What does migration to SAP EWM actually mean?
Are you actually already asking yourself the right questions, with the upcoming migration of your warehouse processes?
- Do your migration projects need to be parallelized?
Should your EWM be converted before your inventory management? - Does it make sense to migrate to a decentralized EWM first, followed by a return to an embedded EWM?
- How can you minimize the risks?
Here you will find important tools for your system migration to S/4HANA EWM.
The decision for a deployment strategy
When migrating to SAP EWM, you must first decide whether an embedded EWM, a decentralized EWM or even a cloud solution is favored. The question about the deployment variant alone has a strategic character.
It defines, for example, whether you will have complete governance and process control in the future (on-premise) or whether you will hand over operation to a service provider (cloud solution) and thus use SAP EWM standard business processes. If you decide on the cloud variant (standard or single-tenant edition), this automatically means a new implementation (greenfield). In this case, only a data migration is possible, no transfer of customer-specific special processes.
Since a distinction is made between different forms of migration, there is a short digression at this point. We will concentrate here on the differentiations necessary for this article:
- Data migration: This refers to the most minimal form of migration. Data such as warehouse stock, storage bins or warehouse product information is transferred to the target system.
- Software migration: This form of migration is seen more as a process and describes the transfer of customizing settings and lines of code into the target system. Ideally, utilities are available.
Which SAP EWM version is right one for me?
The extent to which a basic version of SAP S/4HANA Supply Chain Management for EWM (embedded EWM for short) covers your functional needs must also be clarified. As soon as, for example, wave management, transport units or integration with warehouse automation are necessary for logistical process handling, the probability of an Advanced version increases; up to the decentralized EWM installation. Depending on the initial situation, target architecture and sequence of the conversion (for example, first ERP to S/4HANA and then LE-WM to Embedded EWM), a tool-based software migration can also facilitate partial steps of the project planning. Alternatively, the warehouse management module (LE-WM) can also be decoupled from the existing ERP system.
What does this mean for my SAP EWM migration?
The final step in a move to an embedded EWM in S/4HANA and in a decentralized EWM on S/4HANA always represents a system conversion and means a new implementation. To what extent future SAP tools will be made available for conversion remains to be seen.
Whether using migration tools or manually adjusting existing processes, such a migration project must always be based on a sufficient test plan. This means from day 1 of the changeover. Experience shows that you either test the migration tool or the process set up via customizing. So why not take the effort and organize the conversion from EWM to S/4HANA as a holistic transformation?
This means for you:
- A migration of the most necessary data, for example for storage bin upload (/SCWM/SBUP) or inventory upload (/SCWM/ISU).
- Making all other settings manually and testing them in the process network. In this way, optimization and sorting out can also be carried out in the brownfield approach.
What can a possible roadmap look like and which tools should I use?
SAP S/4HANA offers different possibilities to map different warehouses in the same client: It is technically possible to organize locations at the same time on Embedded EWM, some on LE-WM and others on a decentralized EWM server. This situation makes a sequenced changeover possible until 2025 – provided the right migration strategy and changeover sequence.
To determine these, various tools are available:
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Feasibility Analysis - Find Your Easter Eggs
A first success factor in the conversion to S/4HANA EWM is the analysis of your processes and requirements. Reviewing and evaluating your business process requirements along with your current customizing is critical to identifying solution approaches for your S/4HANA conversion. In this context, the evaluation of stakeholder interests and possible optimization potentials should not be neglected. Sometimes the business expects more from the new system than it is able to deliver. Do you know your expectations regarding the user experience of your project stakeholders such as logistics, quality assurance or purchasing?
With the feasibility analysis, you also check the feasibility of project strategies and migration scenarios.* -
Custom Code Review - Adaptation potentials available?
Efficiency and effectiveness in warehouse and intralogistics are crucial for selected sub-processes. These can vary from industry to industry but also from company to company in an industry. In order to achieve operational excellence of logistical processes, customer-specific development is therefore required. This was the case with LE-WM and can also apply to SAP EWM. This includes, for example, SAP WM user exits for transfer order creation, which could be programmed out. Sometimes entire function groups were developed in the customer's own namespace.
This creates competitive advantages. To what extent your own developed functions can now be used with a system move to SAP EWM should be checked in advance.
In addition, there are some techniques and database objects that do not work in S/4HANA and must be replaced. The use of the so-called ABAP Database Connectivity as well as ABAP CDS Views will enable a performance boost for data queries in the future.
So let us check whether your own lines of code can still be used and whether optimizations for database queries will increase performance. With our Custom Code Review you reduce your cost and schedule risk in the project. -
S/4 Prototype - A first draft for the look and feel
Using a prototype ensures that your SAP processes are aligned with your business requirements. This does not necessarily mean that all processes have to be mapped roughly or even in detail in a separate system. Use a suitable approach, for example as a collaboration project with all stakeholders.
*You can find more details in our blog article: Feasibility analysis brings cost transparency.
There is no ideal way
In addition to the question of which project approach to choose (greenfield vs. brownfield), it is also important to note that a decision to migrate to SAP S/4HANA must be made individually.
A role is played by:
- The current conversion efforts and time plans in the SAP S/4HANA implementation for the ERP processes.
- The preservation of competitive advantages through current modifications and logistics projects (for example, new warehouse construction and automation projects in intralogistics).
The decisive factor will be which deployment option per warehouse location fits the company’s strategy and planning.
If you have any questions about this or any other topic related to SAP EWM, please do not hesitate to contact blog@leogistics.com.
Henry Böhland
Senior Consultant SAP Logistics
