SAP EWM Yard Management

SAP EWM Yard Management functionality was created for managing the truck (transportation units or vehicles) movement within the yard. The yard is a location outside a warehouse where vehicles and Transportation Units (TUs) arrive at or depart after loading/unloading goods. EWM Yard Management can be used either with basic functions like controlling the arrival of trucks for loading or unloading and leaving of trucks out of the yard or can also be used with advanced functions to control the individual movements of trucks.

SAP EWM Yard Management Setup

A yard in EWM Yard Management is configured as a separate storage type in a warehouse. However, we have an option to configure it with a separate warehouse number depending on the size of the yard and volume of truck movement. In case a yard is configured as a separate warehouse, then it includes a storage type that has the role ‘Yard’. In both cases, we can use one yard for multiple warehouses. Also, it is possible to define a warehouse with multiple yards.

The yard gate is represented as a checkpoint in the EWM Yard Management. The transportation unit or vehicle enters at the checkpoint which is the entry gate. It then moves from checkpoint to parking space and from the parking space, it will be approved at the door for loading in case of outbound shipments and unloading in case of inbound shipments. After loading/unloading, the truck leaves the door and departs from checkpoint 2 which is considered as exit gate. Each checkpoint, parking space, and door is represented by a storage bin within the storage type with the role of yard.

SAP EWM Yard Structure

In SAP EWM Yard Management, the yard has the following structure. Each one of the structural elements below is represented as a separate storage bin with the storage type role yard. The storage bins are mapped as yard bins, which can be grouped into yard sections, in the same way as the other storage types of the warehouse.

Checkpoints

A checkpoint is a location in the warehouse through which vehicles and TUs enter or exit the yard after completing the loading/unloading of order. This can be represented as an actual gate at the yard entrance and/or exit or can also be categorized as a virtual gate as per the business requirement. The checkpoints are defined in the customizing and assign each checkpoint to a bin created for a storage type yard. This assignment of checkpoint to bin must be one-to-one mapping. We also have an option to assign each checkpoint to an SC unit in case of a scenario where the yard is configured as a warehouse. The vehicle or transportation unit (TU), after arriving at the entry checkpoint, will be moved from the checkpoint to the parking space and moved from the door bin to the existing checkpoint after loading/unloading.

Parking spaces

A parking space is a position in the yard where a vehicle or transportation unit (TU) is parked temporarily when the doors are not free. Parking Space is defined as standard storage bins with standard storage sections and standard storage bin types with the role of yard. Multiple parking spaces are combined to form a parking section. The TU or vehicles are initially moved from checkpoint to parking space and then when the doors are available, the TU/vehicle are moved from parking space to door for loading/unloading of the products.

Doors

A door is a spot in the warehouse where the vehicle or transportation unit arrives for loading and unloading of goods and then leaves the warehouse after completing warehouse activities. The door is a unit that needs to be assigned to the warehouse number to connect the yard to the warehouse. The doors are near to the relevant staging areas where the goods are loaded from a staging area to the truck in case of outbound shipments and unloaded from the truck to the staging area in case of inbound shipments. In EWM Yard Management, the vehicle or transportation unit is moved from the parking space to the door, and after completing the activities, they are moved from the door to the checkpoint which is represented as an exit gate.

Vehicles and Transportation Units

In the SAP EWM Yard Management, movement of vehicles or transportation units takes place. A vehicle or TU is considered as a means of transport. A vehicle can be comprised of one or more transportation units and represents the physical entity of the transport vehicle. A transportation unit is considered as the smallest unit of a vehicle that can be loaded to transport goods. The TU can also be a fixed part of the vehicle. The following figure shows different types of TUs in the warehouse.

• Vehicle A: Semi-trailer truck, which has one TU.
• Vehicle B: Truck with cargo area and trailer, which has two TUs.
• Vehicle C: Train with four wagons, which has four TUs.

The vehicle or TU can either be created internally within the EWM or coming in the EWM from external systems like TM through the interfaces.

Yard Movements

EWM Yard Management enables us to move vehicles or TUs from one bin (in a storage type yard) to another bin within the same storage type created for the yard. The following are examples of yard movements as explained in detail in the earlier section:

• The TU arrives at the gate which is called the checkpoint bin and is moved to a bin created for parking space or to a door bin.
• You move a TU from a bin created for parking space to a door bin, or from a door bin to a parking space bin.
• You move a TU within the storage type yard, from one bin created for parking space to another parking space bin, or from one door bin to another door bin, etc.

SAP EWM Yard Management Transactions

• Arrival at or Departure from Checkpoint – /SCWM/CICO
• Create Warehouse Task in Yard to move TU within Yard – /SCWM/YMOVE
• Create TU or display TU – /SCWM/TU
• Create or display Vehicle – /SCWM/VEH

Final Notes

The Yard management in SAP EWM provides more planning and monitoring features in the complex warehouses where the goods movement volume is very high. This EWM solution of Yard Management is very useful for a warehouse where there are limited doors and the number of trucks coming in for unloading/loading is more than the number of doors in the warehouse. EWM Yard Management Solution provides check-in to check-out support for transportation units and is emphasizing the functionalities of planning, execution, yard operations, and yard monitoring.

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