Overview of the current four solutions
There are currently four SAP solutions to help you manage your warehouse: Stockroom Management; Warehouse Management; EWM Basic; and EWM Advanced. Below, we’ll look at the differences between them. Note that there will be no further development of the first two, as SAP is positioning EWM on S/4HANA as the strategic choice going forward. Its key benefits include:
- Better warehouse performance
- Complete process and stock transparency
- Preconfigured best practice content
- Clear roadmap of future developments
- Supported by latest technologies and continuous innovation
- Scalability and flexible extension options
- Lowest TCO
Can Stockroom Management replace a transition to EWM?
You probably know that SAP introduced SAP Stockroom Management in 2020, running on S/4HANA. This solution is helpful for small warehouses with predominantly manual processes that only require a few basic functions, such as storage bin management. However, it isn’t suited to industrial companies looking to streamline their logistical processes across the board. For example, Stockroom Management doesn’t include functions such as task and resource management; value-added services; cross-docking; picking waves; or WM-LSR. As noted above, this product will not be developed any further.
Choosing the right EWM solution for you
Now that we’ve established that most companies will likely want to transition to EWM, let’s look at the options available. In terms of the solutions embedded in S/4HANA, you can choose between EWM Basic Warehousing and EWM Advanced Warehousing, for which an additional license is required. If you prefer a decentralized solution, SAP offers the extended cloud variant of EWM as well as the decentralized version on S/4HANA. It’s important for companies to look into the features and functions they need for their processes and what could be dropped. Here’s an overview to make your selection easier.
Overview of features and functions in SAP WM offerings
SDT: the optimal migration approach for EWM
Unlike an ECC to S/4HANA transition, migrating to EWM is a little more complex in that the previous system was part of SCM as opposed to ECC. As such, a classic brownfield migration using automatic system conversion isn’t available. One solution would be to start from scratch with a new system (greenfield), although this involves redesigning your processes. Selective data transformation is clearly the better option here, as it enables you to reuse your business and historical data while updating your existing processes. This migration concept is available from SAP as well as its SDT partners: Natuvion, cbs, and SNP. These offer specialized migration and mapping tools that accelerate the process of data analysis, selection, and verification.
The importance of dealing with transactional data
Customers using EWM 9.x can use the SAP Migration Cockpit to move to S/4HANA, although the cockpit doesn’t handle transactional data, cross-client customizing or user authentication so companies would need to look after those aspects themselves or work with their SAP SDT partner. If they are unable to leave the old transactional data behind, they could use SAP’s SDT partners’ tools to transfer it to the central control system, then to map and update the transactional data prior to migrating it to the new EWM system.
Deciding what to migrate and what to archive
Many companies find the process complex as they often use highly specialized processes, making it difficult to decide what to transfer and what to leave behind. In addition, there may be legal considerations such as a requirement to retain data for a certain number of years. SAP and its SDT partners can assist with this process, particularly with regard to reducing the size of the database to be migrated. S/4HANA databases can be expensive to maintain if they are large and continue to grow. Archiving solutions are available that enable you to keep and access the old data for auditing and research purposes, while only transferring currently useful data. This approach offers big benefits in terms of cost and performance for the new system while preserving and protecting the historical data.
Three key aspects to consider before starting an EWM migration
- The first elementto consider is dealing with the custom code – repository objects – as many warehouses have very specific hardware and structures. The Custom Code Impact Analysis service can help here, as it highlights whether and how this data will be affected by the move to the new infrastructure.
- The second aspectis closing the old documents. A prerequisite of S/4HANA is that docs are closed before being moved. Yet some documents can’t be closed, especially quality inspection documents and others that have to be open all the time. The SDT approach helps here as it will move both open and closed documents. This applies whether you’re choosing the embedded or the decentralized SAP EWM solution.
- Last but not least, downtime.Greenfield projects require several shorter downtime incidences, while SDT usually only requires one. Near-zero downtime may not be possible given the specificities of warehouse systems, but the right tools, like those offered by the SAP SDT partners can make a significant contribution to reducing the impact on business continuity.
Decentralized option for better performance
SAP and its SDT partners have estimated that 90-95% of their customers decide on a decentralized EWM system on S/4HANA in preference to the embedded variant. This is because it’s the strategic platform and more future-proof from a data volume perspective, especially for customers with large databases and warehouse systems. In addition, if someone else in your company is doing some heavy-duty data extraction on the ERP system, there may be a slowdown effect on an EWM embedded in the ERP system that would not arise with a decentralized option.
Talk to us!
Despite the complexities of moving from an SCM-based solution to EWM on S/4HANA, SAP and its SDT partners have the tools and experience to smooth the path for its customers. Feel free to contact us to find out more.
For further information you can also have a look into our webinar "SDT - how to deal with other SAP suite solutions? Focus: EWM".
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