April 9, 2024 •Gonzalo Fernandez
Reduce up to 48% of order cycles by implementing an expanded management of your storage process to revolutionize logistical operations in your business.
We know that Warehouse Management for companies has been evolving due to available innovation and technology aiming towards Intelligent Storage. This aims not only to integrate various systems and solutions, but also to maintain strategic connectivity to generate value across the ENTIRE supply chain.
This is made possible by having an Intelligent Warehouse Management that focuses on an evolved, sustainable, and profitable model, aiding companies to: decrease operational burden, reduce management times, provide end-to-end process coverage, and avoid associated costs.
Three strategic focuses enabling "Smart Warehouse Management"
The key lies in enhancing the role of the Supply Chain, where warehouse management becomes a value generator for the business when adopting a modern, flexible, and dynamic Warehouse Management System (WMS) that enables:
1. Digitalization of operations to have a global and real-time view.
2. Predicting business events to ensure assertive decision-making, avoiding potential incidents.
3. Optimizing and accelerating operations to offer fast and quality service that translates into profitability and utility.
Now, while it is true that warehouse management needs depend on the number, variety, and diversity of products a company buys, sells, stores, and produces, the warehouse configuration will be very different for a pharmaceutical company compared to an automotive one, where even for a small company, it may not be necessary to have one.
However, because there are companies where, due to the complexity of their business, they need to have a WMS to optimize the organization of the flow of goods in their own or outsourced warehouse, they require absolute control over the entire process from start to finish to:
- Real-time and global visibility of the business regarding all storage and inventory operations, allowing for informed and rapid decision-making.
- Management of accurate and detailed inventories by having complete traceability and information about product stock, facilitating strategic decision-making.
- Integration with SAP S/4HANA to unify all logistics processes in a single platform and database, reducing operating costs and increasing efficiency.
- Total knowledge about the state of sales, with precise data, analytics, and reports to outline timely actions that help boost sales and business efficiency.
- Strategic reports that aid in acting with precision and speed in order processing, inventory management, and even reducing delivery times.
Moving from a traditional model to one with business intelligence
In the ever-evolving business world, efficient warehouse management plays a crucial role in a company's success. Traditionally, SAP Warehouse Management (SAP WM) has been the standard solution for many organizations looking to manage their warehouse operations. However, with advancing technology and the need for greater business intelligence, many companies are considering transitioning to SAP Extended Warehouse Management (SAP EWM).
Furthermore, when a company adopts SAP S/4HANA and successfully unifies all logistic processes onto a single platform and database, it reduces operational costs and paves the way for smarter warehousing, allowing for improved service quality, increased efficiency, and optimized inventory, resources, and space levels. This transition moves the company from a basic or traditional model to an agile and dynamic one, with advanced functionalities that only the implementation of SAP Extended Warehouse Management can provide.
Therefore, the transition from SAP WM to SAP EWM represents a significant step towards smarter warehouse management and business intelligence-focused operations. With advanced functionalities, integration with SAP S/4HANA, and greater flexibility, SAP EWM equips companies with the necessary tools to optimize their warehouse operations and remain competitive in an ever-changing market.
7 Key Benefits of "Smart Warehouse"
- Warehouses with high volumes of movements and operational tasks, as well as automated warehouses with complex movements.
- High/low turnover and seasonal materials, ready for intelligent movements.
- Specific and detailed packaging according to the technical specifications of the material or product.
- High degree of automation capabilities and integration with other areas of the system through MFS - Material Flow Systems.
- Process optimization with advanced features such as voice picking and storage in intelligent locations using RF unit, to optimize and speed up storage operations, reducing management times and increasing efficiency. Applies to all types of warehouses, distribution centers, manufacturing warehouses, transit warehouses, etc.
- Support for the latest technologies:
- Runs on HANA database, to handle the performance of up to one million items per day.
- Use of third-party logistics services for warehouse operations, such as transit warehouses, billing warehouses, among others.
- User-friendly for easy interpretation of information from any mobile device, allowing real-time warehouse status checks.
- Regulatory and Quality Compliance to meet regulations and quality standards in different industries, such as the pharmaceutical or food and beverage industry. This includes features such as managing temperature-sensitive products, batch and serial management, and cold chain tracking, among others.
For example, in sectors such as transportation, sustainability, and circularity are ensured through the adoption of software that optimizes cargo management and route calculation, with the evolution of storage towards a model of intelligent warehouses that offer real-time tracking for better resource allocation and when also optimizing freight trips to ensure space optimization to avoid empty trips.
When looking at warehouse management from an intelligent perspective based on technology and innovation as a differentiating catalyst in your company's operation, logistics, and storage processes, you begin to add value to your processes to focus on business efficiency and productivity. Therefore, it is crucial to consider three strategic questions:
What are the most significant challenges facing storage processes in my company currently?
How does the evolution of warehouse management, comparing a traditional model with an advanced one, allow me to deploy functionalities that help provide precision and value to my business?How do I begin to ensure a sustainable and profitable model by applying innovation and technology according to my business's KPIs?
As companies strive to remain competitive in an increasingly digitized business environment, warehouse management will continue to evolve towards a smarter and more technological approach. SAP EWM stands out as a key solution in this transformation process, enabling companies to enhance the efficiency, productivity, and profitability of their logistics operations.
In conclusion, it is time to look towards cutting-edge warehouse management that allows companies to make the most of their resources and optimize their logistics operations in an ever-changing business world.
Transform with Avvale
At Avvale, we are open to starting this conversation to analyze each variable, challenge, and objective in Warehouse Management that leads your company toward a smarter approach, helping to generate profitable and sustainable models. We can discuss various market reference cases that we have transformed according to the needs, sectors, and unique requirements of each business.
Are you ready to lead your company toward an agile, circular, and sustainable future in intelligent warehouse management?
