Around SAP EWM

How to Learn SAP EWM with Best Practices – My 4-step Method

If you’ve ever tried to learn a new SAP EWM process by simply downloading the Best Practices documentation and clicking through the test scripts – you know how it ends. You finish the exercise, feel good for a minute, and then a week later, it’s all gone. The learning didn’t stick. Why? Because simply clicking buttons isn’t learning EWM. I would go that far to say it is a waste of time.

With this blog I will tell you why and I will also share my ideas about how you can avoid making it a waste of time.

I’ll show you my ‘4-step Learning Method’ for learning SAP EWM using the Best Practices in a way that actually sticks.
This method comes along with a small e-book and a glossary  – I will explain later where you can download the files.

Note that this method is essential for two types of EWM professionals: Obviously the Starters who are just diving into EWM, but also The Seniors who are responsible for mentoring those starters. Cause if you teach you might want to teach in a sustainable way.  

Why do click instructions fail?

The mistake that a lot of people make while learning SAP EWM – and this is especially true when you use the Best-Practices as a starting point –  is to start with the ‘how’ (the clicks) instead of the ‘why’ (the logistics). It’s like learning to use photoshop without ever having learned about design principles or user experience basics.

The SAP’s Best Practice test scripts are designed for execution, not for learning.

They’re fantastic for proving that a process works in the system or to use it as a prototype for the solution design (will tackle this in my next video btw), but if you go straight into the instructions, you’ll end up with what I call “button-click knowledge.”

Just clicking and thinking you will learn something is subject to fail. It fades quickly, and you’ll struggle to connect the dots when things get more complex.

So, instead of diving headfirst into transactions, we need a learning flow that builds context, base knowledge and orientation before execution.

My 4-step Learning Method

Those 3 are also the base assumptions for what I call the 4-step Learning Method. I repeat one more time:

• Context: Execution without context leads to fragile learning. This finding is not new and not invented by myself, but I think for SAP EWM it is true more than anywhere else. I mentioned that already in post [LINK] where I explained how to start with EWM. With this video here I focus on how this idea can be applied to learning EWM with the BPs.
• Base knowledge: It is essential to understand the technical base concepts & objects where the thing you are learning is based upon
• Orientation: No surprises during the execution – understand the E2E flow on a high level before going into detail

These are the four logical steps, resulting from my base assumptions and forming the 4-step Learning Method:

1. Understand the (intra)logistics flow first – even just at a high level.
2. Read the EWM-specific theory to understand its concepts & objects.
3. Study the Best Practice flow chart to get the birds view (last warm up before the start – going through the trail like a racer before the race).
4. Go: Finally, execute the click instructions in the system.

Now let’s break each one down.

Step 1: Logistics First

Before you even touch SAP, you must understand the business processes and the intralogistics (real world) material flows

• What kind of business process triggers the material flow and which parties are involved?
• Where does the truck arrive?
• What happens to the physical pallet during each step?
• Where is it stored in the warehouse?

I highly recommend studying foundational texts like VDI 3601 – it provides the vendor-neutral, timeless logistics basics. I’ve created a short e-book for you, based on this VDI standard, breaking down the logistics basics and the material flow for every EWM scope item.