Warehouse Order Creation Process and Its Benefits

Download as docx, pdf, or txt
Download as docx, pdf, or txt
You are on page 1of 4
At a glance
Powered by AI
The key takeaways are that warehouse orders optimize labor by grouping tasks and sorting them according to rules. This allows SAP EWM to find the most efficient workflow.

A warehouse order is a worker's assigned tasks that can be completed within a time period. Warehouse orders usually group warehouse tasks and are created by SAP EWM based on configured rules, such as during wave picking in an outbound flow.

Warehouse orders are created through a process of grouping tasks by activity area, sorting them, applying filters, and consolidating them into groups. This process uses warehouse order creation rules that are configured based on factors like activity codes, sorting preferences, and consolidation requirements.

Warehouse order creation process and

its benefits
As one of the primary merits of SAP Extended Warehouse Management
(SAP EWM), the Warehouse Order creation is a vital part of the complete
work optimization process in the warehouse. Besides easing the
categorization of the labor, in the background there is a running mechanism
that is looking for the optimum output in return of this labor with the help of
a set of business rules. Before getting into details of the warehouse order
creation, it’s better to talk about the definition of the warehouse orders and
the places they are used.

What is a Warehouse Order and where does it take place in an end-to-


end SAP EWM Flow?

Basically, a warehouse order is a worker’s responsibility that can be fulfilled


in a certain amount of time. Most of the time, the warehouse orders are
simply groups of warehouse tasks which are gathered up by SAP EWM,
and this happens based on configured creation rules. For instance, in an
outbound flow with wave picking, as it is also shown on the diagram below,
when an Outbound Delivery Order is received, the corresponding
Warehouse Request gets created automatically in background (Process
Step 1). According to the user’s preference, the Warehouse Request get
assigned either manually or automatically to a wave as a wave item and
this wave gets ready to be released (Process Step 2). As soon as the wave
is released, the system forms the Warehouse tasks (Process Step 3).

On this point, those warehouse tasks get automatically bunched up into


warehouse orders (Process Step 4). SAP EWM uses specific creation rules
(WOCR) for this process which are configured depending on the user’s
needs and constraints.
A warehouse order can contain warehouse tasks, such as put away,
picking, etc., from one or more than one delivery. So that, SAP EWM can
optimize the sequence of the work that should be done in a time slot and it
does this on the level of a single task rather than a delivery order.
Consequently, this optimization brings some opportunities and makes
various continuous and interwoven scenarios possible.

How do Warehouse Orders get Created?

As stated above, the system gathers warehouse tasks and forms


warehouse orders. While warehouse orders getting created, they pass
through the steps of the warehouse order creation process, which can be
aligned as Grouping, Sorting, Filtering and Consolidating.

When a picking wave is released or a warehouse task is created in another


process, the warehouse order creation process begins and the first thing
that these warehouse tasks undergo is Grouping according to their Activity
Areas. The reason behind this is that the WOCRs are picked depending the
Activity Code in the Warehouse Process Type or the corresponding Activity
Area.

Then the grouped tasks get sorted according to the rule of Inbound Sorting.
This sorting process gets done according to defined Sort Rules and they
are kept in Sorting Profiles which can hold up to 15 different rules such as
Pick-Path Sorting or Sorting according to the Consolidation group. In
addition, another option here is that the rules like Sort according to the
Consolidation group are applicable in the final form of the Warehouse
orders at the end of the whole creation process.

Filtering can be applied both on the item and the subtotal level and,
according to defined filters, some specific warehouse tasks can be
removed from the groups. For instance, a user wants to create a specific
warehouse order creation rule in a specific activity area for the goods that
can be prepared for the next step in a quick way. Using a filter for the
Processing Times would be good approach to follow. By this way, if SAP
EWM comes across a warehouse task that can consume too much time, it
can directly continue to the next task that is in the queue while not
processing the task at issue.

Lastly, determining consolidation groups gets in process contingent upon


the customization. This customizing foreshows not only the products that
may or should packed together, but also the pieces, pallets, Handling Units,
etc. that will shipped jointly. The warehouse orders take their last shape
according to their consolidation groups, however, between this
consolidation process, some other processes can get involved such as
Subtotal Level Filtering or WO Sorting.

All these process steps could be exemplified in a Business Case as


following; during a picking activity of a warehouse that is assumed, it is
required to make the layering according the weights of the goods in a
Handling Unit. In addition, the picking tasks that take more than two
minutes should not be performed together with the tasks that can be
completed in a quicker way. Moreover, in this warehouse, order
combinations (for example two orders going to the same ship-to party get
packed together) do not take place during a picking activity.

For this example, the Warehouse Order Creation Rule that should be
applied for the picking Warehouse Tasks (which are grouped by their
Activity Area) basically need to have a Inbound Sorting by Weight in
descending order, a Filtering by Processing Time and Consolidating by
Consolidation Groups which differ from Outbound Delivery Order to
Outbound Delivery Order.

What is the benefit?

Creation rules of warehouse orders allow users having a great flexibility. By


using different Inbound Sortings and Warehouse Order Sortings, the
sequence of the tasks can be adjusted according to various operational
scenarios. Different sequencings can be done for different areas or
according to different attributes of the tasks or the goods itself. With this
amount of different possibilities, the users can get a set of assignments that
are optimized in a much better way than any kind of manual scheduling. By
using filter and limit parameters, it is easy to create multifarious and target-
specific warehouse orders. Pick-HU and Shipping- HU Packing profiles can
be defined diversified. So that, SAP EWM can optimize the portion of the
goods to be packed into an HU. Furthermore, by having an accurate
creation rule, the users can use the assets possessed efficiently.
Especially, if the activity areas or maybe the activity types are defined in
consideration of the possible Warehouse Order creation rules, different
employees and resources can work in the most efficient way in their reach
and responsibility. By this way, the process flows get accelerated and the
downtimes can be minimized.

In conclusion, with the help of Warehouse Order Creation Rules, SAP


EWM classifies the labor in a better way and, by case-specific
customization of the process steps of WOCRs, it optimizes not only the
work division according to classification made but also the way of making
this work.

You might also like