SAP ERP EWM

SAP ERP and EWM: A Powerful Partnership for Streamlined Supply Chains

SAP Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) and SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) form a tightly integrated ecosystem, driving efficiency and visibility throughout your supply chain. Understanding how these systems complement each other is key to unlocking their full potential.

What’s the Division of Labor?

• SAP ERP: The backbone of your business processes. It handles core functions like procurement, sales order management, production planning, financials, and overarching inventory visibility.
• SAP EWM: The specialist in advanced warehouse operations. It handles detailed warehouse layout mapping, complex picking and putaway strategies, labor management, yard management, and other intricate processes within your physical warehouse(s).

How Do ERP and EWM Communicate?

SAP ERP and EWM are designed for seamless integration. Data flows between them in real-time (or near real-time) through two primary methods:

1. Core Interface (CIF): Handles master data exchanges, ensuring information like material (product) data, customer information, and vendor details remain synchronized between systems.

2. Queued Remote Function Calls (qRFC): Designed for rapid exchange of transactional data including:

   • Inbound deliveries (from ERP to EWM): Alerting EWM of incoming goods and triggering the goods receipt process.
   • Outbound deliveries (from ERP to EWM): Initiating order picking and shipping activities within the warehouse.
   • Stock transfer orders (within EWM): Used for movements between warehouses controlled by EWM.

Benefits of SAP ERP and EWM Integration

• Data Consistency: Eliminates discrepancies and manual reconciliations between the warehouse and your broader ERP system.
• End-to-End Visibility: Track materials and orders across the supply chain – from procurement to production, warehouse operations, and final shipment.
• Process Efficiency: Automation of data exchange eliminates error-prone manual updates and streamlines workflow between departments.
• Decision-Making Power: Access to timely and accurate warehouse data from your ERP empowers better planning and optimization.

Use Cases

• Order Fulfillment: A customer order triggers materials to be pulled from the warehouse. EWM provides real-time status updates back to the ERP, ensuring accurate order tracking for the customer.
• Production Planning: ERP’s production planning features utilize EWM’s stock visibility to make informed decisions about production scheduling.
• Inventory Replenishment: EWM monitors stock levels and can trigger replenishment orders directly in ERP upon reaching predefined thresholds.

The Integrated Advantage

The tight coupling between SAP ERP and EWM enables organizations to orchestrate supply chains with a level of precision and agility that stand-alone systems cannot match. If you’re utilizing SAP for your business operations, understanding this integration is key to maximizing your supply chain efficiency.