Picking in Alternative UOM: The hidden power of Packaging Specification

A warehouse storage type may consist of  products in variable UOM of measure like, Boxes, cases and Pallets. However, the base UOM is primarily  in smallest UOM as recommended  by SAP.

Consider a case where a storage type contains products with UOM as Boxes, cases, Pallets and EA.

Boxes, Cases & Pallets- Alternative UOM AUoM

EA- Smallest UOM as Base Unit of Measure BUoM

Customer places order in BUoM, however, the picker in Warehouse has to have the flexibility to pick in Alternative UOM.

Example, if customer places an order of 290 EA, EWM should create 3 WTS.

1 Pallet for 200 Ea, 1 Box for 50 EA and 40 EA, 3 Task.

These can be done through packaging specification also( I will not talk of SUoM), only the packaging specification will be explored.

To achieve this, create a 3 level Pack speck.

A condition record of type 0WHT should be created having product and supply chain unit combination.

Assign the operative UOM at all the 3 levels.

Let the Warehouse process type for picking should be intelligent enough to conduct rounding.

Customer order of 290 EA, OBD of 290 EA, with above settings, system should create 3 WT

Check EWM WT:

RFUI helps picker in alternative UOM.

No quantity classification was used in source storage type, the Storage type will have stock in EA but picking can happen in AUOM as per Pack spec Operative UOM

Note: As per SAP KBA 2745415 – AUoM during Warehouse Task creation:

The system takes the AUoM of the available quantity when creating a WT. The system also tries to determine which AUoM is best suited for WT execution. If a quantity equivalent to a whole pallet is to be removed, the system creates a WT with the AUoM for a pallet. The system decides whether to use another AUoM for the WT according to the quantity for the WT or to the quantity classification that is maintained in the WT’s source storage type and in the product master.

–>If the product has a packaging specification, the system uses the AUoM from the packaging level which fits the WT. If there is no packaging specification, the system attempts to determine an AUoM by checking the product master for the AUoM’s conversion factors.

Operative UOM

To know more about the potential usage of Operative UOM from Packaging specification, adding few excerpts from a legendary book SAP EWM Architecture and Programming by Peter Zoellner,  Robert Halm,  Danila Schapler &  Karen Schulze, SAP press, page no 339.

Note:If in warehouse there are many products which are using same packaging structures, you dont need to create packaging specification for each.

You can reduce the number of packaging specifications for products by creating a packaging specification for one product and entering this product as the reference product in the product master data (packaging data) of all similar products.

For this you need to add field PAK_REFMATID Ref.Product GUID /SCWM/DE_REFMATID RAW Ref.Prod Ref.Product Reference Product and encapsulate in access sequence. You can customize 0WHT to ZWHT.

This is how Pack spec functionality can be leveraged to pick in Alternative UOM which is very critical in picking process without maintaining any quantity classification in source storage type

Best regards

Shailesh Mishra