EWM Replenishment: Refilling a Pick Face from Bulk Storage

Business scenario

Pick face PICK-02-05 for FG-2000 has a minimum of 20 EA and a maximum of 60 EA. After the morning picks only 10 EA are left. Bulk bin BULK-01-01 holds 200 EA.

All companies, numbers and documents are fictional demo data.

Step-by-step flow

1. 01

   The pick face runs low open in twin

   PICK-02-05 holds 10 EA — below its minimum of 20. Pickers will soon find it empty.

   Pickers take single units from the pick face; bulk storage holds full pallets that are not picked from directly. The two have to be kept in balance.

2. 02

   Run planned replenishment open in twin

   The supervisor runs /SCWM/REPL: 60 − 10 = 50 EA to move from BULK-01-01.

   It runs on a schedule, typically before a shift, so pick faces are full when picking starts. Other types — order-related, automatic and direct replenishment — trigger differently.

3. 03

   Does this touch inventory management? open in twin

   Before confirming: will moving 50 EA from bulk to the pick face post anything in inventory management?

   Moves within the same storage location and stock type are invisible to inventory management.

4. 04

   No posting needed open in twin

   Both bins are in AFS with the same stock type. A 311 would move stock from AFS to AFS — there is nothing to post.

   This is why EWM can run its internal moves with no load on inventory management or finance.

5. 05

   Move the stock and confirm open in twin

   The forklift brings 50 EA to the pick face. BULK-01-01 200 → 150, PICK-02-05 10 → 60.

   The pick face is back at its maximum before the next wave is released.

6. 06

   Pick face refilled open in twin

   PICK-02-05 is back at 60 EA. No sales order, no purchase order, no material document — the warehouse managed itself.

   Internal warehouse processes are where EWM adds the most beyond inventory management: the system knows and directs where stock should be.

SAP documents

Stock impact

Accounting impact

Movement type

This flow spans several documents rather than a single movement type.

Keeps fixed pick bins stocked from reserve or bulk storage so pickers never find them empty, without involving purchasing, sales or inventory management.

Transactions & Fiori apps

Configuration

• Replenishment type per storage type

  Configuration dependent

  Planned, order-related, automatic (at task confirmation) or direct replenishment.

• Minimum / maximum and replenishment quantity

  Configuration dependent

  Maintained per product and fixed bin (or storage type); rounding to packaging units may apply.

• Warehouse process type for replenishment

  Configuration dependent

  Controls task creation and confirmation behaviour.

Prerequisites

• Fixed bins assigned to the product with minimum and maximum quantities
• Replenishment control set up for the storage type
• Stock in a reserve or bulk storage type the replenishment may take from

Master data

Fixed bin assignment

Which bin is the pick face for the product, and its min/max quantities.

Product (EWM views)

Packaging specification used for rounding.

Organizational structure

• Warehouse EW01
• Storage location AFS

Tables

Integration

• MMNone for the move itself: inventory management sees the same storage location total before and after.

Common errors

• “Replenishment run creates no task”

  Likely causes: Bin not below minimum; No min/max maintained; No stock in the allowed source storage types

  Where to look: Fixed bin settings · Replenishment control for the storage type · Stock in bulk storage

• “Pick face empty despite replenishment being set up”

  Likely causes: Planned replenishment not scheduled often enough; Open replenishment tasks not confirmed

  Where to look: Job schedule for /SCWM/REPL · Open warehouse tasks in the monitor

Troubleshooting

Something went wrong? Work through these checks in order. They are diagnostic questions, not configuration instructions — confirm changes with your system owner.

1. CHECK 1

   No task

   • Is the bin below minimum?
   • Are min/max maintained?
   • Is there source stock?

2. CHECK 2

   Wrong quantity

   • Check maximum minus current stock
   • Check rounding to packaging units

Interview questions

• Which replenishment types does EWM offer?

  Planned replenishment (scheduled, refills bins below minimum up to maximum), order-related replenishment (based on open picking demand), automatic replenishment (triggered when a picking task confirmation drops the bin below minimum) and direct replenishment (triggered by a picker finding the bin short). The type is set per storage type.

• Does replenishment post anything in inventory management?

  Normally not. Bulk and pick bins sit in the same storage location and stock type, so the move is purely inside EWM. Inventory management would only see a posting if the storage location or stock type changed.

Quiz

Related processes

• 601EWM Outbound
• 711Physical Inventory

References

• SAP SE — SAP Help Portal: Replenishment in EWM (source)
• SAP SE — SAP Help Portal: Fixed Storage Bins (source)
• SAP SE — SAP Help Portal: Warehouse Tasks (source)

Explanations are original. They summarize standard behaviour; always validate against your system's release and configuration.

Version history