Explaining the New Content in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Warehouse Management

With the development of SAP S/4HANA Cloud Warehouse Management, several major improvements were made in the core solution over time to enable more flexible, configurable business processes.

You can map the layout of your warehouse in the system in a detailed level. You can create dedicated areas, such as work centers, or plan where products are in your warehouse more flexibly.

The enhanced configuration object for storage type now contains many new fields and sections enabling the detailed customization of your own required storage types. The following data has been enabled and enhanced:

Storage Types and Sections

You can create storage types with or without using a template. With SAP S/4HANA Cloud Warehouse Management, a template is not mandatory anymore. You can now change the settings of existing storage types in more detail, that is, you can specify settings for the following processes:

• Putaway
• Stock Removal
• Goods movement
• Replenishment

You can also change the following storage type settings:

• Whether handling units (HUs) are required or even allowed in a storage type
• The maximum number of storage bins allowed and whether the system checks this when creating warehouse task
• Whether to use fixed storage bin
• Whether you want to assign a fixed storage bin to a product manually or have it assigned automatically during the first putaway of the product in the storage bin
• Whether to update capacity data and empty status of storage bins during warehouse task creation and confirmation.

You can group storage bins with common attributes into storage sections in a warehouse to help improve putaway bin determination

Activity Areas

You can group storage types together into areas based on specific warehouse activities, for example, putaway, picking, and physical inventory. You can also define sorting rules within an activity area for the storage bins.

Intermediate Storage Bins

You can define intermediate storage bins, which you use to move packed stock from one storage type to another in layout-oriented storage control.

Storage Bin Migration

You can upload existing storage bins during migration using the Warehouse storage bin migration object. This migration object has been enhanced with the following additional fields:

• Storage Section
• Storage Bin Type
• Bin Access Type
• Storage Group for Layout-Oriented Storage Control
• Bin Section of a Storage Bin
• Total Capacity of Storage Bin

Work Centers

You can define your own work centers based on your needs in the warehouse, for example, for packing stations, and configure the work center layout and the work center determination.

A work center is a physical unit in the warehouse in which activities such as packing, distribution, or weighing are performed. With the ability to define a customer's own work center and packing stations specific customer requirements can be matched more easily.

You can configure the work-center layout to provide users only the information required for the task at hand. It is also possible to specify how a work-center for outbound is being determined.

A new app is available for packing nested handling units, specifying additional handling unit attributes like dimensions, weights and volumes, packing products with serial numbers and changing the stock attribute directly in the work center.

Staging Areas

You can define staging areas for the interim storage of goods in the warehouse close to the doors:

• In goods receipt, to store unloaded goods until they are put away
• In goods issue, to store picked goods until they are loaded

You can use the app Determine Staging Area – Inbound to define the rules to determine which staging area goods should be sent to during the inbound process.

You can use the appDefine Access Sequence - Staging Areas - Inbound to define in which order the system should search with the attributes of a delivery item through the determination rules.

You can use the layout-oriented storage control if stock movements in your warehouse do not travel from a source storage bin to a destination location directly, rather travel through an intermediate storage bin.

With this feature, you can create storage types that use only one bin that can carry all kinds of mixed stock items, by using the new storage type template, called General Storage. The General Storage, storage type can hold different products, Handling Units (HUs) and loose stock, different batches, and so on. You could choose this storage type for storing products temporarily until the final storage type is defined for a certain product. Alternatively, you could use it for products that you are storing in the warehouse only once and only for a short time.

The RF framework is integrated into the Warehouse Management application.

This feature enables you to use radio frequency (RF) devices to carry out warehouse activities such as putaway, picking, packing, and replenishment. The system guides warehouse operators through their daily tasks. They can scan bar codes to record and verify data such as storage bins, products, and handling unit numbers, or to enter picked quantities. With Warehouse Management, you have an out-of-the-box set of SAP GUI for HTML mobile RF screens for processing activities in a warehouse.

The storage bin maintenance has been enhanced and includes new fields to enable more flexibility when defining the warehouse layout. You can now enter now attributes in the storage bin master:

• Storage Section
• Storage Bin Type
• Bin Access Type

The warehouse product has been enhanced during releases:

• New warehouse and storage type attributes in the warehouse monitor
• Mass creation and change of warehouse attributes or storage type attributes for multiple warehouse products
• Enhancement to the migration object for warehouse products

These enhancements reflect the upgrade to the warehouse layout structure to fully configurable stock types. This allows the setup of complex storage search strategies.

An important additional field is the quantity classification that allows the selection of the storage type based on the preferred unit of measurement - for example, pallets.

For the Warehouse Monitor the following changes apply:

• Node for storage type attributes
• Enhanced warehouse product attributes, such as the following:
  • Warehouse material group
  • Process block profiles
  • Unit of measure
  • Warehouse storage conditions
  • Handling indicators
• Mass Create/Change method in the nodes Warehouse Attributes and Storage Type Atrribute.

The migration object Warehouse product has been enhanced to include the following product data:

• Process-type determination indicator
• Process block profile
• Storage section indicator
• Storage bin type
• Stock determination group
• Relevance for two-step pickingStaging area and door determination group

Additionally, the system now allows the usage of ABC Analysis a mass-creation option for warehouse products with indicators for putaway, stock removal and cycle counting.

The putaway strategies have been enhanced over time to make use of the enhanced features of the warehouse layout configuration.

Since SAP S/4HANA Cloud for Warehouse Management offers a new app to pack in inbound is available that supports nested handling units, products with serial numbers and the change of stock attributes.

It is now possible to define enhanced storage type search sequences to find the best suitable bin in the warehouse for stock removal across multiple storage types.

This feature is enabled by the possibility to define search sequences for stock removal and assign several storage types. Additionally, a material group can be defined for the storage type search sequence.

This optimizes the space utilization with capabilities to find the best suitable bin in the warehouse.

A new app to pack in outbound is available that supports nested handling units, products with serial numbers, and the change of stock attributes.

With this feature, you can do the following:

• Define rules for creating warehouse orders based on filters, limits, and sorting for warehouse tasks
• Define your own exception codes and assign users to exception code profiles using theAssign Users to Exception Code Profiles app
• Define your own warehouse process types and settings related to the determination of the warehouse process type for various processes

The Warehouse Monitor app has been enhanced to reflect these new or changed features

Warehouse Order Creation

You can define rules for creating warehouse orders to help ensure manageable warehouse orders are created. That is, you can define:

• Number range intervals
• Sort rules and fields for warehouse task
• Filters for warehouse order creation - for example, maximum weight or volume
• Size limitations for warehouse orders, for example, maximum weight or volume
• Warehouse order creation rules
• A search sequence of warehouse creation rules for activity areas

Exceptions

You can define your own exception codes for different product types (such as product types for inbound deliveries or outbound deliveries), product shortages during goods receipt or during picking (pick denial), and other situations when there's a processing issue. You can also assign users to exception code profiles using the Assign Users to Exception Code Profiles app. This allows you to limit the use of specific exceptions to particular users and so prevent unqualified personnel from using specific exception codes, for example, exception codes involving quantity adjustments.

You can monitor the exception codes entered by warehouse workers in the Warehouse Monitor app under Alerts → Exception. To monitor the exception codes, you can display the warehouse orders for warehouse tasks by selecting More Methods → Display WO for WT

Warehouse workers can enter exception codes in the following apps:

• Warehouse Monitor app under Stock and Bin → Physical Stock. You can create inspections by selecting More Methods → Create Insp. (IOT5) and entering an exception code
• The app Confirm Warehouse Tasks - Advanced

Physical Inventory Processing has undergone an enhancement related to the new features available:

• Support of stock-based serial numbers in counting with the app "Count PI Documents"
• Support of new physical inventory procedures:
  • Ad hoc counting
  • Low stock check with and without physical inventory
  • Putaway physical inventory

There are now more configuration options available to fine-tune thy physical inventory process on PI area level:

• Activate low stock check
• Creation of new tolerance groups for difference analyzer, recounting and posting differences
• Define priorities for PI documents
• Define reasons for PI documents and for differences
• Configuration of printing form to control information shown in printout

Preallocated stock is products that you urgently need for goods issue but which aren’t available in the warehouse, for example, products required urgently by production or customers. In the system, you can forward the preallocated stock directly from the interim storage area for goods receipt to the interim storage area for a goods issue. This way allows you to skip the unnecessary putaway and stock removal of the preallocated stock.

Changes to the identity and access management (IAM) objects delivered for Warehouse Management require you to check your business roles and the business catalogs assigned to them. Ensure that the restrictions included in the business catalogs are set correctly to allow your users to use their business apps as needed.

Recently, the QM integration has been improved further by including quality certificates and material documents for the usage decision. You are now able to activate the certificate process on an IOT object. This enables two new system status value:

• CTCM - Certificate missing
• CROK - Certificate receipt

At the usage decision in the inspection lot the material documents for stock postings can now be displayed. You are able to navigate forward to the material document from the inspection lot.

With this feature, you can use serial numbers for products with a serial number requirement on the stock level in various warehouse processes, including physical inventory, picking and packing, posting changes, and goods issue and goods receipt. You can also migrate stock with serial numbers on stock level.

You can use the Confirm Warehouse Tasks - Advanced app to confirm warehouse tasks that involve serial numbers. You can post an unplanned goods issue for products with serial numbers. With the Count Physical Inventory - Paper-Driven Counting app, you can count PI items for products that are serialized on the stock level. When you are on the detailed page of counting a PI item, you can edit and display your serial numbers.

You can post changes for partial quantities of stock items for serialized products in the following apps:

• Create Posting Changes
• Warehouse Monitor, under Stock and Bin → Physical Stock. You can also view the serial numbers assigned to your physical stock in this node.

You can view and enter serial numbers for products that are serialized on the stock level in the following warehouse processing apps:

• Run Outbound Process - Deliveries
• Run Outbound Process - Production
• Change Inbound Deliveries - Deliveries
• Change Inbound Deliveries - Production
• Pack Outbound Deliveries

In the Pack Warehouse Stock app, you can also view serial numbers for products that are serialized on the stock level. You can add serial number data to the migration objectWarehouse Stock. This allows you to create serialized stock in your warehouse.

The RF framework is integrated into the Warehouse Management application.

This feature enables you to use radio frequency (RF) devices to carry out warehouse activities such as putaway, picking, packing, and replenishment. The system guides warehouse operators through their daily tasks. They can scan bar codes to record and verify data such as storage bins, products, and handling unit numbers, or to enter picked quantities. With Warehouse Management, you have an out-of-the-box set of SAP GUI for HTML mobile RF screens for processing activities in a warehouse.

The new features include logical transactions for the main warehouse process:

• Receiving and Inbound
• Outbound
• Queries
• Counting and inspection
• Ad hoc task creation

Additionally, the scope includes the following features:

• Standard menu to cluster transactions by process
• Queues to bundle workload and assign resources
• Verification control to determine scan fields
• Activate, write and delta logs to understand user behavior

With the integration of the RF framework, it is easier to use hand-held mobile devices without the need to use additional technology or develop their own apps. It is now also possible to assign work packages via queues to resources. tor nodes

It is now also possible to complete the whole inbound receiving process on your mobile device by being able to create putaway tasks directly in RF after goods receipt posting. Mass warehouse task creation is now possible.

You configure RF devices and Resource Management in your configuration environment.

With this feature you can manage resources that carry out warehouse processes in radio frequency (RF) or non-RF environments. The assignment of resources to queues enables you to manage and distribute work in the warehouse in a focused way, and you can optimize work order selection for system-guided work.

With SAP S/4HANA Cloud 2208 Warehouse Management it is now also possible to modify the screen layout of the RF transactions by using Screen Personas.

With the release of SAP S/4HANA Cloud 2208 Warehouse Management it is now possible to use packing proposals and automatic packing in inbound and in outbound processes. This makes it easier for the warehouse operative to pack products and HUs.

The possibility to have packing proposals available from the system and to trigger automatic packing is available in the app to change inbound deliveries as well as in the app to change outbound deliveries.

It is now possible to change deliveries from Logistics Execution (LE) after they have been transferred to the warehouse management system. Even after distribution to EWM you can make changes to specific fields such as:

• Quantity
• Header text
• Planned goods issue date
• Incoterms (and Incoterm location)
• Shipping type and shipping condition
• Bill of Lading

Changes are dependent on the delivery processing status.

With a new app that supports loading and unloading you can now process freight orders from transportation management more efficiently.

The app supports the following actions:

• Door Assignment
• Dock to door
• Loading
• Departure from door
• Set loading finished
• Navigate to different documents (e. g. delivery)
• Post goods issue
• Cancel goods issue

You are now able to use the Advanced Production Integration in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Warehouse Management; this feature had only be available in the SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud Extended Warehouse Management solution in previous releases.

Advanced production integration allows you to integrate the supply of products to production and the receipt of products from production into your warehouse in SAP Extended Warehouse Management (SAP EWM). It is integrated with the manufacturing order processing in SAP ERP, but it allows you to stage and consume the materials and receive the semi-finished products or finished products in SAP EWM. This means that you can process the warehouse execution for manufacturing orders that have been sent to SAP EWM from SAP ERP even if SAP ERP is not available.

Advanced production integration allows you to plan the staging of products for production over a period of time, allowing you to use the space on your production supply area (PSA) more flexibly. You can receive packed products as soon as they arrive from the production line using radio frequency. This allows you to synchronize the material flows between the warehouse and production promptly, which improves inventory visibility in SAP EWM and in SAP ERP.

Advanced Production Integration supports the following features:

• Work directly on PMR (Production Material Request)
• Cross order and single order staging
• Consumption posting and reversal
• Clear PSA (Production Supply Area)
• Automate staging with a background report
• Consumption possible via RF and desktop

Only a single storage location of a plant could be handled in a warehouse until now. In order to hide complexity and reduce the number of mandatory configuration steps for integration setup in the cloud, entries for integration are created automatically during the warehouse setup. we create entries needed for integration automatically with the warehouse setup page.

This feature allows the handling of up to 11 storage locations in a plant in a single warehouse. It offers configuration UIs for the definition of availability groups and mapping of storage locations to the warehouse.

The configuration UI for stock types in the warehouse has been enhanced to allow the creation of new stock types and assignment of availability groups. The consistency, especially in Q systems, has thereby been improved upon assignment changes.

When a semifinished product is produced in manufacturing, it might be used as a component for a subsequent production step in the assembly of the finished product. This means that the semifinished products need to be moved to the PSA of the next production line for further use. If you are using direct goods movements into Warehouse Management, the system can use the information in the Target PSA field of the production version to determine the destination bin during automatic warehouse task creation.

Besides the core enhancements featured above, the current release also includes the following enhancements:

• Mass creation of warehouse tasks directly in the
• App to manage physical stock

  With the app Manage Physical Stock - Products it is possible to get an detailed overview of the stock in the warehouse using multiple filter criteria. It is also possible to perform actions such as scrapping or cost center withdrawal.

• Update Delivers in Delivery Management Before Goods Issue

  In the warehouse monitor a new method is available to set the status "Ready for Shipping" which will update the LE delivery with quantities, batches and handling units. Use the status "Ready for Shipping" in LE in output management to determine the delivery note print out.

• Quality Inspections for Synchronous Goods Receipt Postings

  It is now possible to create inspection lots in quality management for synchronous goods receipt postings for external procurement and for manufacturing orders.

• Enhanced FIORI App for physical inventory counting

  The app for physical inventory counting allows now the assignment of a serial number range to scan multiple items with serial numbers. The serial number is checked against the product quantity and error messages will be raised if the number of serial numbers does not match the product quantity or an invalid input is detected.

• New SAP Fiori App for displaying warehouse documents

  There is now a new SAP Fiori app available to check the warehouse document for goods receipt or goods issue posting. The document consists of one item or multiple items.

• SAP Fiori app to pack outbound deliveries now indicates customer stock

  The SAP Fiori app for outbound deliveries no supports customer stock during packing and provides information in the field list. This applies to the apps "Pack Warehouse Stock" and "Pack Outbound Deliveries".

• Additional Follow-Up Actions for Quality Usage Decisions

  This feature enables you to use the following follow-up actions for usage decisions after performing a quality inspection:

  • Sample Consumption
  • Scrap to Cost Center
• Enhancements to Storage Type Settings

  With this feature, you can specify what the system does during the confirmation of a stock removal of a full Handling Unit (HU) or the remaining quantity in a HU. You can also see which storage type template the storage type is based on.

• Change Documents for Storage Bins and Fixed Storage Bin Assignments

  With this feature, you can display logged changes made to storage bins in the Warehouse Monitor app, under Stock and Bin → Storage Bin. You can also display change documents that are written when fixed storage bin assignments are created, changed, or deleted.

• Enhancement to Warehouse Monitor

  This feature enables you to view inspection lot and partial lot data, based on various selection criteria, in the Warehouse Monitor app under Documents → Inspection.

• Enhancement to Putaway Lists

  With this feature, the stock type and inspection lot number are included on putaway lists, so that a warehouse operative can identify inspection stock, or blocked stock.

• Enhancements to the Run Outbound Process Apps

  This feature enables you to post a goods issue for several deliveries in a single step in the SAP Fiori apps Run Outbound Process - Deliveries and Run Outbound Process - Production. If you want to cancel goods issue, this can be done for a single delivery, even if goods issue for this delivery was posted along with those for several other deliveries in a single posting step.

• Enhancements to the Change Inbound Deliveries Apps

  This feature enables you to create additional items with reference to a purchase order in the Change Inbound Deliveries - Deliveries SAP Fiori app. You can also navigate to inspection lots and show the reason as to why a delivery item is blocked in the Change Inbound Deliveries - Deliveries and Change Inbound Deliveries - Production SAP Fiori apps.

• Nested Handling Units

  SAP S/4HANA Cloud for Warehouse Management now supports packed items from different plant maintenance orders (PMOs) consolidated in one top HU. Pickint warehouse tasks can be created for this top HU. Thereby you're able to pick items from different PMOs with one picking task.