Computer support for the organization and management of warehouses has become imperative for timely, effective processing of logistic requirements within a company. The SAP Warehouse Management (WM) application provides flexible, automated support to assist you in processing all goods movements and in maintaining current stock inventories in your warehousing complex.

• Define and manage complex warehousing structures
• Optimize material flow using advanced putaway and picking techniques
• Process goods receipts, goods issues and stock transfers quickly and easily

Although it is possible for you to manage warehouse inventories using the Inventory Management (IM) application component, the primary difference between managing stock in WM and in IM is that in IM, the system can only display the total stock of a material for a storage location. If a warehouse is small and easily manageable, then the use of IM may be sufficient to fulfill your needs.

WM, on the other hand, offers the capability to manage stock quantities in each individual storage bin in highly complex storage facilities. This means that, with WM, you can optimize the use of all storage bins, mix pallets belonging to several owners in randomly slotted warehouses and know exactly where a particular material is located in the warehousing complex at all times.

The SAP Warehouse Management (WM) system provides the flexible, efficient, automated support that enables you to:

• Define and adapt a variety of storage bins for use in your specific warehousing complex
• Utilize random slotting for multiple owners of goods
• Display summary evaluations of all goods movements in the warehouse
• Support the use of automated barcode scanners and RF technology for all stock movements
• Interface to external non-SAP warehousing systems