Around SAP EWM

How to Learn SAP EWM with Best Practices – My 4-step Method

If you’ve ever tried to learn a new SAP EWM process by simply downloading the Best Practices documentation and clicking through the test scripts – you know how it ends. You finish the exercise, feel good for a minute, and then a week later, it’s all gone. The learning didn’t stick. Why? Because simply clicking buttons isn’t learning EWM. I would go that far to say it is a waste of time.

With this blog I will tell you why and I will also share my ideas about how you can avoid making it a waste of time.

I’ll show you my ‘4-step Learning Method’ for learning SAP EWM using the Best Practices in a way that actually sticks.
This method comes along with a small e-book and a glossary  – I will explain later where you can download the files.

Note that this method is essential for two types of EWM professionals: Obviously the Starters who are just diving into EWM, but also The Seniors who are responsible for mentoring those starters. Cause if you teach you might want to teach in a sustainable way.  

Why do click instructions fail?

The mistake that a lot of people make while learning SAP EWM – and this is especially true when you use the Best-Practices as a starting point –  is to start with the ‘how’ (the clicks) instead of the ‘why’ (the logistics). It’s like learning to use photoshop without ever having learned about design principles or user experience basics.

The SAP’s Best Practice test scripts are designed for execution, not for learning.

They’re fantastic for proving that a process works in the system or to use it as a prototype for the solution design (will tackle this in my next video btw), but if you go straight into the instructions, you’ll end up with what I call “button-click knowledge.”

Just clicking and thinking you will learn something is subject to fail. It fades quickly, and you’ll struggle to connect the dots when things get more complex.

So, instead of diving headfirst into transactions, we need a learning flow that builds context, base knowledge and orientation before execution.

My 4-step Learning Method

Those 3 are also the base assumptions for what I call the 4-step Learning Method. I repeat one more time:

• Context: Execution without context leads to fragile learning. This finding is not new and not invented by myself, but I think for SAP EWM it is true more than anywhere else. I mentioned that already in post [LINK] where I explained how to start with EWM. With this video here I focus on how this idea can be applied to learning EWM with the BPs.
• Base knowledge: It is essential to understand the technical base concepts & objects where the thing you are learning is based upon
• Orientation: No surprises during the execution – understand the E2E flow on a high level before going into detail

These are the four logical steps, resulting from my base assumptions and forming the 4-step Learning Method:

1. Understand the (intra)logistics flow first – even just at a high level.
2. Read the EWM-specific theory to understand its concepts & objects.
3. Study the Best Practice flow chart to get the birds view (last warm up before the start – going through the trail like a racer before the race).
4. Go: Finally, execute the click instructions in the system.

Now let’s break each one down.

Step 1: Logistics First

Before you even touch SAP, you must understand the business processes and the intralogistics (real world) material flows

• What kind of business process triggers the material flow and which parties are involved?
• Where does the truck arrive?
• What happens to the physical pallet during each step?
• Where is it stored in the warehouse?

I highly recommend studying foundational texts like VDI 3601 – it provides the vendor-neutral, timeless logistics basics. I’ve created a short e-book for you, based on this VDI standard, breaking down the logistics basics and the material flow for every EWM scope item.

Step 2: EWM-specific Theory

Now that you know the real-world process, read the corresponding chapter in your favorite EWM textbook, the official SAP Online Help or simply the EWM Best Practice Glossary that I created for this purpose. This is where you connect the real-world ‘why’ to the SAP ‘what’ – the technical terms, the software concepts (WO, WT, PPF, Queue, Storage process, WPT and so on…). This builds your mental model and ensures that when you see buttons and fields in SAP, you already (at least roughly) know why they exist and what they are used to in the given context.

Step 3: Study the Flow Chart

As the last step before you jump into the system, open the Best Practice flow chart from the SAP Process Navigator for the scope item that you want to tackle (the one with the swim lanes). This is your strategic map. By studying the flow before touching the system, you’ll see the big picture instead of getting lost in screens. This is like the racer going through the track one more time before then focusing on the details of each section during the execution/race.

Step 4: Execute the Click Instructions

Now that you’ve built context in steps 1–3, the clicks will make much more sense. You’ll see why each step exists, not just how to do it. This is what transforms learning from fragile to sticky. (of course at some points you will have to iterate back but you will know where to check, find the details and connect the dots).

By the way –

If you would like to work with the best practices but you are missing access to an EWM system with the latest release and pre-installed BPs, I can recommend the offerings from IDES24, which is partnering with my channel here. Visit their website, select the system that you would like to access, receive an e-mail with your credentials and login to your pre-configured system to start learning. You can use discount code WM-IDES24 to get 20% off for your order while supporting my channel/blog at the same time!

Tools & Giveaways

To make the application of this method easy & painless I’m offering a free mini Intralogistics ebook as well as a EWM Best Practice Glossary. The ebook helps you to learn the logistics basics and the glossary holds every EWM specific term you need to understand when clicking through the Best Practices.

You will find a mapping table at the end of the ebook that maps each scope item to one or multiple chapters. The glossary is also structured based on the scope items. This way, you’ll always know what to study before jumping into the system.

Summary

The standard approach is 4→3→2→1. The successful approach is 1→2→3→4: Logistics → Basics Theory → Overview → Execution. Use this 4-step method in the right sequence, and your EWM knowledge will stick.

If you’re a beginner, try it out with your next Best Practice exercise!
If you’re a senior consultant, use it to mentor juniors and watch how much faster they grow!

If this helped, please subscribe to my youtube channel or my blog updates (or both :-)) so you do not miss the next video/post!

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Around SAP EWM

SAP EWM Best-Practices explained – What & How

Have you ever wondered what the SAP EWM Best Practices are, or how you can easily get access to them for learning or prototyping? You’re in the right place! In this blog post I compressed the answers to the questions that I had during the last years.

In this post, I’ll first break down what EWM Best Practices are, how they stack up against other options like the Fully Activated Appliance (FAA). In the 2nd part I will explain how you can access the best practices. In this context I’ll also show you a shortcut to get access to the best practices within minutes, not days.

What Exactly Are SAP EWM Best Practices?
Simply put, SAP EWM Best Practices (BPs in the following) are a set of preconfigured, standardized process scenarios delivered by SAP. They are designed to give you a head start by providing working warehouse processes supported by standard functionality and already validated by SAP.
Instead of starting from a blank slate, you begin with a solid foundation. Their primary purpose is to support:
• Training: A starting point, especially for beginners learning EWM.
• Prototyping: A reliable baseline for project activities within the specification phase (e.g. specification workshops).

The BPs are organized into ‘Scope Items,’ each identified with a unique three-character code (e.g., 4RS for Decentralized EWM – Replenishment).

What You Get with Every Scope Item:
1. Process Description/Overview
2. Process Flow Charts
3. Detailed Test Scripts

You can find all of this information in the SAP Process Navigator (select your solution, then navigate to Supply Chain → Warehousing). This is the hub for all the detailed documentation, process models, and test scripts.
https://me.sap.com/processnavigator/SolS/EARL_SolS-055/2022?region=DE

BPs vs. RDS vs. Fully Activated Appliance
When looking for pre-configured SAP content in the past, you might have heard a few different terms:

Rapid Deployment Solutions (RDS): This is SAP’s old approach from the 2010s. They were prepackaged bundles with limited scope, but they have since been discontinued. No need to worry about them today.
Best Practices (BPs): As discussed, these are single, pre-configured process scenarios (Scope Items) that can be individually added to an existing SAP system/client.
Fully Activated Appliance (FAA): This is a complete, pre-built sandbox system environment with all Best Practice processes—for EWM and all other modules—already activated (I feel there is not a 100% coverage of the BPs within the FAA but somewhere around 90%).

Takeaway: For anyone starting to learn or prototype with EWM now, the Fully Activated Appliance or selected Best Practices scope items are the options to focus on.

Installation
If you want to install the FAA on your on-premise system you must download a full system image. That also means you cannot easily import it into an existing system (you basically need a new/empty one or overwrite an existing one). The single Best Practices scope items, however, can be imported into an existing client (details further below).

There is an excellent blog written by Joerg Wolf if you want to learn more about the FAA and how to install it locally.

Alternatively, the FFA can also be ordered via SAP CAL (Cloud Appliance Library) but you need an account at one of the big hyperscalers (e.g. Azure, AWS). Running the system there is roughly 4$ per hour. So the hosting alone will cost you around 1k per month if you want to keep the instance up & running 10h per day. On top of this you need a CAL license after the 30-day trial which is at least another 600-700$ per month.

Based on my knowledge, the CAL option is the only one to get easy access to the best practices directly from the SAP (remember – the FAA pretty much covers the BPs). You can, however, add any number of best practice scope items to your local on-premise system.

The process is not straightforward but requires at least some SAP basis knowledge. These are the main steps on a high-level:

1. Create a Best Practices client.
2. Download the BP package (ZIP file) for your system release from OSS.
3. Save the data and co-files from the ZIP on your application server.
4. Import the files as a transport via transaction STMS.
5. Import solution content and installation data via transaction /N/SMB/BBI.
6. Select/Deselect the BP items you need.
7. Activate your solution (with demo data).

I will not go into detail here as there is already a great blog explaining every single detail (shoutout to Hanuma Rupakula and Mahesh Sardesai (LINK).
My honest opinion is that this process will keep even an experienced Basis expert busy for at least 1-2 days. You need patience for release-specific error messages, retries, and plenty of manual steps.

The Shortcut 
I promised you a 10-minute option, and here it is – the alternative for consultants, trainers, or students who want to focus on the process, not the wrestling match with installation.
By using a hosted service (like the one offered by IDES24, who I collaborate with), you essentially get a fully provisioned Fully Activated Appliance system. So this does not only covers all EWM Best Practice scope items but also comprehensive Best Practice processes configured across all other SAP modules.
The entire process is simple and fast:

1. Subscribe on the website (www.IDES24.de/en)
2. Receive your credentials by email.
3. Log in via your browser or add the connection details to your local SAP GUI.

That’s it! You’re ready to start learning or prototyping more or less immediately. I think this option is a fantastic time and money saver for some of you, allowing to concentrate entirely on mastering the EWM processes without the headache of system setup.

You can use discount code WM-IDES24 to save 20% on your order while supporting my blog/channel at the same time! 

What’s Next?
That closes my quick insight into what the SAP EWM Best Practices are and how you can access them.
In the next post of this series, I’ll explain a proven way to learn the EWM basics using its Best Practice scope items. I think I’ve developed a step-by-step method that makes the learning experience incredibly sticky.

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