Packing Proposal in SAP WM - a248.g.akamai.neta248.g.akamai.net/n/248/420835/79b05108670286399fefa994db75f9a... · Consistent Integration of the Packing Algorithm in die Architecture

Packing Proposal in SAP

WM Consulting Solution

SAP Consulting Germany

Confidential

2012 SAP AG. All rights reserved. 2 Confidential

Agenda

1. Introduction to the packing problem

2. Design of the packing algorithm 1. One dimensional basis heuristic

2. Two dimensional components

3. Implementation of the packing algorithm

4. Test/Sizing results

5. Conclusion

6. System Demo



The packing problem in practice

Situation

Packing of a lot of different products into a few standard cartons/boxes

Issue

How can the products of a customer order be packed optimally?

Goal

Goal: Savings of packing material costs and packing time



Packing of a lot of different products into a few standard cartons/boxes Situation

How can the products of a customer order be packed optimally? Issue

Savings of packing material costs and packing time Goal

manual/intuitive selection of the packing materials

Choice of too small cartons

Choice of too big cartons Problem

Use of an automatic Packing Proposal created by the SAP Warehouse Management System

Solution



Solution:

Packing Proposal by SAP Warehouse Management System

Features:

Proposes which products should be packed in which packing materials

Runs in background during the creation of the warehouse transfer order

Allows to predefine special packing materials for different products

Allows to predefine special packing materials for different means of transport

Solution can easily be activated for each source storage type

Considers different Units of Measure. (e.g. different weight unit of the packing material and

the product)

Line Splits Avoidance can be activated per source storage type. If activated, splitting the

quantity of a product over multiple cartons is avoided.

Different packing algorithms can be used per source storage type. One packing algorithm is

implemented and delivered (see next slides)


2. Design of the delivered packing algorithm

The delivered Packing Algorithm consists of a combination of one and two

dimensional packing algorithm components:

One Dimensional Basis Heuristic: BFDLR

Best Fit Decreasing using largest bins, at end repack to smallest possible bins

Two Dimensional Components


The products are packed:

in the order of decreasing volume

in the carton with the smallest remaining volume that can contain this product

if no such carton exists, then it will be packed into a new carton.

The packing is first done only with the biggest packaging material type. At the end

of the packing, there is a check for each of these cartons if the contained products

would also fit in one of the smaller cartons. If it does, then this smaller carton will be

used.

At BFDLR alone, the carton contents are only packed based on the volume and

weight capacity of a packaging material.

2. Design of the delivered packing algorithm 2.1. One Dimensional Basis Heuristic: BFDLR


Transfer Order


- 5 EA Material A



- 5 EA Material A

Mat A

?

Mat A

Mat A

Mat A

Mat A

PackMat 001


Problem with only an one dimensional heuristic:

The system would calculate based on the volume, that 2 products would fit into the

carton, although this is not the case because of the inner dimensions of the carton.

The solution for this is the usage of two dimensional algorithm

components.



Two dimensional heuristic components make sure that Length, width and

height are taken into consideration as well

1. Position Algorithm

2. Combined Packing Check

2. Design of the delivered packing algorithm 2.1. Two Dimensional Heuristic Components



Position Algorithm: Determination of the number of products in the same

vertical orientation:

Similar to the intuitive Packing Strategy:

Step 1: Step 2:

1. Vertikalorientierung 2. Vertikalorientierung 3. Vertikalorientierung

1. Orientierung 2. Orientierung 3. Orientierung 4. Orientierung 5. Orientierung 6. Orientierung

L

B

l

b

1. Restraum

2. R

es

tra

um

L

B b

l



The Combined Packing Check:

Can the actually processed product packed together with the respective products

that are already in that carton?

If the Combination Check for these two products fails, the actually processed

product has to be placed into another / a new carton.

B

L

Artikel A

1. Restraum

2. R

es

tra

um

L

Artikel A

Art

ike

l B

B



Combination of one and two dimensional solution components:

One Dimensional Basis Heuristic: BFDLR

Two Dimensional Solution Components

Result: Assignment of product quantities to a carton

The result is NOT an exact instruction how these products are placed within one

carton with respect to each other.

Maximal Fill Level



Features of the delivered algorithm:

Upright Only Factor Some products may only be packed in an upright position. This

limits the vertical orientations for the product in the packing process

Compression Factor for compressible products (e.g. plastic bags)

Considers products with unusual dimensions (e.g. mailing tubes with posters)



Advantages of an Implementation in SAP WM:

No external system and therefore no interfaces necessary

Consistent Integration of the Packing Algorithm in die Architecture of the SAP WM system

Minimization of downtime risks of the WM system



Point of Integration: The Goods Issue process

Stock movements in the SAP Warehouse Management are done by Transfer

Orders (TOs). A TO has many lines, one for each material to be picked from a bin.

The Packing Proposal Determination is executed at the end of the Transfer Order

Creation (in a BAdI, no modification necessary) and runs in background.



Result: Pick Handling Units (Pick HUs)

In SAP standard, a Pick HU is assigned to the TO header.

The Packing Proposal defines Pick Handling Units for even a partial quantity of transfer

order lines.



Result Transaction

Selection via Delivery, Transfer Order and Source Storage Type

The selection itself shows the created Pick Handling Units, the used packaging material

and the proposed content.


4. Test of the Packing Algorithm

Test Case:

Analysis of the Feasibility of the Results of the Packing Proposal

Important Parameter:

Fill Level of the packaging materials

Determination of a Maximal Fill Level

leads to a maximum usage of the capacity of the cartons

and at the same time guarantees the practical feasibility of the determined results



Results of the used example deliveries:

Trouble-free realization of the created Packing Proposals with a

Maximal Fill Level of 80%

0

20

40

60

80

100

80% 85% 90%

99

48

24 1

52

76

%

Maximal Fill Level

Practical feasibility of the cartons

realizable not realizable



Runtime of the algorithm depends on the number of products in one run

Test results:

100 products about 2 seconds

3500 products about 10 seconds

Results available in a very short amount of time!


5. Conclusion

The Quality of the Results of the Packing Proposal is especially dependent on

the value of the Maximal Filling Degree

The Packing Proposal delivered good and practical realizable results in all

first tests with a very short execution time

The use of the Packing Proposal saves time and money


6. System Demo

Demonstration of the functionality of the Packing Proposal with example data

in a demo system

Standard WM Customizing to activate the BAdI

New Settings that come with the Packaging Proposal Solution

An outbound delivery with three items (products)

The TO creation

In debugging: the Function Module is called and that it passes HU information back

The TO (Transaction LT21) and the HUs (LH01)

The table ZLE_PPD_RESULT (it holds the exact packing data)

The result transaction ZPPDRES (Tree-based overview about the result)

Thank you for your attention!

Jrg Lange

Service Portfolio Manager

Manufacturing & High Tech

SAP Deutschland AG & Co. KG

Am Schimmersfeld 5

40880 Ratingen

Mobile: +49-171-308 533 6

Fax: +49-6227-78-39386

mailto: [email protected]

You are interested? Please do not hesitate to contact me:

mailto:[email protected]

2014 SAP AG or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. 26 Customer

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Packing Proposal in SAP WM - a248.g.akamai.neta248.g.akamai.net/n/248/420835/79b05108670286399fefa994db75f9a... · Consistent Integration of the Packing Algorithm in die Architecture