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Differences between IM/WM and EWM

Published on January 5, 2017

Mohammad Qadar MSc Follow

Consultant | Entrepreneur | SAP EWM Certified | SAP TM | Logistics | S… 314 15 80
3 articles

Most executives and their employees ask themselves, why would you implement Extended
Warehouse Management??? Before one can answer this question, it is more important to
understand what Inventory Management/Warehouse Management and EWM are. Only after
this we can go and explore the differences between them. Therefore I will try to answer this
from my own perspective in this blog.

Inventory- and Warehouse Management

Let’s start with Inventory Management, IM is part of the Materials Management module and
is also integrated with the other logistics modules like PP, SD and QM. See below, for the
integration between IM and other modules:

MM: IM provides information for MRP, after which PO are created and
quantities are posted in IM after goods receipt.

PP: staging of components for production orders is managed in IM and finished

products in the warehouse are posted in IM.

SD: availability check is performed after creating a sales order and after a
delivery is created quantity is reduces from the stock.

QM: in case of goods movement, it is determined if an inspection is needed and

stock is either registered as in quality or blocked in IM.

The integration does not stop there, but it continues into WM. Here quantities and value are
managed by IM and the WM components reflect the structure of a warehouse in form of
complex storage bins and WM monitors the allocation of the storage bins and any transfers.
Messaging

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Due to this an entire warehouse complex can be mapped in detail to storage
5 bin level. With Free Upgrade
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this you not only have an overview of the quantities of each material, but also a can
determine the exact location of materials. Besides this WM has other features to enhance the
management and storage of materials:

Storage Bin Management: map an entire storage facility in WM (automatic

warehouse, high rack-, bulk- or fixed storage), to manage material at storage bin
level.

Good Movements: process all goods movements in the warehouse, including goods
receipt, goods issue, stock transfers, staging for production, automatic
replenishment, managing dangerous goods and processing differences in stock.

Planning and Monitoring: the system supports to plan, monitor and optimise work
processes due to the overviews of all the goods receipts, goods issues and
warehouse stocks.

Radio Frequency Connection: with the help of RF data can be entered quickly and
flawlessly, by scanning the barcodes information can be recorded and verified to
ensure high standards in a warehouse.

Decentralized WMS: possibility to run it as a standalone system without a central

ERP system.

Warehouse Control: interface to external systems to integrate automatic putaway,

stock removal systems or fork lift control into WMS for all internal movements
with help of ALE.

Extended Warehouse Management

After having discussed IM and WM, lets move on to EWM. It has been almost 10 years
since SAP released EWM, this is a proper Warehouse Management System which can
control/monitor every process in a warehouse from the moment goods arrive at the yard in a
truck until leaving. Unlike WM, there are three options of deploying EWM:

1. EWM as an add-on, on the SAP ECC server.

2. Install EWM on a SAP SCM server.

3. Standalone on a dedicated server for just EWM.

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Source: SAP SE©

EWM can be used from a simple warehouse to a complex distribution centre. Because of the
deployment methods and because of the possibility of turning on or off functionalities
depending on the requirements the clients. It gives you the option to map the entire
warehouse complex in detail from the yard to the storage bin level. This gives the exact
location of a certain material and the quantities at storage area level and even at storage bin
level. Besides the features of WM, EWM offers:

Storage Bin Management and Optimization: EWM enables you to track all stock
movements constantly in detail and for the optimization it assigns the correct
storage bin (depending on the size and frequency of access). Besides using
physical inventory procedures and stock differences to ensure the inventory
matches between IM and EWM.

Goods Movements: besides all the standard warehouse movements, EWM includes
layout- and process-oriented storage control, automated wave picking creation
and resource optimization via rule based bundling of warehouse tasks.

Work Center: this is used to map a physical unit, where activities such as packing,
deconsolidation, weighing, quality inspection and counting are performed.

Physical Inventory: in EWM you can compare actual, existing and physical
material stock based on the product or storage bin. In addition it offers
integrated RF functions to perform all the warehouse tasks, such as counting,
putaway and inventory control.

There are many more features of EWM, one of the most important is the integration with
the ECC modules (MM, SD, IM, LE, QM, etc.). For the master data integration EWM uses
the Core Interface (CIF) and Queued Remote Function Call (qRFC) for communication
between ECC and EWM.

Difference

Before looking at the differences between IM/WM and EWM. Let me point out that EWM is
not a replacement of WM, as it remains a viable alternative for mainly for small and medium

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size warehouses with basic processes and simple operations. 5 Free Upgrade
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WM provides support for warehouse and storage processes, such as:

Internal movements and replenishment

RF and voice putaway and picking

Warehouse internal packing

Optimise warehouse movements using task and resource management

Besides the processes above, EWM also supports a lot more like: integration with Transport
Management and Logistic Service Providers for the outbound process, Yard Management,
Material Flow System for fully automatic warehouse and standard integration with other
SAP components. For the other differences, see the picture below:

I will be posting a new blog every second week, on SAP EWM Blog.

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15 Comments

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shailesh mishra 9mo

Senior SAP WM EWM Consultant at Cognizant

If you will ask me the big and technical difference between WM n EWM, I will say WM lags
Serial number traceability at storage bin level unless certain other tools are applied upon.
However, in EWM bins can be serialised. One more point to be noted that this does not
mean WM is weaker than EWM. We can implement Handling Unit management in
warehouse management and hence use the Serial number usage at Storage bin level. De-
assignemebt of Serial numbers from outbound delivery once packed in Handling unit is
also possible. It means Reverse logistics with Serial numbers are very much possible in
h l dk l d f b d bl h
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WM. I have limited knowledge of EWM but in India I am witnessing a perceptible horizon
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Search of WM with HU and Transport management system. Indian mid size manufacturing
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industries are opting WM with Mobile data entry which is perfectly in coherent with
business requirement.
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Anthony R. Ravenell 2mo

SAP Senior WM/IM/EWM/PP Configurator/Senior Analyst at Continental Automotive Group

Thank you for posting! Always good to read things in this discipline!
Like Reply

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Mohammad Qadar MSc

Consultant | Entrepreneur | SAP EWM Certified | SAP TM | Logistics | Supply Chain Management | Globe-Trotter

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