SAP Warehousing: A Comparison of Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) and Stock Room Management (SRM)

As clients move to SAP S/4HANA from their current SAP ECC environments, a natural decision quickly arises: Which of SAP’s two warehouse management offerings is best suited for your business? Here’s how to select the platform that most aligns with your business, based on both its current needs and future requirements.

1. What is Stock Room Management and is it right for you?

Stock Room Management (SRM) is a new offering for customers who want to continue running their classic Warehouse Management installations on SAPS/4HANA beyond 2027. From S/4HANA release 1909 going forward, SRM is being provided in place of Warehouse Management (WM). You can think of it as WM Light.

Functionalities available in SRM include: 

• Inbound Processing
• Outbound Processing
• Inventory Management
• Physical Inventory 

Note that there are capabilities that were part of WM (either standard or via add-ons) that don’t appear in SRM, including: 

• Task and Resource Management (WM-TRM)
• Warehouse Control Unit Interface (WM-LSR)
• Value Added Service (WM-VAS)
• Cross-Docking (WM-CD)
• Wave Management (WM-TFM-CP)
• Decentral WM (WM-DWM)

If one or more of these are critical to your operations, SRM may not be a great fit.

2. What is Extended Warehouse Management and is it right for you? 

Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) is the newest strategic warehousing solution offered by SAP. This is a more extensive product with advanced functionalities in addition to classic warehouse management capabilities. SAP offers EWM in two formats: Basic EWM and Advanced EWM, the latter being more appropriate for warehouses with higher levels of operational complexity. EWM is also available in two types of implementation — embedded or decentralized, both of which can be deployed either as on-premise or cloud solutions.

Key features of EWM include: 

• Value Added Services (VAS)
• Wave Management
• Slotting and Rearrangement
• Kitting
• Labor Management
• Yard Management

3. Comparing each of the solutions

Choosing among the various solution offerings can be difficult. Here’s a comparative breakdown of the key features in each offering, including the current WM platform. Note that features are just the start. In selecting a warehousing solution, your organization should also consider its technical readiness and overall software strategy, as well as its place on the SAP roadmap.

Our Recommendations

Which is right for your business? Let’s dig a bit deeper into each platform.

Stock Room Management: Only for smaller shops

Stock Room Management is a simplified version of WM and offers basic functionality that allows users to manage stock rooms and small, simple warehouses with lean warehouse core processes, low-cost operations and the ability to report inventory at the storage bin level. It’s a good choice if you require warehouse management capabilities for a small facility, but it won’t scale to support larger and more complex enterprises.

Of special note: Although Stock Room Management will be available beyond 2027, customers considering this as a potential option need to be aware that SAP has said it does not plan on continuing to develop this product.

Extended Warehouse Management: Built with scalability in mind

SAP EWM is the company’s flagship warehousing solution, with planned innovations and upgrades in the works. Remember though that if EWM sounds right for you, you will still need to fine-tune your purchasing decision, as three varieties are available.

• S/4HANA Embedded EWM (Basic): This version of EWM is available at no additional cost from SAP and comes with every new S/4HANA license. This option is recommended for customers that own their warehouse operations and have small or medium warehouses with lower levels of complexity.
• S/4HANA Embedded EWM (Advanced): This version of EWM requires additional licensing, separate from the S/4HANA license. This option is recommended for customers with more complex operations. The scope of integration with warehouse control systems (WCS) may have technical limitations based on the different levels of automation.
• Decentralized S/4HANA EWM: This version of EWM is recommended for customers with advanced warehousing operations that are heavily automated (IoT, robotics, ASRS, AGVs, etc.). This option decouples EWM from the ERP platform, which allows for separate IT maintenance on EWM, including patching and upgrades.

PwC’s Warehouse & Distribution Capabilities Assessment 

PwC’s Warehouse & Distribution Capabilities Assessment allows our consultants to tailor a client’s warehousing approach to address specific pain points, areas for near-term improvements, and opportunities to build future capabilities, both related to business processes and technology. PwC is prepared to assist you in selecting a warehouse management system for your growing needs and work with you to implement that solution globally. After a tour of your facilities, interviews of key operations and warehouse personnel and alignment of goals with your business technology leaders, we are confident we can help accelerate your time to value for investments in enhanced warehousing and distribution capabilities.