Setting up ELS with a Work Step Sequence

You configure engineered labor standards in Customizing for Extended Warehouse Management under Labor Management → Determine Engineered Labor Standards.

1. Define Work Steps:

   Work steps are part of an activity. You can define a sequence of constants or formulas to which you assign conditions. The system goes through the individual sequence steps one by one. It uses the first constant or formula whose assigned condition is "true".

2. Define Work Step Sequence:

   A work step sequence consists of work steps or other work step sequences. The resulting sequence of work steps must be executed sequentially. The planned time of the work step sequence is the total of the planned times of each related work step.

3. Assign Work Step Sequence:

   You assign the following to the work step sequence:

   • Warehouse number

   • Object type

   • External process step

   • Activity area

   The system uses a wild-card function. If the system fails to find an entry for all four objects listed above, it looks for an assignment without an activity area. If this does not exist either, the system looks for an assignment with warehouse number and object type.

If a work step sequence consists of just one work step, and if you actively assign this only once using Assign Work Step Sequence, you can use the Direct ELS Definition. In this way, you assign the engineered labor standards directly. The system generates the required work step and work step sequence automatically.

For formulas and conditions, you can assign the following fields depending on the Object Type:

• Workload fields are allowed for all object types.

• Fields for the Product are allowed for the object types warehouse task, physical inventory item, HU item, delivery item, and VAS activity.

• Fields for the Packaging specification are allowed for the object type VAS activity.

Besides the manual definition of all the objects, you can also upload engineered labor standards using CSV files.

You have warehouse orders with multiple warehouse tasks. The calculation of the planned time must consider the following:

• Individual withdrawal processes

• Travel distances

• Constant time for reading the warehouse order

The following applies for the calculation:

• The planned time of the warehouse order corresponds to the sum of the planned times of the warehouse tasks + travel time + constant.

• For a withdrawal process, the steps turn, take, and put on resource apply, whose times are partially constant. The step take depends on the weight.

You make the following settings for the warehouse task:

• Define a formula for the planned time calculation of the work step Take as a product of the weight and a constant, such as 1 kg corresponds to 1 minute of planned time.

• Define the work steps:

  • Turn: with a constant for the time calculation, such as 5 seconds.

  • Take: is defined using the formula for the time calculation.

  • Put on resource: with a constant for the time calculation, such as 10 seconds.

• Define a work step sequence, consisting of the three work steps.

• Assign the work step sequence to the following objects:

  • Warehouse number

  • External process step

  • Activity area

  • Object type Warehouse Task

You make the following settings for the warehouse order:

• Create a formula containing a sum with the following addends:

  • Planned time of workload (to use the planned times of the warehouse tasks)

  • Travel time

• Define the two work steps:

  • Read Document: with a constant for the time calculation, for example, 1 minute.

  • Execute Labor Tasks: with the previously defined formula for the time calculation.

• Define a work step sequence, consisting of the two work steps.

• Assign the work step sequence to the following objects:

  • Warehouse number

  • External process step

  • Activity area

  • Object type Warehouse Order for Warehouse Tasks

The calculation for a warehouse order with three warehouse tasks (first item weighing 1 kg, second item weighing 2 kg, and the third item weighing 1 kg) would be the following, assuming a constant time to read the document of 1 minute and a travel time of 6 minutes:

• Warehouse Task 1: 5 s + 1*1 min + 10 s = 1 minute 15 seconds

• Warehouse Task 2: 5 s + 2*1 min + 10 s = 2 minutes 15 seconds

• Warehouse Task 3: 5 s + 1*1 min + 10 s = 1 minutes 15 seconds

• Warehouse Order: 1 min + 6 min + 1 min 15 s + 2 min 15 s + 1 min 15 s = 11 minutes 45 seconds

• The classical method for the configuration of engineered labor standards (ELS) is to use work steps and work step sequences. You divide an activity into work steps, which a warehouse worker must execute sequentially, and which form a work step sequence.
• The fields that you use in the formulas and conditions are dependent on the object type for which you are defining engineered labor standards.
• Procedure: define work steps → define work step sequence → assign work step sequence.