There are currently over 100,600 SAP installations at over 41,200 companies in the world. SAP announced at the 2013 Logistics & SCM, PLM, Manufacturing, and Procurement conference in Las Vegas in March that there are currently only around 400 installations of SAP EWM. EWM was release in 2007, and it’s obvious that the majority of companies are in no rush to move from what “already works”, whether that be SAP WM or a third party warehouse management solution.
SAP is making major improvements around EWM, and beefing up the associated sales & marketing initiatives to change this slow adoption rate as quickly as possible. At Blue Harbors, we understand that most companies will eventually move to EWM. But for now, we are primarily focused on helping those businesses that are not quite ready to make the move, identify optimization and automation potential throughout their warehouse processes. Our SAP Warehouse Optimization Solutions efficiently leverage native tools and functionality in a an existing SAP installation environment to maximize the value of the investment made in purchasing and implementing SAP.
Each Warehouse Optimization Solution listed below includes the process in which the solution can be applied, common pain points that Blue Harbors has experienced associated with that process area, and Blue Harbors solution approach for mitigation (Please note that Blue Harbors’ Warehouse Optimization Solutions DO NOT Require or Rely on SAP’s WM module):
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INBOUND PROCESS SOLUTIONS
The following solutions streamline and automate activities that occur before shipments arrive and through the receipt of shipments into your warehouse.
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SAP Yard Management (SAP YM)
Process
Managing movements beyond the physical walls
Common Pain Points
- Lacking of enterprise visibility of what is in the yard.
- Unable to plan and sequence docking, loading and unloading.
- Reduce idle dock time and prepare for peak times
- No history – detailed and complete – of activities in the Yard.
Solution
SAP Yard Management (SAP YM) is part of the SAP ERP warehousing solution. All yard movements can be controlled in ‘real-time’ from coming in to leaving the premises. SAP YM integrates with all SAP Shipping and Transportation components
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Advanced Shipping Notifications (ASN) / EDI
Process
Managing Receiving Processes
Common Pain Points
- Inbound shipments taking too long to receive
- Discrepancies in products sent vs. products received
- Keying errors when receiving product
- Require visibility of incoming shipments to plan needed resources
Solution
SAP Integrated Inbound Advanced Shipping Notifications (ASN) / EDI
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RF Mobile Receiving & Putaway
Process
Receiving & Putaway Processes
Common Pain Points
- Manually assigning bins during putaway without taking slotting into consideration.
- Receiving using paper-based putaway transfer orders inefficient and prone to errors (clerk forgets to confirm TO on PC or product is stored in the wrong bin).
Solution
SAP RF Mobile Solution for Putaway
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IN-HOUSE PROCESS SOLUTIONS
The following solutions can be applied once product shipments have been received into your warehouse.
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RF Mobile Warehouse Management
Process
Warehouse Management
Common Pain Point
- Paper-based stock management is inefficient and prone to errors.
Solution
Cycle count, continuous inventory and zero stock check + RF Mobile
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SAP Task & Resource Management (SAP TRM)
Process
Monitoring and controlling activities and tasks in the warehouse
Common Pain Points
- Priorities are wrongly communicated to the warehouse floor. Urgent tasks do not get done.
- A large percentage of your warehouse travels happen without physical goods.
- Tasks get assigned incorrectly and have to be executed repetitively.
- Resources are either under-utilized or overstressed.
Solution
SAP Task and Resource Management (TRM): Part of R/3, no additional licenses needed. You typically see a up to 30% increase in productivity using SAP TRM
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Kanban
Process
Inventory Management & Optimization
Common Pain Points
- Carrying excess inventory and the associated costs.
- Greater exposure to lost or damaged products due to excess inventory levels
Solution
Kanban Replenishment / Inventory Reduction
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Inventory Analytics, Monitoring & Reporting
Process
Inventory Planning & Management
Common Pain Points
- No economic feasibility based on target versus actual comparisons of costs and services.
- Difficulties to collect and provide decision-relevant information
Solution
Inventory Analytics, Monitoring & Reporting
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SAP Material Requirements Planning (SAP MRP)
Process
Inventory Planning & Management
Common Pain Point
- Conflict of maintaining a high service level without tying up a lot of capital and incurring high material costs.
Solution
SAP Material Requirements Planning (SAP MRP) Strategy
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OUTBOUND PROCESS SOLUTIONS
The following solutions simplify and optimize processes surrounding the outbound movement of products from your warehouse.
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SAP Express Ship Solution
Process
Packing & Shipping Out Products
Common Pain Points
- High volume or complex shipping (international, LTL) requirements.
- Non-existing or problematic interface between SAP and current shipping solution.
- Master data (addresses, shipping preferences, etc) is maintained in multiple systems.
- No automated ability compare rates and service levels across multiple carriers; too much money spent on shipping.
- Carrier-specific packing stations deployed in warehouse.
- Current shipping solution charges fees and maintenance costs.
Solution
Integrated SAP Express Ship Solution
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Advanced Shipping Notifications (ASN) / EDI
Process
Shipping Visibility & Notifications
Common Pain Points
- Customer desires to be notified of outbound shipment.
- Customer-specific output methods need be supported (ASN via email, fax and EDI).
Solution
SAP Integrated Outbound Advanced Shipping Notifications (ASN) / EDI
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