In this article I continue the story of WOCR – the warehouse order creation rules. In the previous article I stopped at filtering during warehouse order creation. The general principle of filtering is as follows: SAP EWM checks every task against certain parameters. If the task fits, it is added to the order. Then the system checks whether the order limits have been exceeded. If they have not, the next task is checked. If a task does not fit the WOCR parameters, it is set aside to be processed later by the next WOCR, if one was defined in the search sequence settings.
- Let us go through each filter parameter:
Warehouse No. – the warehouse number
WOCRule Filter – the name of the WOCR filter
Description – the description of the WOCR filter
Filter Type – two options are possible: «Warehouse Task» (when the filter is applied to warehouse tasks) or «A Physical Inventory» (when the filter is used for a physical inventory document item).
Filter Type – «I Filter at Item Level» has to be specified if we want to apply the filter to each warehouse task individually. «S Filter at Subtotal Level» – if we need to apply the filter to the sum of the items that share one consolidation group.
Minimum Volume – the minimum volume of an item. The parameter is useful when we want small items to be picked separately from bulky ones.
Max.Volume – the maximum volume.
Volume unit – the volume unit of measure.
It is the same story with weight, so I will skip it.
Min. Proc.Time – the minimum processing time. The processing time is determined according to the setting Extended Warehouse Management -> Cross-Process Settings -> Warehouse Task -> Define Extract Time Determination
Max.Extr.Time – the maximum processing time.
Time Unit – the time unit of measure
Min.Itm per STI – the minimum number of items with the same consolidation group (applies to filters of type Subtotal)
Max.Itm per STI – the maximum number of items with the same consolidation group (applies to filters of type Subtotal)
Alternative Unit – the alternative unit of measure. Useful when you need to collect boxes of one type in a single order.
Whse Proc. Type – filtering tasks by warehouse process type (WPT).
Priority – the priority of the task, determined in the WPT.
Reason f.Mvmt – the reason for movement, determined in the WPT.
Route – the route. Useful when you want to collect only the items travelling on the same route in one order.
Wave Category – filtering by wave category.
Complete HU – filter by full pallets, by partial pallets, or no restriction.
No Putaway – excludes tasks whose WPT category = 1
No stock removal – excludes tasks whose WPT category = 2
No Int. Stk Transfer – excludes tasks whose WPT category = 3
No Phys. Inv. – excludes tasks whose WPT category = 4
2. The limit rule for each WOCR is specified in the WOCR settings themselves, alongside the filter rule:
The rule itself is defined in the setting «Extended Warehouse Management - Cross-Process Settings - Warehouse Order - Define Limit Values for the Size of a Warehouse Order»
Let us go through each parameter in detail:
Warehouse No. – the warehouse number the WOCR will be used in
Limit – the name of the limit rule
Description – the description of the limit rule
Limit Val.Type – the type of warehouse order the limit is calculated for. There are two options – for a normal warehouse task, «Warehouse Task», and for a physical inventory order, «A Physical Inventory».
Min.Items/WO – the minimum number of warehouse tasks in a warehouse order.
Max.Itm per WO – the maximum number of warehouse tasks in a warehouse order. For pallet picking the value 1 is often used.
Minimum Volume – the minimum volume of all the goods in the order.
Max.Volume – the maximum volume of all the goods in the order.
Volume Unit – the volume unit of measure.
Minimum Weight – the minimum weight of the goods in the order.
Maximum Weight – the maximum weight of the goods in the order.
Weight Unit – the weight unit of measure.
Min.Proc.Time – the minimum execution time of the order. It is calculated as the sum of the execution times of all the warehouse tasks in the order.
Max.Extr.Time – the maximum execution time of the order.
Time Unit – the time unit of measure.
Max. CGr per WO – the maximum number of consolidation groups in one order. If the order has to be picked without any further repacking by recipient, the value 1 is normally used.
Max. CGr per HU – the maximum number of consolidation groups in one HU. If one order is picked into several HUs, this parameter controls the number of consolidation groups in each HU.
Max. No of HUs – the maximum number of HUs in one order. An HU in the order is the container the goods are picked into.
Max. No WTs per HU – the maximum number of warehouse tasks for one HU.
3. The last limit settings concern the HU. The HU here means the type of container the order is picked into. But how is the HU for the order determined? This is controlled by the «Packing Profile» parameter in the WOCR definition settings:
The profile rules themselves are defined in the setting Extended Warehouse Management - Cross-Process Settings - Warehouse Order - Define Packing Profile for Warehouse Order Creation:
Let us look at each setting in more detail:
Warehouse No. – the warehouse number the packing profile is defined at.
Packing Profile – the name of the packing profile
Description – the description of the packing profile
Pack.Mode – the mode used to determine the packaging type for the order. There are three options:
- A Simple Algorithm – in this mode exactly one packaging material is determined for each product, as defined in the packaging specification settings.
- B Complex Algorithm – in this mode several possible packaging materials are defined for each product in the packaging specification.
- C BAdI – in this mode your own logic in a BAdI is used to determine the packaging.
Sorting – the rules for sorting the tasks in the order the packaging is being determined for. Accordingly, the packaging is determined for each product in the warehouse task in that sequence.
Create HUs – if the indicator is set, the system automatically creates HUs from the internal number range and displays their numbers when the order is executed. If it is not set, the resource has to create the HU itself from the internal or the external number range at the start of the order.
Assn WTs to HUs – if the indicator is set, the system assigns an HU number to every task and, during execution, proposes which HU the goods should be placed into during picking. If it is not set, the resource can choose the HU to pick into itself.
Split WT – the setting that controls how a warehouse task is split when the HU is determined. Three options are possible:
- Do not split – the system does not split tasks
- WT Split – the system splits tasks if the quantity of goods in the task is larger than what fits into the largest suitable HU
- Always Split – the system always splits all warehouse tasks so that the HU is filled up as much as possible.
Split WT based on AUoM – if the indicator is set, tasks may be split according to the alternative units of measure when the packaging is determined
Skip WT – if the indicator is set, the system skips the tasks that do not fit into the HU and processes the next task.
Check LWH – if the indicator is set, the system takes the length, height and width of the goods into account when determining the HU for the warehouse order.
4. Once the HU has been determined for each order, the remaining order parameters are determined from the WOCR settings themselves:
Let us go through them in detail.
WO Sorting – the sorting of the tasks within the order after it has been formed. The tasks are handed to the resource for execution in this sequence
Ship.Pack.Prof. – the packing profile for the ship HU. It is used to determine automatically the HU the goods will actually be shipped in. Goods are often picked into returnable containers but shipped in non-returnable ones. Pick HUs and ship HUs are what control these processes.
Prep.Time (Preparation Time) – the time needed to prepare for executing the order, for example to fetch containers or print the order. Used in labor management.
Time Unit – the unit of measure for the Prep.Time field
Stor.Type – if, according to the warehouse business processes, the HUs picked for the orders of this WOCR are always moved to the same place, the destination data can be defined in the WOCR itself. This setting specifies the destination storage type.
Dest.Stor.Sect. – the destination storage section for the orders of this WOCR
Dest.Stor.Bin – the destination storage bin for the orders of this WOCR
Storage Process – this field specifies the storage process that has to be assigned to the HU when the warehouse order is created. It is used for a process that consists of several steps. For this SAP EWM provides the POSC functionality, which will be covered in another article.
Determine WkCtr – used to determine the work center when the order is created without POSC (that is, when the «Storage Process» field is empty).
WO locked – if the indicator is set, orders are created in locked state and are not handed to resources for execution
CAP Compatibility – if the indicator is set, the Cartonization Planning Compatibility functionality is used for this order. In that case the order limits are overridden by the CAP limits.
In the next article we will sum things up and go through the steps SAP EWM performs when creating a warehouse order once more, briefly and more visually.