Exploring the opportunities for warehouse process optimisation provided by the SAP Warehouse Management, Logistics Execution and Supply Chain Management software.
Warehouse process optimisation using SAP and integrated complementary technology
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3. How substantial business benefit can be achieved with the integration of complementary technologies such as Voice, Mobile (RF) Data Entry, and warehouse automation.
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5. We work across the entire project with your business experts delivering practical and optimal solutions that add value across the industry.
6. Rocket provides professional solutions using SAP software, complementary technology such as mobile (RF) data and voice devices, RFID and warehouse automation, and specially designed SAP add-ons.
13. Extends the basic SAP warehousing solution, which focused purely on the activity that should be performed, allowing you to control/monitor when and how each activity is performed.
32. Keeping the business and control logic in a single system simplifies the definition and implementation of warehouse processes.
33. As soon as the business and/or control logic is distributed to other applications, the responsibilities of each application becomes much more complex to manage.
35. The ability to provide up-to-date real time reporting is made far simpler if the dataset can be accessed locally and completely.
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37. Both solutions offer single sign-on benefit, however some interfaced solutions will only use a generic logon with ERP reducing traceability and increasing the complexity of user authorisations and restrictions.
38. Master Data distribution can become a hot topic during business process design, especially if the desired functionality is over and above the middleware’s Out of the Box capabilities.
48. SAP already supplies a large amount of RF transaction as standard covering most warehouse operations (loading/unloading, picking, packing, physical inventory, VAS)
65. A single system can monitor the entire operation. This is especially important for deliveries that may contain pick requests that are divided between conveyor and non-conveyor operations (historically requiring creative reporting).
66. Delivers all the required tools to monitor communication and reacting accordingly in the event of failure.
81. Picking and packing of wines cases onto conveyor
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Notas del editor
Probably won’t bother speaking this page. Instead will simply have this displayed as people enter the seminar room (automatically scrolling between Page 1 and 2).The real presentation will start from slide 3 (Introduction).- Bullet this slide, so it’s easier to read.
I have been involved with the SAP software product for over 10 yearsImplemented SAP Warehouse Management and Logistics Execution modules in businesses across Europe and AfricaPrimary role in Rocket Consulting is the implementation of SAP Warehouse Management and complementary technologies.
This slide introduces the SAP software products that are available for Warehouse Management and Logistics Execution. The subsequent few slide will look at the major benefits of these solutions. The idea is not to discourage clients from one product or another, but rather play on the fact that if they’re not ready to make a full upgrade to SCM-EWM, there is still opportunity to use other process with an older ERP-EWM version.- Explain commonly used SAP acronyms.
This slide is a basic overview of some of the more advanced features in the well established ERP Extended Warehouse Management solution (focusing on TRM and Yard Management). Main points to make about TRM: Ensures that the right user get the right work at the right time. Can provide much more accurate information back to management report on picker performance.Main points to make about YM:Provides appropriate functionality allowing you to control and monitor all aspects of the Yard including Gatehouse, weigh bridges, door allocation and parking. Provide a graphical planning tool for inbound and outbound deliveries, allowing drag & drop functionality for adjusting schedules.
SCM-EWM started out in the Service Parts Industry when the Standard WM functionality inside SAP couldn’t cater for the complexity that the businesses in this sector where faced with. SAP was approached by a joint venture between Ford & Caterpillar with their complex requirements and this resulted in eWMThe Service Parts supply chain is very complex and because of this complexity, eWM functionality also meets the requirements stemming from several other industries too. Most important point to make is that the integration between the physical movement of stock and the processes that can occur are now seemless (receipt, deconsolidate, possibly some QM, putaway). This wasn‘t impossible with ERP WM, but did require more effort.SAP has strategically placed all development focus and priority on the development of their eWM offering
A brief discussion of the latest benefits, but really using this as an opportunity to introduce VWM via the discussion on the Graphical Warehouse Layout tool.7.0:Graphical Warehouse Layout: this is a management tool that provides a 2D representation of your warehouse, and can be used for ensuring that relevant configuration is correct (bin/conveyor layout), but also for monitoring the flow of goods throughout the warehouse. You can also view conveyor PLC’s in this display allowing you to see any potential problems that may have occurred (this is covered further when we discuss MFS as part of warehouse automation).VWM: Virtually wander around the warehouse, we thought this was missing in our experience.Resource Management Improvements: Resource Management has been available since 5.1, however 7.0 now includes more advance resource constraint logic similar to TRM.Other improvements include Cross Docking, Production Supply and general improvements on the warehouse monitor.
This slide will introduce the complementary technologies that I am going to discuss. Initially we will just provide a brief overview of each technology (for those that may not be so familiar with what they are), but then dive into the implementation of each and discuss the relative merits of integrated and interfaced approached.
The purpose of this slide is to identify the difference between an integrated and interfaced solution, this is used as a basis for the remainder of the discussion today with regards to the various technologies.- The advantages/disadvantages will be discussed on subsequent slides, the only point to make here is that integrated solutions (for the purpose of today’s discussion) are built within the SAP-ERP/SCM system framework, whereas the alternative is to link disparate systems via interfaces to the SAP-ERP system framework in order to achieve a business process.
The purpose of this slide is to explain at a high level what we mean between Integrated vs. Interfaced when discussing the introduction of new functionality into your business processes.Points to make:Not a debate about which is better. Both solutions have advantages over the other and can deliver comparable performance to the user. The decision is based on the business requirements, the ease of implementation, how the system can be supported, and the ongoing-maintenance and continuous improvement cycle. Rocket experience over the last number of years has made us believe that an integrated approach is better. Why? The entire business process solution can be structured in a single system allowing for the control logic to be driven directly from the business process. Type of request to user may be governed based on one or more business rules (e.g. Special customer, vendor may require additional steps of processing). Continued evolution of the product after go-live is far simpler. Specialist firms will not hang around after go-live completion. Bringing them back to do additional work can be time consuming (and costly). Reporting can be far more effective and less complex as all the required data is available in a single system. Other options (such as business content) are possible for middleware based solutions, however this all adds additional complexity. And not all clients are running the appropriate SAP software to read this data. Processes are far simpler to test “end to end” and do not requiring jumping between multiple systems. Interfaced: Some middleware solutions are delivered with a preset list of interfaces (certified with SAP). Day to day warehouse processes may not fit so neatly into these categories. Some middleware solutions are themselves also capable of WMS functions, these solutions can sometimes dependant on each other (e.g. A pick request may therefore require a product master) meaning that they are delivered “all or nothing”. So additional data may be required from SAP simply to “workaround” these requirements. Cost of middleware with resilience. Not financial cost, but rather additional time spent during project implementation, plus potential restrictions on business processes that a required to support offline events. Must ensure that business processes can provide adequate supply of data to system so that in the event of downtime, there is actually something there to work on (e.g. Wave picking would be advantageous). The point to make here is that even with the best backup/offline process in the world, if there was not enough work in the middleware before the system went down, then productivity is not really going to be improved.
The purpose of this slide is to explain at a high level what we mean between Integrated vs. Interfaced when discussing the introduction of new functionality into your business processes.Points to make:Not a debate about which is better. Both solutions have advantages over the other and can deliver comparable performance to the user. The decision is based on the business requirements, the ease of implementation, how the system can be supported, and the ongoing-maintenance and continuous improvement cycle. Rocket experience over the last number of years has made us believe that an integrated approach is better. Why? The entire business process solution can be structured in a single system allowing for the control logic to be driven directly from the business process. Type of request to user may be governed based on one or more business rules (e.g. Special customer, vendor may require additional steps of processing). Continued evolution of the product after go-live is far simpler. Specialist firms will not hang around after go-live completion. Bringing them back to do additional work can be time consuming (and costly). Reporting can be far more effective and less complex as all the required data is available in a single system. Other options (such as business content) are possible for middleware based solutions, however this all adds additional complexity. And not all clients are running the appropriate SAP software to read this data. Processes are far simpler to test “end to end” and do not requiring jumping between multiple systems. Interfaced: Some middleware solutions are delivered with a preset list of interfaces (certified with SAP). Day to day warehouse processes may not fit so neatly into these categories. Some middleware solutions are themselves also capable of WMS functions, these solutions can sometimes dependant on each other (e.g. A pick request may therefore require a product master) meaning that they are delivered “all or nothing”. So additional data may be required from SAP simply to “workaround” these requirements. Cost of middleware with resilience. Not financial cost, but rather additional time spent during project implementation, plus potential restrictions on business processes that a required to support offline events. Must ensure that business processes can provide adequate supply of data to system so that in the event of downtime, there is actually something there to work on (e.g. Wave picking would be advantageous). The point to make here is that even with the best backup/offline process in the world, if there was not enough work in the middleware before the system went down, then productivity is not really going to be improved.
The purpose of this slide is to explain at a high level what we mean between Integrated vs. Interfaced when discussing the introduction of new functionality into your business processes.Points to make:Not a debate about which is better. Both solutions have advantages over the other and can deliver comparable performance to the user. The decision is based on the business requirements, the ease of implementation, how the system can be supported, and the ongoing-maintenance and continuous improvement cycle. Rocket experience over the last number of years has made us believe that an integrated approach is better. Why? The entire business process solution can be structured in a single system allowing for the control logic to be driven directly from the business process. Type of request to user may be governed based on one or more business rules (e.g. Special customer, vendor may require additional steps of processing). Continued evolution of the product after go-live is far simpler. Specialist firms will not hang around after go-live completion. Bringing them back to do additional work can be time consuming (and costly). Reporting can be far more effective and less complex as all the required data is available in a single system. Other options (such as business content) are possible for middleware based solutions, however this all adds additional complexity. And not all clients are running the appropriate SAP software to read this data. Processes are far simpler to test “end to end” and do not requiring jumping between multiple systems. Interfaced: Some middleware solutions are delivered with a preset list of interfaces (certified with SAP). Day to day warehouse processes may not fit so neatly into these categories. Some middleware solutions are themselves also capable of WMS functions, these solutions can sometimes dependant on each other (e.g. A pick request may therefore require a product master) meaning that they are delivered “all or nothing”. So additional data may be required from SAP simply to “workaround” these requirements. Cost of middleware with resilience. Not financial cost, but rather additional time spent during project implementation, plus potential restrictions on business processes that a required to support offline events. Must ensure that business processes can provide adequate supply of data to system so that in the event of downtime, there is actually something there to work on (e.g. Wave picking would be advantageous). The point to make here is that even with the best backup/offline process in the world, if there was not enough work in the middleware before the system went down, then productivity is not really going to be improved.
Points to make regarding advantages and benefits of an integrated RF approach: SAP RF transactions that come as standard (loading/unloading, putaway, picking, packing, physical inventory) Option to be up-and-running out of the box with RF. Transactions can be used as templates for more complicated business processes. Implementation simplicity due to single system. Enhancements can be made quickly and easily (no reliance on a specific external company). Developed as any other normal dialog transaction in SAP.A brief explanation of the development tool.
Points to make regarding advantages and benefits of an integrated RF approach: SAP RF transactions that come as standard (loading/unloading, putaway, picking, packing, physical inventory) Option to be up-and-running out of the box with RF. Transactions can be used as templates for more complicated business processes. Implementation simplicity due to single system. Enhancements can be made quickly and easily (no reliance on a specific external company). Developed as any other normal dialog transaction in SAP.A brief explanation of the development tool.
This slide illustrates the various RF integration approaches that are available are available with SAP.Points to make: Execution logic is contained within SAP-ERP Evolution from using SAP Console, through WebSAPConsole, to ITS. Explain advantages of each evolution. SAP Console, first solution available, text based.WebSAPConsole, same as first, although presented better.ITSMobile, full flexibility with modifiying screen presentation without actually changing the standard SAP solution (e.g. Introducing graphics, etc).Make sure it is pointed out that the processing execution logic is held within the WMS and the above technologies simply enable the communication between RF and SAP. There are alternatives to SAP software above (e.g. TekConsole, claiming better session management, etc).
Points to discuss:- Very quick overview of Voice.
Just brief overview of the advantages of voice over other picking technologies.
This slide presents the Rocket recommended approach to Voice integration.Points to make: All voice operations and business logic is held within the WMS. Two different solutions available based on your current version of SAP, WebSAPConsole enabled backwards compatibility of integrated voice with pre ECC 6.0 SAP systems (e.g. 4.6C). Existing SAP RF transactions (that you may already have in use today) can be enabled for Voice. Voice Enabled Web Browser (TopSPEECH Lydia) Speech recognition supports over 25 languagesSpeaker independent alleviating need for voice training Speaker dependent support if requiredReduced training times from three levels of spoken detailEase of use with true spoken voice (not synthesised) Supports Text-to-Speech conversion e.g. material descriptions No proprietary hardware or middleware requiredVoice only or Multi-modal (Voice + scanning + screen in/output) Recommended solution (assuming ECC 6.0) is integrated ITS process. Most flexible (in terms of development and extension of existing SAP RF transactions). Most resilient and more powerful with integrated ITS (e.g. Better session management and performance monitoring).
I’d like to mention SAP MFS which is a component of SCM-EWM.Until recently nearly all warehouse automation implementations have involved SAP comm
I’d like to mention SAP MFS which is a component of SCM-EWM.Until recently nearly all warehouse automation implementations have involved SAP comm
Illustration of the integration of MFS with other advanced components of SCM-EWM 7.0Points to make: Conveyor layout is mapped in SAP and can be visually displayed with the Graphical Warehouse Layout tool. Allows for the monitor of stock currently on the conveyor and also trouble points. Removing the need to view two separate systems for daily monitoring.
Final page, identifying where our stand is for follow up discussions, etc.
This slide illustrates the various RF integration approaches that are available are available with SAP.Points to make: Execution logic is contained within SAP-ERP Evolution from using SAP Console, through WebSAPConsole, to ITS. Explain advantages of each evolution. SAP Console, first solution available, text based.WebSAPConsole, same as first, although presented better.ITSMobile, full flexibility with modifiying screen presentation without actually changing the standard SAP solution (e.g. Introducing graphics, etc).Make sure it is pointed out that the processing execution logic is held within the WMS and the above technologies simply enable the communication between RF and SAP. There are alternatives to SAP software above (e.g. TekConsole, claiming better session management, etc).
This slide illustrates the standard interfaced approach with SAP for RF processing.Points to make: Application logic for the user resides a lot more on the Middleware side. Although this depends on the particular vendor, and decisions that are made during the implementation process (e.g. Bin verifications, generally require communication back to SAP bin master unless data held locally). Execution logic is held in middleware. No rule governing when/how the middleware communicates with SAP. Synchronisation is important for resilience (e.g. Creation/deletion of work). Problem solving can be more difficult.
The purpose of this slide will be to show that we have performed Voice implementations using both interfaced and integrated solutions. The key point to make is that although we have performed both types of implementation, the Integrated approach at Brady is our preferred.