Crossdocking in EWM - Vendor to Customer via Company Warehouse

[venkatasasidhargupta_gada]

Hi All

We have below scenario.

1). Customer places order. 2). Company places order to vendor to satisfy the customer order. 3). Vendor delivers to company. 4). Company ships to customer without keeping the stock in warehouse.

As I know cross-docking is a technique where we reduce the logistics expense by saving transportation and/or storage space. So, can I call this as one of the cross-docking scenario? If so, what it is in terms of SAP (EWM)?

For sure, it is planned one but not transportation cross-docking since source and/or final destinations are not internal Warehouses. Is it Merchandise distribution? FYI, my client industry is not retail.

In IMG, SCM Extended Warehouse Management > Extended Warehouse Management > Cross-Process Settings > Cross-Docking (CD) > Merchandise Distribution > Basic Settings for Merchandise Distribution. Here, there are few steps given for implementing Merchandise Distribution. Are there any other activities to perform? Please help.

Thanks

Sasidhar Gupta

[JuergenPitz · Accepted solution]

Hi Sasidhar,

first of all: yes, what you describe is a classic cross-docking scenario, and a planned cross-docking, as your client does not plan at all to putaway the material.

Besides the Transportation-Cross-Docking, for which Christian describes a varation (where I am not really sure, if it fits, due to the fact that the final destination is not the clients own warehouse?), there is Merchandise Distribution as another planned CD possibility. But Merchandise Distribution requires a Retail back end, the settings in EWM alone won't help you.

Depending on what is really happening in the warehouse, Opportunistic, EWM controlled cross-docking might also be a possibility.

Brgds

Juergen

[venkatasasidhargupta_gada · Accepted solution]

Dear Juergen

Could you please elaborate on this?

But Merchandise Distribution requires a Retail back end, the settings in EWM alone won't help you.

Do you mean it is industry specific? Can't we use it for other industries?

Thanks

Sasidhar Gupta

[JuergenPitz · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Retail back end means you need the Retail industrie solution implemented in the ERP system. See the help text on the customizing entry "Basic Settings for Merchandise Distribution". It is controlled by there, EWM has only very special settings for quantity adjustements. OK, it also uses special document types - but the cross-docking decision is made in ERP.

Brgds

Juergen

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Sasidhar,

Merchandise distribution is a retail-specific function that can be used to plan the

flow of trading goods through a warehouse or distribution center.

But your requirement is called "EWM-Triggered Opportunistic Cross-Docking", where the cross docking decision is done by EWM system. There are 2 options here.

1. Inbound Driven:

When you create warehouse tasks for putaway, EWM checks whether ODO items

exist that match the task items with regard to quantity and expiration date. Then,

instead of creating the putaway warehouse task, EWM creates a cross-docking

warehouse task with reference to the ODO item.

EWM also checks during the putaway warehouse task creation to see if the stock in

open pick warehouse task is less adequate (in terms of FIFO or FEFO) for the ODO

item than the stock to be put away (unless the warehouse task is relevant for a

material flow system). If so, EWM cancels the open pick warehouse tasks and creates

a new cross-docking warehouse task with reference to the same ODO item.

2. Outbound Driven:

During the creation of warehouse tasks for picking, EWM checks to see if stock in

the goods receipt area exists that is more adequate for the ODO item than stock

from within the warehouse. Then, instead of creating the pick warehouse task, a

cross-docking warehouse task with reference to the ODO item is created. For the

outbound-driven opportunistic cross-docking to create the cross-docking warehouse

tasks, the stock must already be posted for goods receipt, the goods receipt

area must be part of the picking location determination, the stock determination

must be active, the picking strategy must not be FIFO, and the inbound delivery

items must not be relevant for quality inspection. In addition, stock in HUs is

skipped when a HU quantity split would be required to fulfill the pick warehouse

task, and stock in mixed HUs is skipped entirely.

To implement Inbound driven RF is mandatory.

If you don't use RF you could choose for outbound driven CD and the steps as follows:

1. Post GR for IBD from vendor and now the product is in GR-ZONE (don't further process the IBD).

2. Create OBD and create cross docking WT(can be created manually or automatically via Wave) ,  system will populate from GR-Zone to GI-Zone and confirm WT.

3. Post loading & GI of ODO.

4. IBD-Putaway automatically set as completed based on the outbound delivery completion.

Thanks,

Ganesan  | Krypt, Inc. www.kryptinc.com|

[venkatasasidhargupta_gada · Accepted solution]

Dears

From above my understanding is...

TCD not fit for my requirement since neither source nor destination are own warehouses.

Merchandise Distribution is not suitable since my clients industry is not retail.

only the option I left with is opportunistic - cross-docking

I was going through SAP Help documentation on this option and came across few notes and need more details on this...

If packed quantities in goods receipt are relevant for the cross-docking, the product quantity of a handling unit is not distributed across different outbound deliveries, meaning the handling unit is not split. The product quantity in the handling unit must be less than or identical to the requested quantity of an outbound delivery. In addition, this process only supports homogeneous handling units, in other words, a handling unit must contain one type of product only.

In our case, products in an inbound carton may be part of different outbound deliveries but for the same ship-to partner.

In the inbound carton we may have different products I mean it could be a mixed carton. (Since we raise PO for SOs, we have this issue.)

Still can we achieve this?

Thanks

Sasidhar Gupta

[JuergenPitz · Accepted solution]

Hi,

for the activation of EWM controlled cross-docking, you anyway need to implement a Badi. There is a template Badi, so a copy of that you have to use to cover your own requirements. Maybe this can be solved there?

Brgds

Juergen

[venkatasasidhargupta_gada · Accepted solution]

Thanks everyone.. I'll give a try and let you know..

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Sasidhar

Please find below points for your help and give more idea too.

Inbound Driven

When you create warehouse tasks for putaway, EWM checks whether ODO items exist that match the task items with regard to quantity and expiration date. Then, instead of creating the putaway warehouse task, EWM creates a cross-docking warehouse task with reference to the ODO item.   EWM also checks during the putaway warehouse task creation to see if the stock in open pick warehouse task is less adequate (in terms of FIFO or FEFO) for the ODO item than the stock to be put away (unless the warehouse task is relevant for a  material flow system). If so, EWM cancels the open pick warehouse tasks and creates a new cross-docking warehouse task with reference to the same ODO item.

Activating Opportunistic Cross-Docking

The opportunistic cross-docking functionality is coded within example BAdI implementations.

This means that you have to implement these BAdIs by copying the example class to activate the functionality. To activate the opportunistic crossdocking,you must perform the steps described in this section.  Creating Implementations for Cross-Docking BAdIs

The BAdI for opportunistic cross-docking inbound can be activated in the EWM IMG by following the menu path Extended Warehouse Management • Business Add-Ins (BAdIs) for Extended Warehouse Management • Cross Process Settings • Cross-Docking (CD) • Opportunistic Cross-Docking • EWM-Triggered Opportunistic Cross-Docking • Opportunistic Cross Docking Inbound.

There you must create an implementation of this BAdI using example class /SCWM/

CL_EI_CD_OPP_INBOUND and activate the implementation. The BAdI for opportunistic cross-docking outbound can be activated in the EWM IMG via the menu path Extended Warehouse Management • Business Add- Ins (BAdIs) for Extended Warehouse Management • Cross Process Settings

Creating a Product Type Group and Product Group

Activating Opportunistic Cross-Docking at the Warehouse Level

Because the picking warehouse task for opportunistic cross-docking will be created

for inbound stock that is still assigned the stock type for stock received on dock but not yet put away , you need to maintain the EWM stock determination (for more details about the stock

determination, needs to be maintained within the stock determination for the relevant stock determination group for cross-docking.

To start, you must first maintain a new stock determination group for cross-docking

in the EWM IMG by following the menu path Extended Warehouse Management • Cross-Process Settings • Stock Determination • Maintain Stock Determination Groups.

Next, you must permit the inbound stock type for an ODO item that

has the normal stock type assigned.  To specify the stock determination in the EWM IMG, follow the menu path Extended Warehouse Management • Cross-Process Settings • Stock Determination • Configure Stock Determination.

Finally, to activate opportunistic cross-docking for products, you must assign the product group (the one that you created in the previous steps) to the products in the Properties 2 tab of the SAP APO view of the product master.

Transaction code /SAPAPO/MAT1.

If you have configured the stock determination as described previously, you also need to assign the Stock Determination Group in the Warehouse Data tab of the warehouse product. tcode code /SCWM/MAT1.

Regards

Suraj

[christian_reinhardt]

Hi Sasidhar,

I think you should check out note 859252 and the process Supplier-CD. This could fit to your requirements.

Best regards,

Christian

[venkatasasidhargupta_gada]

Hi Christian

Thanks for your reply. We have only one Warehouse.

Vendor  ------- Warehouse ------- Customer

Please see the document flow as I said earlier. We will have both PO & SO. In TCD, we will have either of it. So, I guess it will not come under TCD.

Thanks

Sasidhar Gupta

[Former Member]

Hi Sasidhar

I hope youe requirement fits in below case.

Variants of Opportunistic Cross-Docking

Opportunistic cross-docking can either be initiated from the inbound processing

or from the outbound processing. In the following sections, we will describe the

features of the inbound- and outbound-driven processes.

Inbound Driven

When you create warehouse tasks for putaway, EWM checks whether ODO items exist that match the task items with regard to quantity . Then, instead of creating the putaway warehouse task, EWM creates a cross-docking warehouse task with reference to the ODO item. EWM also checks during the putaway warehouse task creation to see if the stock in open pick warehouse task is less adequate (in terms of FIFO or FEFO) for the ODO item than the stock to be put away . If so, EWM cancels the open pick warehouse tasks and creates a new cross-docking warehouse task with reference to the same ODO item.

If I am on same page we I can update you steps to follow.

Regards

Suraj

[venkatasasidhargupta_gada]

Dear Suraj

Could you pls share the steps?

Thanks

Sasidhar Gupta