Warehouse Structure in the Warehouse Management System

Warehouse Structure Without WMS

In the Inventory Management (MM-IM) component, the storage location is defined as the location
of physical stock in a plant. In this case, storage locations make up the various warehouse facilities
(or areas) of a warehousing complex (for example, high rack storage, picking area or bulk storage).
However, you can only manage material stock in a fixed bin warehouse. Random storage is not
possible. This type of fixed bin is different from a WMS storage bin in that it is entered into the
material master record at the storage location level.

If you are using Inventory Management without WMS, you can assign one or several physical storage
locations to each plant.

In this example, storage locations are assigned to two plants. The first plant has two storage
locations: storage location 0001 (for example, high-rack storage) and storage location 0002 (for
example, bulk storage). The second plant has three storage locations: storage location 0001 (for
example, high-rack storage), storage location 0002 (for example, bulk storage), and storage location
0003 (for example, picking area).

In this case, Inventory Management supplies information on the stock quantities at storage location
level in the form of quantity totals.

In addition to having a warehouse structure without the Warehouse Management System (WMS),
you also have the option in fixed bin warehouses to process warehouse activities using Lean WM.
Here you can use the advantages of transfer order processing without having to manage stock
quantities at storage bin level.

Warehouse Structure With WMS

When you implement the Warehouse Management System (WMS) in a plant, you define the
individual warehouses (high-rack storage, block storage, picking area, and so on) as storage types
within a warehouse complex and group them together under a warehouse number. As a rule, it is
not necessary to define several storage locations for a plant since you assign the WMS warehouse
number to a storage location from Inventory Management (IM).

It is appropriate to define further storage locations for a plant if other warehouses (storage types)
exist within a plant that is not managed using WMS but with Lean WM, for example.

In WMS you define storage bins for each of the storage types. In this way, WMS manages stock
information on all materials in the warehouse at storage bin level. In addition, the stock quantities of
the material are managed in Inventory Management (MM-IM) at storage location level. In order to
link the information at storage location level with the information from the storage bin, assign a
warehouse number to the storage location.

This figure depicts two plants that each manage a storage location using WMS.

Warehouse number 001 is assigned to storage location 0088 in the first plant. In warehouse complex
001 there are two storage types.

Warehouse number 002 is assigned to storage location 0088 in the second plant In warehouse
complex 002, there are three storage types.
You can also manage stock for several plants in the same warehouse at the same time. In this case,
the same warehouse number is assigned to the storage locations for these plants.

As a rule, it is a good idea to manage only the stocks of one storage location and the same plant
within a warehouse number. However, you can also manage several storage locations of one and the
same plant within a warehouse number. For scenarios associated with this structural configuration,
see Storage Locations in TRs, Tos and Posting Changes.

For information on how to link a plant storage location in IM with a warehouse number in WMS,
refer to the Implementation Guide under the pathStart of the navigation path Enterprise Structure
Next navigation step Assignment Next navigation step Logistics Execution Next navigation step
Assign warehouse number to plant / storage location End of the navigation path.

The system uses the links that you create to Inventory Management (IM) to ensure that certain
processes in Quality Management (QM), Product Planning(PP), and Sales and Distribution (SD) are
carried out in the Warehouse Management System(WMS) for the appropriate warehouse number.

Depiction of the Physical Warehouse in WMS

The warehouse structure in Warehouse Management is hierarchical and consists of the following
elements:

The Warehouse Number

You can define an entire physical warehouse complex in WM using a single warehouse number.

The Storage Type

Each of the warehouse facilities or areas that make up the warehouse complex can be defined as a
type of storage area or "storage type" on the basis of its spatial, technical, and organizational
characteristics.

Each storage type is divided into storage sections. A storage section generally includes all bins that
have certain characteristics in common, such as bins for "fast-moving items" near a goods issue area.

The Storage Bin

Each storage type and storage section consists of a row of storage spaces that are referred to in
WMS as storage bins. The coordinates of the bins indicate the exact position in the warehouse
where goods can be stored.

The Quant

The quant serves to perform inventory management of a material at the storage bin.

To depict the setup of your physical warehouse in the system, first define the warehouse structures
in WMS in the Customizing application. We recommend that you adhere to the following sequence
when setting up your warehouse structure in the system.

Define the warehouse number in Customizing under the path Start of the navigation path Enterprise
Structure Next navigation step Definition Next navigation step Logistics Next navigation step
Execution Next navigation step Assign warehouse number to plant / storage location End of the
navigation path.
Define the storage types in Customizing under the path Start of the navigation path Logistics
Execution Next navigation step Warehouse Management Next navigation step Master Data Next
navigation step Define Storage Type End of the navigation path

Define the storage sections in Customizing under the path Start of the navigation path Logistics
Execution Next navigation step Warehouse Management Next navigation step Master Data Next
navigation step Define Storage Sections End of the navigation path

Create the storage bins.