Embedded EWM in SAP S/4 HANA… A functional Comparison

[ramesh_karanam]

The objective of this blog is to provide a brief introduction to Embedded EWM covering following topics:

 

• Evolution of EWM


• Functional comparison between WM and S/4 HANA EWM


• Comparison between Decentralized EWM and S/4 HANA EWM

 

Introduction:

 

The main functionality of warehouse management tool is to provide accurate, on-time stocks till Bin level, capability of tracking all the movements and providing analytics.

With decades of experience in development of various warehouse functionalities, SAP continued to march in the direction to meet the complex requirements of modern warehouses with SAP Extended warehouse management.

 

Evolution of Extended Warehouse Management:

 

It is very interesting to note the path traversed by SAP to provide functionality to track stocks from IM component level to present Extended Warehouse Management.

• To start with, Stock was managed at only storage location level with IM component and without any Warehouse Management component.


• Next, the facility to enter Bin number as a text in Material Master was provided and stock was managed at storage location level. No Warehouse Management component still.


• Later, SAP introduced Lean Warehouse Management concept where Bin number was still maintained in Material Master as a text, but the system could create picking Task and confirmation of picking task to update picked quantity in Outbound Delivery. The development of Warehouse Management component continued from Storage Unit concept, integration with modules like PP, QM and HR and HU integration.


• Introduction of Yard Management, Cross-Docking and value added services in ERP 4.7C release set 2.0 and named as Extended Warehouse Management.


• ERP EWM solution with TRM functionality is added.


• Decentralized Extended warehouse management solution as a part of Supply chain management. Integration with SAP ERP is needed for data transfer.


• Extended Warehouse Management in SAP S/4 HANA

 

Embedded EWM:

 

Embedded EWM came into existence with SAP S/4 HANA 1610 release. With this release. Embedded EWM is a default offering, but traditional WM is also available. However, the life span of traditional WM is limited to 2025 only.

With the EWM functionalities coming into S/4 HANA, advanced and flexible functionalities like Value added services and Material Flow system also offered to Business to improve efficiency.

Most of the capability of Decentralized EWM is retained in Embedded EWM.

Before comparing the solutions of

 

Functional capability comparison between Traditional WM and Embedded EWM:

 

There are many additional and improved functionalities in EWM over the traditional Warehouse Management component.

A brief summary along with business benefits are given below for a quick understanding.

 

Element/ Functionality	WM	Embedded EWM	Business Benefits
Organizational Structure	Warehouse Number is of 3 Characters   Storage Type is of 3 Characters     Storage Section is of 3 Characters   Storage Bin is of 10 Characters	Warehouse Number is of  4 Characters   Storage Type  is of 4 Characters   Storage Section  is of   4 Characters   Storage Bin is of 18 Characters     Storage type can be either HU or Non-HU Bin Number is unique	·         Physical Bin structure will match with the Bin structure in system. ·         Precise location of the Material in the Bin ·         Both HU & Non HU can be stored in St Type ·         Defining Max. no. of Bins in St Type ensures that a single product does not overfill the storage type.
Storage Type Search	Storage Type Search is unidirectional	Two directional. Storage Search can happen across storage types.	Efficient sorting of Bins for putaway and picking
Serial Number	Serial Number capturing and tracking does not exist	Serial Number capturing and tracking is possible. Three levels of Control possible: •       Delivery Item level (Only for activated ID/OD item types •       Warehouse Level (At each GR/GI) •       Storage Bin level (For each Task conf.)	Provides complete transparency of stock in warehouse
Search Strategies	Up to 30 storage types, sections, bin types and storage unit types can be defined in bin searches.	No limit on the number of storage types, sections and bin types in bin searches	Provides additional search facility and optimization when storage types are more
Printing and Outputs	Print Control settings and output control are used to WH documents through SAP scripts and Smart Forms.	Uses the post-processing framework (PPF) to trigger all printing and outputs based upon the status of warehouse tasks. Standard outputs are delivered in both SmartForms and Adobe forms	Leverage Adobe forms Benefits
Fixed Bin assignment	Only one fixed bin per Material in a storage type.	Multiple storage Bins per Product per storage type.	Flexibility for Fixed Bin storage process

 

Decentralized EWM Vs S/4 HANA EWM:

 

Having discussed about the Embedded EWM capabilities over the traditional WM, we also have another SAP EWM solution, called Decentralized EWM.

This Decentralized EWM will be a preferred solution for the following reasons:

• Multiple ERP systems are required be connected to a single EWM


• Third party manages warehouse activities


• Larger warehouses and high performances are required

Though core of the capability of decentralized EWM is available in Embedded EWM, following comparison

Embedded EWM Vs Decentralized EWM

Criteria	Embedded EWM	Decentralized EWM
Master Data	No transfer of Master Data between the systems	Transfer of Master data required
Core Interface	CIF is not required	Required
Customizing Objects transfer	Not required	Required
Document duplication	Inbound and Outbound deliveries are created directly in Embedded EWM.	Replica of Inbound and outbound deliveries called Inbound Delivery Notification (IDN) and Outbound Delivery Request (ODR) are created in decentralized EWM.
Expected Goods Receipt	Not required	Required for cases where no deliveries are created (GRs from production order/ PO without shipping notification)
Quality Inspection	No inspection document is required	Inspection document created through Quality Inspection Engine and Inspection lot from ERP are required.

 

Conclusion:

Embedded EWM provides advanced functional features, better user experience and flexible approach to complex warehouse requirements.

[former_member470918]

Hi Ramesh,

Thanks for sharing the differences in detail and in layman language.

keep continue to post on S/4 HANA EWM

[Former Member]

Hi Ramesh,

Good post. One question I have is; can we have embedded ewm run 24X7 while the core S4HANA is down for maintenance? My client is requesting that their warehouse operations should be up and running 24X7.

[Former Member]

I don't think so, as it is embedded one.

[Former Member]

Hi Ramesh,  Thank you for sharing this.  It definitely to help us to design new flow with EWM

[eddie_lee_webb]

 

Thanks for the information. My team is starting the SAP journey, so the more we can learn about EWM and its capabilities the better,

 

Thanks again,

[rammohan_shenoy]

Hi Sreenivas -  this may be late answer.  Nobody answered your question - "My client is requesting that their warehouse operations should be up and running 24X7".

So I will clarify that for this requirement you have to go with Decentralized EWM only so your warehouse operations can continue even if SAP ERP/ECC or S4 system is down. As Ramesh explained in his blog, Decentralized EWM helps when large Distribution centers and Third party Warehouses who really need only a Warehouse solution. Usually large warehouses have very high volume transactions, large number of inbound, outbound movements and Decentralized EWM is better than embedded EWM from performance perspective.

I was involved in an EWM on ECC implementation earlier and did realize the limited performance we got out embedded EWM on ECC solution. Having said this Embedded EWM on S4 HANA would likely give a much superior performance due to the underlying HANA architecture.

Hope this helps,

 

Shenoy

 

 

[Former Member]

Hello Everyone!

 

A good comparison of SAP EWM embedded in the S / 4HANA system in the basic and advanced* extended** version. Link below:

https://goo.gl/bBUUgV

[former_member554730]

Dear Ramesh,

I was scanning through internet and other portals for SAP S4 HANA certification on EWM, but could not find any.

 

Kindly guide through the correct certification code of S4 HANA EWM.

 

Regards,

Shyam.

[JuergenPitz]

Hi,

there is no separate certification for S/4HANA and EWM (embedded or whatever). The next EWM certification release will probably also include S/4HANA embedded EWM, as the next collection of the EWM courses will.

Brgds

Juergen

---
Want to learn EWM?
Check for EWM courses @ https://training.sap.com/trainingpath/Applications-Warehouse+Management-SAP+EWM
Get a SAP Learning Hub Subscription: https://training.sap.com/shop/learninghub

And it is EWM. NOT eWM - Duh!
And if your question includes the word "transfer order" - do NOT tag the question with Extended Warehouse Management!

Schedule:
CW4 + 5: EWM Bootcamp (specific partners only) WDF
CW6: Customer specific workshop
CW7: EWM120 WDF
CW8 + 9 EWM Bootcamp (specific partners only) WDF

[andreas-de]

Hello All,

currently we don’t use HU’s at WM, is it necessary to use handling units at embedded EWM?

best regards
Andreas

[former_member594261]

Really good article, thanks for the blog!!

 

[former_member629608]

Unfortunately, the link doesn't work 😞