SAP Extended Warehouse

Management
Cross-Docking
 Cross-Docking
• Cross-docking is the practice of unloading
materials from an incoming vehicle and
loading these materials directly into outbound
vehicles, with little or no storage in between.
• If you aim to process products and handling
units (HUs) as efficiently as possible, and to
minimize unnecessary load transfer activities
in the warehouse, you can use a cross-docking
process in a distribution center or warehouse.
Cross-Docking Flow
 Benefits of Cross-Docking
• Warehouse space is expensive and keeping
too much material in stock is dead equity.

• Enables to fulfill urgent sales order.

• Avoid unnecessary warehouse movements.

Overall Cross-Docking Scenarios
 EWM-triggered opportunistic cross-
docking
• This process takes place entirely in Extended
Warehouse Management (EWM).
• When EWM generates put-away or pick-
warehouse tasks, it defines whether
opportunistic cross-docking is to take place, that
is, whether the inbound delivery or outbound
delivery order item is relevant for cross-docking.
• You can activate this cross-docking procedure for
the inbound and outbound delivery process
separately at warehouse or product level.
 EWM-Triggered Cross-Docking
• EWM-triggered opportunistic cross-docking
does not need any other application or system
for the cross-docking decision.
• You activate this cross-docking variation with
the usage of product groups and product
group types – which means it is generally
product controlled if a cross-docking is to be
done or not.
 Hint
• For cross-docking, EWM only considers inbound
delivery items for which goods receipt has been
confirmed. EWM does not consider inbound delivery
items that are relevant for the quality inspection.
• If packed quantities in goods receipt are relevant for
the cross-docking, the product quantity of a handling
unit is not distributed across different outbound
deliveries, meaning the handling unit is not split. The
product quantity in the handling unit must be less than
or identical to the requested quantity of an outbound
delivery. In addition, this process only supports
homogeneous handling units, in other words, a
handling unit must contain one type of product only.
 Continued
• EWM also determines put-away and outbound delivery order items
for opportunistic cross-docking for which warehouse tasks have
already been generated. EWM cancels these warehouse tasks
according to the following prerequisites:

a) The stock removal strategy does not follow the FIFO principle.

b) The warehouse tasks are processed in the radio frequency

environment (RF environment).
Note: If a warehouse task is assigned to the RF environment, is
simply validated through the assignment of the warehouse task to a
RF queue. Therefore, if you want to use the EWM-triggered cross-
docking, you must set up the RF queue determination. If no RF
queue is assigned, it is assumed that the warehouse task will be
processed paper-based.

c) EWM has not generated the warehouse tasks for the material
flow system.
 Cross-Docking in Inbound Process
• Extended Warehouse Management defines whether the
inbound delivery is relevant for cross-docking. You can use
this process when you generate warehouse tasks for the
put-away. EWM then checks whether the inbound delivery
suits an existing outbound delivery order item in terms of
the following criteria:
• Product
• Batch
• Quantity including stock separation characteristics, such
as party entitled to dispose or the sales order stock.

• In this case, you can take the stock directly from goods
receipt to goods issue. The process can be performed with
or without storage control.
 Inbound Cross-Docking in detail
The process in details:

1. EWM creates an inbound delivery.

2. You post the goods receipt.

3. You generate the warehouse tasks for put-away. At the same time, EWM looks for suitable
delivery items in existing outbound delivery orders based on the active Business Add-In (BAdI)
implementation. EWM checks whether delivery items of outbound delivery order exist whose
outbound delivery stock is suitable in terms of products or batch and quantity.
• If EWM is unable to determine any delivery items of this kind, it continues with the standard
goods receipt process and generates the related warehouse tasks for put-away.
• If EWM is able to determine delivery items of this kind, it checks whether it has already generated
pick warehouse tasks for these delivery items, which are assigned to the RF environment.
If open pick warehouse tasks of this kind exist, EWM cancels these without violating the FIFO
principle. EWM generates relevant new pick warehouse tasks and assigns to these the stock that
you want to put away. This enables you to pick the stock directly, without having to perform put-
away. If the outbound delivery stock found by EWM is less than the delivered stock, EWM
generates a warehouse task for put-away for the remaining delivery quantity.

4. You perform picking or put-away and confirm the pick warehouse tasks or warehouse tasks for
put-away.

5. EWM updates the inbound delivery and the outbound delivery order.
 Cross-Docking in Outbound Process
• Extended Warehouse Management defines whether
the outbound delivery order is relevant for cross-
docking. When you generate warehouse tasks for the
outbound delivery order, you can use this process to
have EWM check the stock in the goods receipt.
• In this process, EWM checks whether stock exists in the
goods receipt, which is more suitable than the stock in
the warehouse.
• In this case, you can take the stock directly from goods
receipt to goods issue.
• You can only perform the process without using
storage control.
 Outbound Cross-Docking in detail
The process steps in detail:

1. EWM creates an outbound delivery order.

2. You generate warehouse tasks for the stock removal. At the same time, EWM looks for suitable
warehouse tasks with reference to an existing inbound delivery, based on the active Business Add-
In implementation.
Here EWM checks whether the goods receipt contains stock that is more suitable for fulfilling the
outbound delivery order item than the stock in the warehouse.
• If EWM is unable to determine any delivery items of this kind, it continues with the standard
goods issue process and generates the related warehouse tasks for stock removal.
• If EWM is able to determine delivery items of this kind, it checks whether it has already generated
put-away warehouse tasks for these delivery items, which are assigned to the RF environment.
If open put-away warehouse tasks of this kind exist, EWM cancels these without violating the FIFO
principle. EWM generates relevant new pick warehouse tasks and assigns to these the stock that
you want to put away. This enables you to pick the stock directly, without having to perform put-
away. If the stock found in the goods receipt is less than the required stock, EWM generates
additional pick warehouse tasks for the open quantity, which refer to stock in the warehouse.
• If EWM only determines open put-away warehouse tasks, which you process on paper only, EWM
does not use these, thereby avoiding data inconsistencies. If you print out put-away warehouse
tasks, and confirm the printout, you do not save this data in EWM. In this case, no current data for
the status of the put-away warehouse task is available to EWM, based on which it can trigger a
cross-docking process.

3. You confirm the pick warehouse tasks.

4. EWM updates the inbound delivery and the outbound delivery order.
 Configuration – CD Activation
• SPRO  IMG  EWM  BAdI’s for EWM 
Cross-Process Settings  Cross-Docking 
Opportunistic CD  EWM Triggered OCD 
EWM Triggered OCD Inbound  BAdI
Activate.
 Configuration – CD Activation
• EWM IMG: Extended Warehouse Management →
Cross-Process Settings → Cross-Docking (CD) →
Opportunistic Cross-Docking → EWM-triggered
opportunistic Cross-Docking → Activate EWM-
triggered opportunistic Cross-Docking.
 Config – Dock Area in search strategy
• SPRO  IMG  EWM  Goods Issue Process
 Strategies  Specify Storage Type Search
Sequence
Master Data – Activate CD Product