. Examples of filters include minimum/maximum weight, volume, processing time, and route. SAP EWM checks whether the given item filter fits. If the filter fits the warehouse task, SAP EWM continues processing for the warehouse task. If it does not fit, SAP EWM stops processing the warehouse task and goes to the next task in sequence.

5. Process steps 6 and 7 - Consolidation group and subtotal filters:

   1. SAP EWM determines the consolidation group based on customizing settings that indicate the items that can be packed and shipped together in a system-guided process (step 6). This means that in the putaway process, you can work with distributive putaway, or the products can be packed together.

   2. The system can apply a filter on the subtotal level (step 7), such as limits set in Customizing.

6. Process step 8 - Apply limits and create warehouse order:

   The system creates the warehouse order (step 8). The warehouse order is the work package that is assigned to the user for execution. The size of the warehouse order is controlled by defining limits, like how many items or how much weight the warehouse order should contain. Within a warehouse order, the system can again sort the warehouse tasks. For a picking process the system also can create pick HUs.

7. Process step 9 - Use the next WOCR:

   This process continues using the next warehouse creation rule until all items have been processed.

To configure warehouse order creation, you create a series of separate profiles that control the warehouse order creation process. These profiles are assigned to the warehouse order creation rule. This is illustrated in the following figure:

You can define the following in the WOCR:

• Creation category: Set the WO creation category, such as consolidation group, pick path, pick-pack-pass, load and unload, or physical inventory.
• Item filter: Define item filters in Define Filters for WO Creation Rules.
• Subtotal filter: Define the subtotal filter in Define Filters for WO Creation Rules. WO creation uses the subtotal filter for consolidating group rules and comparing the values defined here with the corresponding subtotals at consolidation group level.
• Limit: Define the limit for the size of a WO under Define Limit Values for the Size of a WO.
• Inbound Sorting: Choose one of the sort sequences defined in Define Sort Rules for Warehouse Tasks for inbound sorting. EWM uses this sort sequence at the beginning of WO creation.
• WO Sorting: Choose one of the sort sequences defined under Define Sort Rules for Warehouse Tasks for sorting within a WO.
• Packing Profile: Choose a packing profile in Define Packing Profile for WO Creation to define the required pick-handling units.
• Ship.Pack.Profile: Choose Ship.Pack.Profile to define specific shipping handling units in WO creation.
• Preparation Time: This is the time required by an employee to prepare the processing of a warehouse order. This could include, for example, fetching the necessary paperwork or creating handling units.
• Dest.Stor: Define the destination storage type, storage section, and storage bin of the work center to which the WTs, which have been grouped using the current WO creation rule, should be taken.

  This is an alternative to the settings in the process oriented storage control.

• Storage Process: Defines the storage process in process-oriented storage control for outbound processes.
• Determine WkCtr: This indicator specifies that a work center should be determined for WOs constructed using this WO creation rule. This indicator is only effective if the WO creation rule is defined without a storage process.

Configure this rule in customizing for SCM Extended Warehouse Management in Extended Warehouse Management → Cross-Process Settings → Warehouse Order → Define Creation Rule for Warehouse Orders.

The sorting of tasks to be assigned to warehouse orders is controlled by a sort profile. Each sort profile can specify a list of up to 15 fields for sorting. A sort profile is illustrated in the following figure:

The following are characteristics and functions controlled by the sort profile.

• The sequence number, assigned by EWM, defines the sequence of the sort criteria. You can change this sequence.

• The sort field defines how EWM should sort the WTs of the warehouse order. SAP has predefined the sort fields.

• Select Sort Des. (Descending) if you want EWM to sort the WTs in descending order according to the sort criteria (for example, descending by weight or volume).

In Customizing, you define the filters for the warehouse order creation rules. Warehouse order creation uses the filters on all WTs to be processed that you have not yet assigned to a warehouse order.

The filter parameters are illustrated in the following figure:

Define your filters for the warehouse number and enter a filter for warehouse order creation (you select the filter type and define your item filters or subtotal filters).

The Limit Parameters profile contains the information used to control the size/scope of the warehouse order. Using this profile, you restrict the number of tasks assigned to a warehouse order. As soon as a value exceeds the defined limit, warehouse order creation completes the current warehouse order with all the warehouse tasks processed to that point in the process. For the remaining warehouse tasks, the system creates another warehouse order.

After warehouse order creation has checked the values for the maximum limits, it checks the values for the minimum limits. If these limits are not reached, the system cannot process the WTs using the current warehouse order creation rule. If necessary, the system processes these warehouse tasks using different WOCRs according to the search sequence for warehouse order creation rules for each activity area and/or activity type.

You can configure the Limit Parameters profile in Customizing for SCM Extended Warehouse Management in Extended Warehouse Management → Cross-Process Settings → Warehouse Order → Define Limit Values for the Size of a Warehouse Order.

You can create a profile that determines pick handling units for the warehouse order. The system uses the data from the warehouse tasks such as weight, volume, or dimensions to determine the pick handling units with the help of packaging specifications. It compares this data to the possible packaging materials and determines the number of the required handling units.

After the various WOCR profiles have been created, they are combined into a warehouse order creation rule. The final step in WOCR configuration is to assign the WOCRs to the activity area and/or activity - or to the warehouse process type.

In customizing, you define the search sequence of the WO creation rule for activity areas. You can assign one or more WO creation rules to each defined activity area or combination of activity area and activity. These rules are processed during WO creation for each activity area, according to the sequence defined.

The activity area is determined from either the source or destination bin in the warehouse task. This choice is controlled based on a setting in the warehouse process type. The Activity is determined from the warehouse process type.

You can configure the search sequence in Customizing for SCM Extended Warehouse Managementin Extended Warehouse Management → Cross-Process Settings → Warehouse Order → Define Search Sequence of Creation Rules for Activity Areas.

You can also enter just one WOCR directly in the warehouse process type, if this is sufficient for your requirements.

In customizing, you can see an overview of a WO creation rule, including information about the following settings that you have defined:

• Filter at item level (in Define Filters for WO Creation Rules)

• Filter at subtotal level (in Define Filters for WO Creation Rules)

• Limit values (in Define Limit Values for the Size of a WO)

• Inbound sorting (in Define Sort Rules for Warehouse Tasks)

• WO sorting (in Define Sort Rules for Warehouse Tasks)

• Pick-HU packing profile (in Define Packing Profit for WO Creation)

• Shipping HU packing profile (in Define Packing Profile for WO Creation)

You can view this overview in Customizing for SCM Extended Warehouse Management, in Extended Warehouse Management → Cross-Process Settings → Warehouse Order → Overview of Creation Rules for Warehouse Orders.

For the creation of physical inventory documents SAP EWM also can use warehouse order creation rules to control the volume of a physical inventory document that is assigned to a user. A rule with the Creation CategoryPhysical Inventory only uses a small number of the elements available for the warehouse order creation.

• Item Filter:

  The item filter for physical inventory is only at item level and only filters items for the priority and the reason for movement (you can assign standard reasons to physical inventory documents, this reason also has a priority).

• Limit:

  Limit values for PI documents can only be minimum or maximum number of items.

• Sorting:

  You can assign an inbound sorting and a item sorting rule to the physical inventory warehouse order creation rule.

Two things are special about the warehouse order creation rule for physical inventory:

• The limit rule does not control the size of the physical inventory document itself, but only how many items of the PI document are combined in a warehouse order.
• When processing the PI documents with mobile devices, the status of the warehouse order that includes the PI items is D - In Process when the items have been count. It only changes to C - Confirmed when the physical inventory status of the items is Posted.

SAP EWM contains three predefined warehouse order creation rules. These rules can not be customized and are used as fallback.

• The WOCR UNDE is used for warehouse tasks which are left when the customer defined WOCRs have been processed.
• The WOCR DEF is used if no WOCR is assigned to the activity area / activity or the warehouse process type.

These standard rules have no limits, except that all warehouse tasks in one warehouse order must have the same activity area, queue, and are for the same warehouse request or consolidation group.

The WOCR MFS is used in case of a MFS controlled storage type if no customer defined WOCR is assigned. This WOCR by default has a limit of one WT.

In order to analyze issues in the warehouse order creation (especially if not the WOCR you expect is used) you need to activate logging for it.

Logging is available for several objects in EWM. However, other objects, like warehouse tasks, can be executed in the foreground and you can then see the log directly, so the activation of the log may not be required. As warehouse order creation always happens in the background, you need to activate the log in order to recognize where something goes wrong.

That does not mean that all warehouse orders creations need to be logged, there are several parameters to control when a log is written.

To activate logging for warehouse management engine objects, you select the object in the transaction Activate Application Log/SCWM/ACTLOG. In general, it is always warehouse number specific. Sub-objects that can be activated are, for example:

• ABC Analysis
• Executed Workload
• Wave Release

You can select if a log is only written for a specific user. You can also select if a log is based on the severity of the messages that occur (so logs are only written when you have abort messages, error messages, or warning messages). The Validity is the number of days the log is kept before it gets deleted (with SLG2 or the report SBAL_DELETE).

For warehouse orders you additionally have to activate the level from where the log is written. The options are as follows:

• Warehouse Number
• Activity Area
• Warehouse Order Creation Rule (which might not always be very effective in order to recognize issues)

The different logs can be found in the Warehouse Management Monitor, under the node Tools → Application Log. Choose the Object/SCWM/WME. The easiest way to see the log for a warehouse order is by selecting the warehouse order in the Warehouse Management Monitor and choose More Methods → Display WO Log.