Stock Room Management Comparison with EWM

[prakashpol1]

This blog post will help readers to understand the key differences between Stock Room Management (StRM) and Extended Warehouse Management (EWM).

Differences between Stock Room Management and EWM-Basic, EWM-Embedded Advanced and EWM on Decentralized on S/4 HANA are compared and listed here for developing better understanding amongst WMS selection decision makers.

In my previous blog, "Should I migrate LE-WM to Stock Room Management?" I have captured the functional differences between Stock Room Management and LE-WM. This is a second blog in the same series to throw more light on its functional comparison with EWM.

Also refer my latest blog which provides deep insight into the options to be considered when the legacy LE-WM is found to be not compliant for stock room management (What Options to Consider if Legacy LE-WM is Not Compliant for Stock Room Management during S/4HANA M...).

I have summarized the functional and key product differences in the below table based on various features and comparison parameters.

Features/Comparison parameters	Stock Room Management (with HUM)	Basic Embedded EWM on S/4 HANA	Advanced EWM Embedded on S/4 HANA	EWM Decentralized on S/4 HANA
Architecture	Part of S/4HANA ERP	Part of S/4HANA ERP	Part of S/4HANA ERP	Separate Application on S/4HANA
SAP Future Innovations	Not supported	Improvements limited to Basic features will be added in future S/4HANA versions	Future Innovations for the warehouse capabilities will be delivered by SAP only for EWM component of S/4 HANA.
License	Included in the SAP S/4HANA Enterprise Management license.		Advanced EWM will require the Classic SAP EWM Component License
Futuristic Warehouse Modernization Outlook	Very low	Low	High	Very High
Barcode Scanning/Mobile Execution	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Bin to Bin transfer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Basic Inbound	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Basic Outbound	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Physical Inventory	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Complex Processes like process oriented or layout-oriented storage control	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Internal Warehouse Movements	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Wave Management	No	No	Yes	Yes
Cross-docking	No	No	Yes	Yes
Serial Numbers	Yes through HUM	Yes	Yes	Yes
SSCC Numbering of HUs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
MFS Support	No	No	Yes, with restrictions	Yes
WM-PP Interface (Production Integration)	Basic Integration	1. Delivery-based Integration 2. Advanced Production Integration 3. Direct Production Integration 4. MES-Driven Staging	1. Delivery-based Integration 2. Advanced Production Integration 3. Direct Production Integration 4. MES-Driven Staging	1. Delivery Based Integration 2. Advanced Production Integration 3. MES-Driven Staging
WM-QM Integration (Quality Management Integration)	Basic	All major QM integration scenarios covered. Basic EWM is integrated into Quality Management (QM) using inspection lots of origin 17.	All major QM integration scenarios covered.	All major QM integration scenarios covered.
Physical Inventory	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Integration with S/4H Core	Very tight ERP integration	Tight ERP integration	Tight ERP integration	Robust ERP-Interfacing mechanism
WM-SAP TM Integration	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Technical Migration Complexity from Old SAP WM	Low	Medium	Medium	Medium to High
Complexity of warehouse supported	Low complexity	Medium	Medium to High complex	High to very high complex
Recommended for	Small size warehouses with manual operations without any advanced requirements and having pre-defined set of lean processes e.g.: - Quick adoption of legacy Classical SAP WM managed manual warehouses without any process changes - Small warehouses e.g. Affiliates managed small warehouses, MRO warehouse or stores with bin to bin transfer need	Small to medium size warehouses requiring full stock transparency and control -  Small Raw Material warehouses -  Medium size, own operated distribution centers with less complexity of operations	For medium to  large warehouse requiring advanced & optimized warehousing features, typically for - the medium complex distribution centers managed by own WMS with very limited MFS/ASRS - Integration with small to medium production sites with less complex manufacturing Integration need in which  the decoupling of WMS from production is not the core requirement.	For all medium to very large complex warehouses with optimized warehousing features. Best suited for the heavily automated warehouses for business models consisting of decoupling of WMS from MFG IT landscape- - Production warehouses connected to local MES systems, - SCM hubs - Advanced and very large warehouses looking to implement Next-Gen technologies for warehouse automation (like IOT, Smart robots etc.)

 

Conclusion

With all evaluating parameters mentioned in above comparison table, it is worthwhile to reiterate in this blog too that one should carefully evaluate all the warehouse key business parameters and requirements along with the long term business plan and based on this detailed evaluation business can take conscious decision on choosing specific WM solution (StRM vesrus EWM)in order to get best ROI from the IT investment of migrating to new age S/4 HANA release.

 

References

1. Should I migrate from LE-WM to Stock Room Management? by Prakash Pol


2. 2881166 – FAQ : Stock Room Management


3. Chapter 2.12.3.2.1 Stock Room Management of the Feature Scope Description of SAP S/4HANA 2020 (You can find the link to the Feature Scope Description of SAP S/4HANA 2020 in the Product Documentation section)


4. Note 2577428 – Road map for LE-WM in SAP S/4HANA


5. 2270211-  – S4TWL – Warehouse Management (WM)