Execute Warehouse Outbound Processing
Warehousing and transportation processes are typically closely connected. While warehousing covers the physical processes within one location/warehouse, transportation management covers the physical transportation process between two locations. The link between these two areas is either the warehouse outbound process, which connects to the loading of the truck, or the warehouse inbound process, which connects to the unloading of the truck.
Also, system-wise, these two processes are connected. In the basic form of this integrated process, no warehouse management integration is taking place; the Shipping Specialist takes over responsibility for the delivery, executes the picking process, and posts goods issue.
The following options are available to integrate transportation management in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition to warehousing. The system uses the storage location to determine which warehouse process to use.
- Inventory Management in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition (inbound and outbound)
This simple warehouse is used when inventory management takes place solely at the storage location level.
- Warehouse Management in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition (outbound)
Warehouse Management provides flexible, automated support for processing various goods movements and for managing stocks in a more complex warehouse setup. If you have a large warehouse with multiple loading points and several doors, you can organize your loading activities in detail and decide which door and loading point to use. It is possible to pick up goods from several warehouses at the same location.
- Third-Party Warehouse Management (inbound and outbound)
Warehouse Management in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition (outbound) will be focused on subsequently: If the delivery, however, is warehouse management relevant, the warehouse outbound process (scope item 3BS) will be triggered. That means that after the Dispatcher starts the delivery creation, not only is the delivery created, but an outbound delivery order is created in warehouse management as well. In the warehouse outbound process, products are picked, packed, and sent from your warehouse. The warehouse outbound process supports sending ordered products to external customers, returning products to suppliers, and supplying products to internal customers.
See the following video to learn more about the warehouse outbound process with Transportation Management integration.
In an integrated process between warehouse management and transportation management, the warehouse tasks are created technically based on the outbound delivery. However, the outbound delivery for which the warehouse tasks must be created can be selected either by delivery number (as in processes that do not involve transportation management) or by freight order number. The freight order number links the transportation process (for example, subcontracting the carrier) to the physical loading process when the truck arrives at the warehouse. Upon completion of the physical warehouse tasks (picking, packing) by the warehouse operative, the deliveries must be set to Ready for Shipping to proceed with the transportation activities.
The shipping readiness status is defined on the outbound delivery order header. It indicates whether an outbound delivery order is ready for shipping. A prerequisite for being ready for shipping is that the delivery quantity has been picked and there are no further changes to the delivery quantity or handling units (HUs). When the shipping readiness status is set to ready, information about the delivery is immediately sent to the transportation management and delivery management application components. When a delivery is ready to ship, you manually select the Set to Ready for Shipping method in the warehouse monitor. If you want to set the shipping readiness status back to not ready, for example, to correct the delivery, you can select Reverse Ready for Shipping there, too. A delivery must have the shipping readiness status ready before goods issue can be posted. You can't reverse shipping readiness if the outbound delivery order has already been posted with a goods issue. If you reverse a goods issue, the shipping readiness status is automatically reset to 'not ready'.
Note that the warehouse and transportation processes physically run in parallel to some extent. Picking, moving, and packing can happen in the warehouse before, in parallel, or after the truck arrives and checks in. The physical link between both processes is the loading (or unloading) of the truck, as shown in the figure Warehouse and Transportation Process Link.
The process linking transportation and warehousing is called Advanced Shipping and Receiving. Advanced Shipping and Receiving is an integrated, end-to-end process that allows users to send, receive, and transport products. It supports mixed and multi-warehouse scenarios within a single freight order. It helps you to coordinate the process steps, for example, from the arrival of trucks at the gate to the final goods movement in the warehouse. You can also combine outbound processes for ocean or air scenarios and use a storage location managed with Warehouse Management for the pick-up of freight orders. The process simplifies communication between the Transportation Management, Warehouse Management, Inventory Management, and Delivery Management components embedded in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition.
Simulations
In the several simulations, you learn what an end-to-end process involving warehouse management and transportation management looks like. The process is split into four parts, showing the transportation process from freight order planning through delivery creation. The outbound delivery is then processed in warehouse management. Once the goods issue has been posted, the process continues in transportation management.
In the first simulation, you learn how to create a sales order with integration to transportation management. Thus, the system will automatically create a transportation-relevant freight unit based on the sales order.
After the creation of the sales order and the freight unit, you learn how to carry out transportation planning and how you can create a freight order based on your planning. You also learn how a carrier is assigned and how the freight order is sent to this carrier. The simulation concludes with the creation of the outbound delivery and outbound delivery order for warehouse management.
In the third simulation, you learn how to carry out the picking tasks in the warehouse based on the outbound delivery order. The simulation concludes with the maintenance of the shipping readiness status.
In the last simulation you learned how the freight order is executed after the activities in the warehouse have been completed. You learn how to perform loading activities for the freight order and post the goods issue after loading is complete. The simulation concludes when the freight order is completed upon the goods' arrival at the customer's site.