Manage by the Numbers: Lessons to Glean Greater … · 3 EWM Reporting and Analytics Capabilities • SAP Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) has some very robust reporting and analytics

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Manage by the Numbers: Lessons to Glean Greater Insights into Warehouse Operations

Kyle Sorensen EY

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In This Session

• Attend this session to learn how to leverage the latest reporting and analytics capabilities

from SAP to measure and monitor the performance of warehouse operations, identify and

resolve potential bottlenecks, and improve productivity

• Delve into the various tools and analytical components available to SAP EWM – from

Warehouse Monitor and Graphical Warehouse Layout, to Shipping Cockpit, Labor

Demand Planning and Smart Business Cockpit – and discern when it makes sense

to use each

• Explore strategies to interpret the data results, identify potential issues, and take

corrective action to reduce the impact on supply chain operations

• Obtain leading practices to develop and maintain a forward-looking warehouse analytics

strategy

2

What We’ll Cover

• Reporting and analytics in EWM

• Interpreting the results and taking action

• Leading practices and trends

• Wrap-up

3

EWM Reporting and Analytics Capabilities

• SAP Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) has some very robust reporting and

analytics capabilities that are included in the standard product

Standard EWM:

► Warehouse Monitor

► Graphical Warehouse Layout

► Shipping Cockpit

► Alert Monitor

► Labor Planning and Pre-processing

► Labor Demand Planning

► Smart Business Cockpit

Enhanced via other SAP tools:

► Lumira

► BusinessObjects

► Event Management

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Reporting and Analytics in EWM

• Knowing what reports to use within EWM is crucial to finding the right information at the

right time. People have various “favorite” or “go-to” reports that they use, but these can

be grouped into the following activity usage buckets:

Labor Planning and

Simulation

Labor Demand Planning

Warehouse Monitor

- Confirmed Warehouse

Task/Warehouse Order (WT/WO)

- LMS-executed workload

- Inbound/outbound deliveries

Warehouse Monitor

- QRFC monitor (In/Out)

- All movements for product

Alert Monitor

- Overdue WO/WT

- Warehouse exceptions

Event Management

Warehouse Monitor

- Stock/bin/yard overview

- Resource management

- Queue management

- Wave monitor

Shipping Cockpit

Graphical Warehouse Layout

Warehouse Cockpit

Day to Day Hourly Troubleshooting

Warehouse Monitor

- Stock on resource

- Open WT

- User/resource logon/off

End of Shift Weekly/Monthly

Labor Planning and

Simulation


Smart Business Cockpit

Various BusinessObjects

reports

Various Lumira-enhanced

reports

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Reporting and Analytics in EWM (cont.)

• Responsibilities/roles concerning who accesses what type of information vary, but

generally we’ve seen the following:

Shift managers

Warehouse lead

Inbound manager

Outbound manager

End user

Shift managers Super users

Managers

COE

C-suite executives

Plant/DC manager

Warehouse lead

Shift managers

Labor Planning and

Simulation


Warehouse Monitor

- Confirmed WT/WO

- LMS-executed workload

- Inbound/outbound deliveries

Warehouse Monitor

- QRFC monitor (In/Out)

- All movements for product

Alert Monitor

- Overdue WO/WT

- Warehouse exceptions

Event Management

Warehouse Monitor

- Stock/bin/yard overview

- Resource management

- Queue management

- Wave monitor

Shipping Cockpit


Warehouse Cockpit

Day to Day Hourly Troubleshooting

Warehouse Monitor

- Stock on resource

- Open WT

- User/resource logon/off

End of Shift Weekly/Monthly

Labor Planning and

Simulation



Various BusinessObjects

reports

Various Lumira-enhanced

reports

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Warehouse Monitor

• The Warehouse Monitor is a “one-stop shop” for all day-to-day and detailed operational

reporting and execution

• Multiple “nodes” by warehouse function

• Unused nodes can be hidden

• Drill-down capability on each node

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Warehouse Monitor (cont.)

• Double-clicking on a node will

enable a query screen

• Searches can be saved by users

• Lots of fields are available

depending on the selected node

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Warehouse Monitor (cont.)

• Fields can be

hidden and

added to report

• Reports can be

saved, exported,

printed, etc.

• Execution such

as task

confirmation

and cancellation

can occur from

the Warehouse

Monitor

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Warehouse Cockpit

• The Warehouse

Cockpit is graphical

and customizable

using measurement

services

• Up to four

configurable

dashboards can

be displayed

• Refresh time can

be set to how

often you want the

display regenerated

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Warehouse Cockpit (cont.)

• More than 25 different chart types are

available, including:

Line graphs

Bar charts

Pie charts

Speedometer

Gantt chart

Heat map

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• Visually represents

your warehouse and

yard

• Resources can be

shown spatially

• Bin drilldown

available

• Travel paths can be

shown

• Automation systems

can be mapped

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Shipping Cockpit

• Shipping office clerk cockpit for outbound delivery planning, execution processing, and

monitoring

Planning view

• Manual, drag-and-drop delivery planning

Transportation unit (TU)/vehicle, staging area, door and carrier

assignment

Wave creation

• Embedded contextual analytics

Standard and flexible query definition

(i.e., TU weight and capacity utilization, open deliveries)

Shipment execution and monitoring

• Delivery status processing and monitoring

Vehicle check-in/out, loading, dock/undock on door,

goods issue (including dock appointment scheduling

integration)

• Print documents (waybill and delivery notes)

• Invoice triggering (before goods issue)

• Embedded contextual analytics

I.e., Open/confirmed warehouse orders Source: SAP

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Shipping Cockpit – Planning View

• You can search for

deliveries and

transportation units

and create TUs on

the fly

Source: SAP

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Shipping Cockpit – Execution View

• You can monitor the

status of each phase

of the shipping

process

Source: SAP

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Alert Monitor

• Embedded within the

Warehouse Monitor is an

alert node that alerts

users when certain

conditions are met

• You can also configure

your own alert

parameters

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Labor Planning and Pre-processing

• Use EWM Labor

Planning and Pre-

processing to

calculate workload

and resource

impacts for orders

that are sent to the

system

• Calculations can

vary depending on

the formula you use

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• Interactive, graphical workload overview for shift planners with combined planned and forecast

workload data

• Desktop and mobile user interfaces

• Advanced workload calculation

• Actual planned workload

Aggregated workload across delivery orders, warehouse orders,

and warehouse tasks

• Combined with forecasted workload

HANA-based predictive analytics based on historical workload

data

• Flexible, graphical workload display

Time frame selection

Graphical workload display

Per hour, day, or week

For selected warehouses, activity areas, and activities

Workload overview and distribution analysis

Source: SAP

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Source: SAP

Labor Demand Planning (cont.)

• Easily view reports via

mobile applications and

tablets

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• The Smart Business Cockpit, powered by HANA, is a more visual-friendly reporting tool

and well suited for C-level and management

Source: http://demo.tdc.sap.com/SpeedDemo/e038f17eba859edf/

Multiple KPI reports available: • Number of outbound deliveries

• Number of outbound delivery items

• Gross weight of outbound delivery items

• Volume of outbound delivery items

• Overdue outbound delivery items

• Overdue outbound deliveries

• Average goods issue delay time

• Number of inbound deliveries

• Number of inbound delivery items

• Gross weight of inbound delivery items

• Volume of inbound delivery items

• Deliveries with unloading outstanding

• Deliveries with goods receipt completion outstanding

• Delivery items with put away completion outstanding

• Delivery arrival overdue

• Average wait time in yard

• Number of wave pick items

• Weight of wave pick items

• Volume of wave pick items

• Number of deliveries for wave pick items

• Percentage of completion of wave pick item tasks

• Task execution performance

• Overdue completion of wave pick tasks

• Items with incomplete creation of pick task

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Lumira

• Lumira allows quick visualization of data that is exported from EWM. This reporting can

typically be done without IT involvement and can run with or without HANA.

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What We’ll Cover




• Wrap-up

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Taking Action 1

• Once the system is properly configured (i.e., setting when items become an alert or

notification), properly trained personnel can take action to decipher and correct the

issues

• One of the most common actions is confirming warehouse tasks (WT) that have been left

open. Understanding how this happens is crucial, and by visiting a few places within the

system, you can get to the bottom of the issue

1. Run the Warehouse Monitor for open WT (or these will come up on the alerts)

2. Look at who created the task as this could lead to understanding why it may be open

3. Look for any exception codes that could have triggered the task creation (i.e.,

replenishment, short pick)

4. Confirm/cancel the WT once you have resolution

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1. Run Warehouse Monitor

• Enter information on

the query screen in

order to help find the

warehouse tasks

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2. Look at the Open Tasks

• Start investigation by contacting the one who created the WT

• Physically look at source and destination bin locations for stock

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3. Look for Any Relevant Exception Codes Related to the Open WT

• The Object Key field is going to contain the delivery number or reference to the

source object

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4. Confirm or Cancel WT

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Interpreting the Results 1

• Many times, you will find that a WT that has been left open could be the result of one of

the following situations:

End user was logged onto a resource that could not process the WT so they just left it

End user was logged into the Radio Frequency (RF) device (queue driven), left for the

day and forgot to send the work back to the “pool”

An exception triggered another task that no other users were logged into to execute or

complete

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Taking Action 2

• Too many tasks have been released into an area or work queue than can be processed

efficiently by the assigned users/resources. This may happen if a hot or urgent order has

dropped from ERP or if staffing levels were not adjusted properly (via physical staff

attendance or via labor planning).

1. Run the warehouse monitor and look at resource management node by queue

2. Compare columns (Open WOs to Act Res) – this will show how many open warehouse

orders are in the queue compared to how many active (logged on) resources you have

actively working in that queue

3. Based on what you feel is a good mix within the queue, reassign resources to where

they are needed most

• Once the resource completes the task they are currently working on, they will

automatically be reassigned to the new queue

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1. Run Warehouse Monitor

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2. Compare the Open WO to Active Resources

• The Outbound queue looks

like it could be struggling;

however, the Inbound queue

looks like there are three

active resources logged in

with nothing to work on

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3. Reassign Resources

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• Many times, you will find that there may be too many tasks released into an area or work

queue, which could be because of the following situations:

Labor Planning, Pre-processing or Labor Demand Planning was not taken into account

The size limits of your warehouse orders are too large for any single resource to

complete alone. Look at changing how large a warehouse order can get via

configuration.

Operators are not actively looking for new work or management is not actively looking

at what the operators are working on. Consider full system-guided RF queue

management or more closely monitor resource workload.

A large wave was released that created an overwhelming number of warehouse orders.

Look at the wave template, cutoff times and size limits on your waves.

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Taking Action 3

• When using Yard Management functionality within EWM, there may be times when you

are unable to process an inbound or outbound transportation unit (TU) because the dock

door is currently occupied

1. Run the Warehouse Monitor and look at currently occupied doors. Note the TU and

door combination you are having problems with

2. Based on the current status of the TU, complete associated tasks

3. Move the TU away from the dock door

• Now, the door is free to dock another inbound trailer or, if it is a bidirectional door, an

outbound trailer

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1. Run the Warehouse Monitor

• In this example, door DR01 is being held up by transportation unit TUKJS013

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2. Navigate to TU Details and Check Status

• Select the TU to

find more details

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2. Navigate to TU Details and Check Status (cont.)

• The TU has been

unloaded and the

goods receipt

already posted.

Additional statuses

can be found on the

Status tab.

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3. Move the TU Away from the Door

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• Many times, you will find that you are unable to process an inbound or outbound

transportation unit (TU) because of the following situations:

Tasks are still pending for the TU that need confirmation

Operator simply forgot to move the TU to a parking space or checkpoint after

completion of necessary warehouse processes

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What We’ll Cover




• Wrap-up

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Leading Practices

• Extend master data appropriately and set up the Core Interface Framework (CIF)

accordingly (separate model for each object)

• Establish an end-of-shift practice that looks at unconfirmed WTs, users that did not log

off resources properly and remaining stock on resources

• Set up QRFC to run in a specified interval to try and reprocess failed queues

• Don’t forget the human element!

Have the correct roles within your organization trained to know how to use the

tool sets

• Stay informed about new tools that are available to give you better reporting

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Trends

• Data explosion

Dramatic increases in data due to social media, machine sensors, and better tools available to

extract/harvest the data

• Lower storage cost

Costs are lower and continue to fall for storage and processing

• Analytics are at the core

In-memory solutions such as SAP HANA make data more accessible

• Tools are more available and easier to use, and not just for a select few any longer

Mobile devices

Report creation tools are easier to use

• Analytics are topping the C-suite agenda

Companies will continue to strive for a competitive edge and analytics will be pushed from the

top down

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What We’ll Cover




• Wrap-up

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Where to Find More Information

• “Analytics Best Practices: Plan for the Human Factor,” (All Analytics).

www.allanalytics.com/radio.asp?doc_id=278783&gateway_return=true

• M. Brian Carter, Frank-Peter Bauer, Jörg Lange, Tim Dalm, Christoph Persich, SAP

Extended Warehouse Management: Processes, Functionality, and Configuration (SAP

PRESS, 2010).

• SAP Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) 9.3 on the SAP Help Portal

help.sap.com/ewm93?current=ewm

• Heather Clancy, “Why CFOs should play a bigger role in digital strategy,” (Fortune, May

2015).

http://fortune.com/2015/05/22/cfo-digital-strategy/

http://www.allanalytics.com/radio.asp?doc_id=278783&gateway_return=true

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7 Key Points to Take Home

• Multiple tools are available in standard EWM to monitor and make critical decisions

• The Warehouse Monitor is more than a reporting tool, but an execution tool as well

• Remember that measurement services are very powerful in EWM and can be used to

create a variety of measures for different reports in EWM

• Labor Demand Planning requires HANA

• The Shipping Cockpit requires the use of SAP Business Client

• When analyzing EWM labor execution results, look to how to further improve operations

vs. as a disciplinary tool

• Consider other SAP tools such as Lumira and BusinessObjects to further enhance your

supply chain execution reporting tools

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Your Turn!

How to contact me:

Kyle Sorensen

Email: [email protected]

Please remember to complete your session evaluation.

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Documents

Manage by the Numbers: Lessons to Glean Greater … · 3 EWM Reporting and Analytics Capabilities • SAP Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) has some very robust reporting and analytics