Decision to use SAP WM is one of the major decisions that a company has to make while implementing SAP. There are pros and cons to go with either option; a company needs to perform a detailed analysis on logistics/storage requirement to arrive at the decision. Some of the influencing factors that can help companies arrive at the decision are mentioned below :
1. Volume of Materials: If the company deals with a large number of materials during each stage of production and have a large number of end items, implementing SAP WM can help track the materials at each stage. If the volume of materials handled are low, WM need not be implemented.
2. Storage Space: If the Storage space is very large and goods are stored all over the place, SAP WM can keep track of materials stored accurately. On the other hand, a small storage space with a relatively low volume need not have tracking at such a detailed level.
3. Material Movements: If the facility is required to handle a lot of material movements due to different production activities on the shop floor or it requires an elaborate packaging/shipping systems for end items in a specified time frame, SAP WM can be used effectively in these scenarios. On the other hand a low number of movements in the facility doesn`t warrant a SAP WM solution.
4. Traceability and Visibility: Use of SAP WM is recommended if the company wants the full traceability of materials during production and delivery pick up process.
5. Special Requirements: If there is a requirement to store certain materials at certain temperatures only due to safety or shelf life concerns, SAP WM can help making storage, retrieval and tracking these materials easier and faster.
6. Integration with External Third Party Applications: If any third party application is used for performing or aiding the plant processes, a thorough analysis on its integration with SAP WM or SAP in general, becomes necessary. Another analysis also needs to be done to replace the third party system with SAP offering if required. A thorough cost benefit analysis will help in making an informed decision.
7. Integration with RFID devices: If the facility uses RFID devices for functions like picking, storing and verifying the materials, it would be a good idea to implement SAP WM. This can help in streamlining the warehouse processes.
8. Training / Opportunity Costs: If the cost of training the warehouse or plant operators exceed the potential benefit of implementing SAP WM in terms of reduced costs on account of lack of pilferage , materials lost , streamlined processes , accurate monitoring of the stocks etc. , then implementing WM should be preferred. The direct benefits coming out of the implementation should be quantifiable.
9. Change Management: Implementing SAP WM will also increase the administrative effort associated with Plant/Facility/Warehouse Admins and Shop Floor personnel. This also needs to be taken into consideration while making a decision on implementing it.
Requirement Gathering:
Once the decision is made to implement SAP WM, next step is to determine how the client or company plans to use it. To facilitate the requirement gathering, workshops should be conducted to gather the business processes and all functional requirements (including special business needs). These requirements are thoroughly analyzed and documented.
Consultants can make use of workshops to understand the client processes thoroughly. They can also use other techniques like one on one interviews or group interviews to understand the business process. SAP also provides questionnaire database in ASAP methodology that can be used to gather the requirements.While conducting the workshops or interviews for implementing SAP WM, following should be discussed to have a full idea of client organization structure and business processes:
Generally, while gathering the business requirements, a mix & method of well-defined questionnaires, workshops and interviews gives the desired result. Output of this phase should be a Blueprint document that covers all the functional requirements and business processes.
This Blueprint document should be signed off by the clients Business Process Specialists as well the Logistics Lead to confirm that all the requirements have been captured in the document.
The Blueprint document forms the basis of the To-Be document or the Final Design Document that the Consultant draws up to replicate the enterprise structure and business processes in SAP WM.
Final Design / To- Be Document:
Once all the business requirements are captured, a detailed design document addressing the requirements needs to be drawn up. This document should be able to address at least 70-80 percent of the client business processes that can be replicated across geographies with minimal or no changes. This design document would be used as core/kernel for handling change management in future. The remaining 20-30 percent of the design should be flexible enough to accommodate for changes due to specific process, legal, regulatory & language requirement for different regions.
The Final Design / To – Be document should contain:
The output of this phase should be a Final Design document that should be signed off by clients Business Process Specialists as well the Logistics Lead to confirm that all the business requirements have been met in the Design/To Be document and configuration and development as per the document could begin.
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