EWM changes should not make your supply chain weak, writes Barry Green (pictured below), Global Product Manager at Basis Technologies.
Business supply chains are a complex web of operations, and at each critical connection sits a warehouse. Responsible for the smooth delivery of products, warehouse managers shoulder an immense amount of pressure, and it’s easy to see why. Even the most diligent managers or businesses that have perfected ‘just in time’ production and delivery, still face huge financial and reputational risks should one cog in the warehouse wheel stop turning.
As the heart and brain of the warehouse, SAP’s widely used Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) has played a critical role in keeping operations running smoothly. However, the industry is witnessing a perfect storm. Businesses are making an increased number of changes to EWM to further tailor the system to their unique requirements. The trouble is, managing change within such a complex, interconnected system poses a significant risk to the business if it goes wrong.
System disruption can result in costly delays, transport to and from the warehouse being held up, production lines falling behind and the end-customer suffering. Also, if a warehouse goes down, the business cannot meet their SLAs, causing customers to seek out alternatives they deem more reliable. It all adds up.
Where it can go wrong
There are two factors that can trigger challenges within EWM; the fact that the system requires layers of granular customisation, and that the infrastructure is connected to hundreds of other areas of the warehouse and the wider SAP estate.
EWM – not one size fits all
Every business has unique warehouse management requirements which need high levels of customisation in an already complex system. At the same time, each customisation brings an extra level of risk to the wider infrastructure; even the smallest change can have a detrimental impact on the entire supply chain.
EWM needs to be customised to align with the business’ specific needs, yet without visibility of the bigger picture when making changes, EWM managers are left with no insight into the potential chain reaction that could be set off by one change.
EWM – it is not an island
EWM is usually interconnected and highly dependent on multiple integrations, like with transport management – which handles processes including transport orders, incomings and outgoings, and wave processing. As soon as an instruction leaves EWM, data is sent to the transport management system, which is also connected to other areas, such as SAP’s Logistics Business Network.
Granular insights into the entities along the chain maintaining smooth operations and avoiding unnecessary delays. However, a single change has the potential to bring it all crashing down.
An impossible decision
EWM managers are stuck between a rock and a hard place. The organisation needs to make changes in order to remain agile and align with businesses strategies, yet each change – big or small – adds more risk of operational disruption. They’ve traditionally had to choose between two paths, neither of which are ideal and both require compromise.
Some organisations have classed changes to EWM as too big of a risk, so they continue with their current system. While understandable, sticking to the status quo quickly becomes unsustainable. The business and vendor drivers of change will only intensify and become more urgent, while more agile competitors overtake and pull ahead.
On the other side, upon recognising the need to make critical changes within EWM, some organisations proceed despite the clear risks. However, without the visibility of how these updates impact connecting systems, there can be a price to pay. Given the severity of the potential financial and reputational consequences of unforeseen disruption along the supply chain, businesses can no longer afford to blindly make changes to EWM. So, what’s the alternative?
Confidence is everything
The capabilities of SAP EWM form a valuable foundation for operations, but this high in-built ability to customise makes it incredibly challenging to understand and deploy changes effectively. EWM solution owners can analyse SAP transports but, due to EWM’s specific way of working within SAP’s internal structures and ‘where-used’ facilities, they lack visibility into how one change can impact other processes and even connected systems.
However, it is possible to make changes within EWM without fear.
In the early stages of planning, scoping, design and development, data-driven solutions can give the developer insight into whether the change will impact functionalities other than those anticipated – and if this can be avoided altogether. Having this level of confidence will save time and costs later down the line as fewer rework cycles will be needed.
Later on, during the validation and quality phases, all stakeholders will gain visibility into which EWM processes will be affected. These insights increase everyone’s confidence in the exact test scope, deployment plan or training requirements, meaning they can save efforts of time-pressured teams both in the project room and in the warehouse where ultimately the change will be felt.
By leveraging predictive insights, managers can foresee the impact of change, giving them assurance that only the listed processes will have been affected by the change, which means no unpleasant surprises. All stakeholders of EWM can use this new source of information to ensure a robust supply chain, business continuity and agility to adopt innovation and change at the pace the business and market demands.
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