Applying Storage Control

When moving a product within storage control, the product must be packed in a handling unit and the handling unit is moved using handling unit warehouse tasks.

Depending on the direction of the movement, the product warehouse task is either at the beginning or the end of the total physical movement. In a putaway process the final WT is a product warehouse task, in a picking process the first WT is a product warehouse task. All other WTs are handling unit warehouse task.

Based on your customizing settings, a warehouse task is created from one intermediate storage type to the next intermediate storage type, or to the final destination storage type.

You can customize the process so that, once a warehouse task is confirmed, the next warehouse task is automatically created. The final destination storage bin can be determined at the beginning of the putaway process or at a later point during the process. In situations where the destination storage bin is determined at the beginning, the bin is blocked so that it cannot be used by another process.

As a prerequisite, the complete storage process is defined in Customizing.

SAP delivers predefined internal steps. These are not changeable and they define the storage process type. Examples of internal steps are: loading, unloading, counting, packing, deconsolidation, putaway, and staging. The sequence of internal steps is predefined for each incoming or outgoing process or internal movement.

You can define as many external steps as you want. External steps must be assigned to a corresponding internal step. The external step can optionally detail the destination storage bin.

For each warehouse process, you define the sequence in which the external steps are to be executed.

Process-oriented storage control can be combined with layout-oriented storage control. In this case, SAP EWM always executes the process-oriented storage control first. The layout-oriented storage control then checks whether the sequence of putaway or picking process steps is possible, and if required, adjusts the flow of the putaway or stock removal.

For example, SAP EWM determined the following putaway process flow based on the process-oriented storage control:

1. Unloading at door

2. Counting at counting station

3. Putaway in the high-rack storage area

However, the layout-oriented storage control determines that a direct putaway in the high-rack storage area is not possible and that the putaway must use an identification point. Therefore, layout-oriented storage control could modify the tasks to be sequenced as follows:

1. Unloading at door

2. Counting at the counting station

3. Identification of goods at the ID point

4. Putaway in the high-rack storage area

• Storage control in SAP EWM allows you to define and manage process steps in various warehouse activities like goods receipt, goods issue, or internal stock transfers.
• The process oriented storage control involves defining a complete process with individual steps, like counting, quality inspection, or packing. In SAP EWM, this means moving a product from a source storage bin to another bin.
• The layout oriented storage control is used when warehouse movements aren't direct, often due to the physical layout or the use of automated systems.