Bridging the gap between warehouse operations and SAP EWM at a global food company

At a glance

An international food company implemented SAP Extended Warehouse Management (EWM). As with any major system roll-out, the initial months were marked by a steep learning curve and certain system issues. Lanark stepped in with operational support to fulfil the role of warehouse admin coordinator.

The challenge?

There was a disconnect between what is possible in the EWM system and what is realistic on the warehouse floor. Changes done by a few clicks in the system sometimes required multiple steps and a lot of coordination in the physical world. To this day, quite some manual actions are executed to align the system.

Lanark’s solution

As a warehouse admin coordinator, the Lanark supply chain engineer monitors and controls the inflows and outflows of stock – ensuring that what is physically in the warehouse matches what is reflected in the system. Initially this role, which sits at the intersection of the system data and physical flow, involved solving ad hoc issues on the floor. The team faced for instance pallets not appearing in the system or certain stock movements not registering correctly.

After a couple of months, the Lanark supply chain engineer shifted, together with the client team, from firefighting mode to fine-tuning, allowing them to optimise the manual processes in EWM. They also started identifying which additional manual actions could be automated to save time and reduce errors.

Furthermore, they look for root causes of operational mistakes, be it human error or system misconfigurations, to eliminate them. Finally, they are streamlining the daily reports and aligning housekeeping tasks with system accuracy goals.

Communication is key: system changes and new procedures need to be clearly explained, well understood and feasible. Reporting issues to the right people can be a challenge but is essential for continuous improvement.

“Being part of the operational team allowed Lanark to contribute directly to the day-to-day heartbeat of a large-scale warehouse operation.”