SAP offers several systems for logistics, and none of them fits everywhere. An outlying warehouse with two employees needs something different from a central warehouse with conveyor systems and 40 stacker cranes. The map shows a typical company with two sites and the systems that do their work there. Click on an area to find out more.
Commercial control in the ERP standard: purchasing and inventory management at storage location level (MM), sales orders and billing (SD) and material requirements planning (MRP). For many sites that is enough. And it is the backbone on which every warehouse system builds.
More on S/4HANA Core LogisticsSAP's new cloud system for sites with manageable logistics. Warehouse and transport in one application, quickly introduced, without the scope of EWM. An option for outlying warehouses, smaller plants and companies that still work with Stock Room Management today.
More on SAP Logistics ManagementControls the entire physical flow in the warehouse: from advance notice and goods receipt at the ramp through putaway and picking to packing and goods issue. With material flow control (MFS), conveyor systems, stacker cranes and shuttles run directly from SAP. Our core system.
More on SAP EWMThe interface your employees work with: on the forklift, at the packing station, in the control room. Whether a system is used or worked around in everyday life shows in its interface. We design it for the people who work with it every day.
More on SAP FioriConnects your SAP system with what lies outside it: machines, sensors, third-party systems, your own apps. Extensions run here, the standard stays clean. SAP Logistics Management itself runs on this platform.
More on SAP BTPThen you are using the old Warehouse Management under S/4HANA. SAP is not developing it any further, and the full WM scope has not been usable since the end of 2025. There are three paths: stay, switch to SAP Logistics Management or use EWM Basic, which is already included in S/4HANA. Which path fits depends on your warehouse. That is exactly what we clarify with you.
More on Stock Room ManagementThe choice depends on how much moves per day, what share of it runs over conveyor systems or stacker cranes and how many different processes a system has to cover. The further right your site is on the scale, the more likely it needs EWM. The further left, the more likely the S/4HANA standard or SAP Logistics Management is enough. Many companies have both: a central warehouse on the right, three outlying warehouses on the left.
Manual warehouse
Stock at storage location level, few processes in the warehouse.
External warehouses and smaller sites with standard processes.
Storage bins, strategies and standard processes, part of S/4HANA.
Equipment control (MFS), yard and labour management.
Automated hub
If you only manage stock at storage location level and have few processes in the warehouse, the S/4HANA standard is often enough. As soon as you want to know which bin something is in, or want to control picking strategies and conveyor systems, you need a warehouse system. For smaller sites, this is often SAP Logistics Management; for complex warehouses, EWM. Where the line lies for you is something we clarify in a conversation.
EWM Basic is part of S/4HANA and covers the standard processes of a warehouse. Only functions such as material flow control, yard management or wave management fall under EWM Advanced and thus require a separate licence.
SAP is not developing Stock Room Management any further. It keeps running but receives no new functions. Anyone working with it should know where the journey is headed: SAP Logistics Management or EWM. We help with the decision.
Yes. With material flow control in EWM, SAP takes over the control of the conveyor systems down to the level of the individual conveyor elements. This saves the intermediate system, the associated licences and an interface that regularly becomes a point of contention between the parties involved when faults occur.
Embedded EWM runs within the S/4HANA system, decentralised EWM on a separate instance. For most companies with one or a few sites, embedded is the simpler choice. Decentralised becomes interesting with very high throughput, many sites or when the warehouse has to run independently of the ERP.
That depends on the size of the warehouse, the level of automation and the number of processes. After a workshop at your site, we tell you which time frame is realistic. We consider blanket figures in months without looking at the warehouse to be unprofessional.
