Define Storage Section Indicators

The storage section indicator divides materials into groups with the same characteristics. With the
storage section indicator, you can assign certain material groups to special storage sections.
With this classification method, you can use the stock placement strategies in an optimum way.
Default settings
In the SAP standard system, examples are preset for warehouse numbers 001 and 002.
Actions
1. Decide whether you want to use "storage section search".
2. Classify your materials according to certain criteria (for example, fast-moving items, bulky
materials, extremely heavy materials, and so on).
3. Create your storage section indicators with the corresponding description.

Strategies

In the Warehouse Management system (LE-WM) you support strategies in order to receive
proposals from the SAP System

Regarding which storage bins the goods are to be put away

From which storage bins goods are to be picked.

There are two basic strategies in the system:

putaway strategies

picking strategies

With the help of these strategies, the SAP system can use the available transfer and warehouse
capacity optimally.
For each storage type, you must define a putaway and a picking strategy.
Recommendation
To be able to take a closer look at the processes involved in the storage bin search (that is, processes
that involve interaction between the materials master data and the data from the system configuration
menu in Warehouse Management), you can use the function "Log Bin Search".
You can call up this function from the preparation screens for stock placements and stock removals
and from the single item screen for creating transfer orders (menu option "Environment").
This bin search log supports, on the one hand, the work of the project team in the implementation
phase and, on the other hand, the analysis of customizing errors during productive operation.
Activate Storage Type Search
For putaway or pick operations, the Warehouse Management System (WMS) must know:

into which storage types materials can be placed

from which storage types materials can be removed

In the WMS, a storage type is determined as follows:

1. In the case of a put away, you generally know where the material for the put away is coming from.
In the case of a pick, you generally know to where the material to be removed is to be transferred.
Information on the location from where the material is to be picked is either stored in the transfer
requirement or determined by the system using the WM movement type.
2. The system must then know into which storage type the material should be placed, or from which
storage type the material should be removed. The table "Storage type search", which you are setting
here, provides this information. In this table, you store the preferred sequence of storage types to be
searched for the material for putaways or picks.
If you have activated the storage unit check, this check also influences the storage type search. In
this case, the storage unit type from the transfer order is also checked against the allowed storage
units per storage type. The system finds this information via the table "Allowed storage unit types /

storage type", which you are also setting here. For further information on this subject, refer to the
chapter Storage type search.
3. Furthermore, you can influence the storage type search using other indicators:

process indicator (for example, stock placement or removal)

storage type indicator from the material master

stock category indicator

special stock indicator

storage class

water pollution class (WPC)

reference movement type

The indicators storage class and water pollution class influence the storage type search. If you are not
implementing Hazardous Material Management, you do not need to pay attention to these
parameters.
For information on how to activate Hazardous Material Management, refer to the chapter Hazardous
materials".
4. As mentioned above, different indicators influence the storage type search. If, however, you are
using storage type indicators and you also have materials with different stock categories or materials
with different special stocks, the number of required entries in the storage type search table can
become quite large.
To reduce the number of entries, you can define an access strategy for the storage type search table.
With the help of this access strategy, the system determines the required entries in the storage type
search table as follows:
The system first tries to find a suitable match, that is, an entry in the storage type search
table with all the relevant indicators from the material master and, if available, from the
hazardous material master.
If the system does not find a suitable entry in the storage type search table, it again tries to
read this table, but this time using the access strategy.
Actions
Set the required parameters for the "Storage type search" in the specified sequence:
1. Storage type indicator
Using the storage type indicator, you can ensure that certain materials are only removed from certain
storage types or placed into certain storage types in the order of preference you have defined.
You define the valid storage type indicators in the table for "Storage type indicators".

2. Storage type search

Now define the sequence of storage types to be searched by the system for stock putaway and stock
pick proposals.
Make sure that you enter the correct indicators for stock putaway and stock pick in the appropriate
column.
If you want the system to search through the entire warehouse number for a stock pick, enter "***"
(stands for stringent FIFO) as the storage type. The system will then search the entire warehouse for
the oldest stock of the material. The entry "+++" means that the system branches to the user exit to
the stringent FIFO process (MWMTO013).
If you are using the 2-step picking procedure, make sure that the destination storage type of the
pick step is used as the source storage type for distributing the accumulated quantities. For the
storage type search with the 2-step picking process, define activity type "2" (Column "Activity").
3. Movement type references
In the Warehouse Management component, you can set up the system so that for each WM
movement types certain storage types are proposed. If you want to use this mechanism, set up the
necessary reference movement types for the movement types concerned. These reference movement
types must be taken into account in the table "Storage type search".
4. Access optimization for storage type search
Instructions for access strategy for the storage type search table