SAP EWM Deployment Options – embedded vs decentral warehouse management

[Anup]

Summary

In this enterprise architecture decision accelerator, you will know how to decide between embedded Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) on SAP S/4HANA and decentral EWM on SAP S/4HANA.

Business Requirements

You have the following two business scenarios for warehouse management in your current AS-IS system landscape:

1. LE-WM warehouses configured in SAP ECC system.
2. EWM warehouses configured in SAP EWM decentral system

You are embarking on the journey of SAP S/4HANA transformation in your company replacing existing SAP ECC systems. You need to decide the deployment strategy of warehouse management business area to select between embedded EWM on SAP S/4HANA and decentral EWM on SAP S/4HANA. (Refer Link for more details)

Key assumption is that the customer has SAP ECC (WM managed warehouses) and SAP EWM (EWM managed warehouses, i.e., Decentral EWM on ECC stack) in their AS-IS landscape, along with other peripheral applications.

Deployment Options

There are many deployment options for SAP EWM but the two most strategic deployment options for SAP S/4HANA EWM system deployment options are as follows:

• Option #1 : SAP ECC (LE-) or SAP EWM on SAP NetWeaver to embedded EWM (Basic or Advanced) in SAP S/4HANA.

EWM can be deployed as embedded EWM which can integrate to local ERP storage locations in the same system & client. (Refer Link to know what is Storage Location)

• Option #2 : SAP ECC (LE-WM) or SAP EWM on SAP NetWeaver to decentral EWM on SAP S/4HANA

EWM can be deployed as decentralized EWM on S/4HANA which can integrate to storage locations in other systems & clients but not to local ERP storage locations in the same system & client.

Note: Basic Warehouse Management in SAP S/4HANA is only available in the embedded deployment option. Decentral deployment of SAP EWM is always considered advanced.

Criteria to determine the most suitable target solution

1. Do you have multiple ERPs linked to one warehouse location? Or do you have plans in future?

(Option #1) Embedded EWM with SAP S/4HANA system is not released to integrate with storage locations coming from another ERP system & client, other than the local client which is used for EWM.

2. Do you have warehouses with high volume?

(Option #1) Embedded EWM with SAP S/4HANA system.

is considered in case of small and midsize warehouses (non-high throughput warehouses) within a geographical region which is near to the data center where the S/4HANA system is hosted. This is a general guideline but in specific customer situation this can vary as well.

3. Do you have highly automated & integrated warehouses? (e.g., ASRS/ MFS, pick by light, pick by voice, etc.)

(Option #2) decentral EWM on SAP S/4HANA (separate SAP system instance) is recommended if the warehouses have high automation with high throughput.

Note: Sometimes latency is also not an issue except for MFS (material flow systems) as EWM is working asynchronously in most processes

4. Do you have same release cycles with ERP system?

If EWM upgrade cycles are expected to be independent of ERP, then (Option #2) decentral EWM on SAP S/4HANA would facilitate and assure the independent upgrade capability of the EWM system.

5. Do you have advanced warehouse management capabilities, such as Wave management, Value Added Services (VAS), Cross Docking, MFS, Kitting, Yard Management, TM integration, etc.?

If yes, then (Option #1) Embedded (Advanced) EWM with SAP S/4HANA system or (Option #2) decentral EWM on SAP S/4HANA (separate SAP system instance) is recommended if advanced warehouse management capabilities are in use.

If no, then (Option #1) Embedded (Basic) EWM with SAP S/4HANA system is recommended.

For additional documentation,

• This note gives good overview on the criteria and considerations: 1606493 - SAP EWM Deployment Options Best Practices
• Basic Warehouse Management in S/4HANA is only available in the embedded deployment option. Decentral deployment of EWM is always considered advanced. For Further Features, check SAP S/4HANA 2022 Feature Scope Description
• For an interim solution you might also want to evaluate Stock Room Management (see SAP note 2881166 ) or WM on Compatibility Scope (2577428 - Road map for LE-WM in SAP S/4HANA + )

Decision Tree

A simple decision tree to select a deployment option for EWM is illustrated below:

 

Conclusion

SAP EWM deployment option #2 (decentral EWM on SAP S/4HANA) offers best future scalability options, provides best independent upgrade capabilities, and does not restrict future ERP integration scenarios.

General Guidance on recommended SAP System Deployment Options: EWM based on SAP S/4HANA is the successor product of Business Suite SAP EWM. As such the options based on SAP S/4HANA are the preferred options:

www.sap.com.

[Rajen_Patel]

Thanks Anup for providing clear criteria and a concise decision tree for deciding EWM deployment options.