A way of planning packaging materials that is so efficient, transparent and flexible that the right packaging is always available at the right time and in the right quantities — this is an important building block on the way to achieving smooth logistic processes.
The planning of packaging materials is often especially challenging for subcontractors and system suppliers who work with SAP ERP. During this process, it is important to distinguish between standard and special load carriers.
Standard containers, which may originate from suppliers, freight forwarders, customers, charge carrier pooling service providers, and also from your own locations, and which must be procured at short notice, are constantly being intermixed. The critical point when planning the use of standard load carriers is knowing which customer requires which containers, when and in which quantities, and also how many packaging materials must be made available for each supplier at a given time.
The situation is different for special containers, which are mostly purchased exclusively for a project and, as a rule, cannot be used elsewhere and are only produced in limited quantities. The required special load carriers are calculated before the start of the project and produced in corresponding quantities. In contrast to standard load carriers, special load carriers are usually used in a fixed cycle, e.g. in a “push” process which does not require special planning. For projects lasting several years, however, the original calculation basis may change, causing the packaging cycle to grind to a halt. The calculation and the actual requirements must therefore be regularly checked so that additional special load carriers can be assigned in good time.
Since the corresponding processes are not included in the SAP standard functions for packaging material planning, this scheduling must be carried out manually in Microsoft Excel or on paper — a labor-intensive and time-consuming process.
Do you want to optimize the efficiency of your packaging material management and perform the related tasks entirely in SAP ERP? We look forward to advising you. Please feel free to call or e-mail us.
It is vastly more efficient to carry out all packaging material planning directly in SAP ERP via IT-supported and largely automated processes. This provides a major commercial advantage:
To help you take advantage of these benefits, WSW Software offers two powerful, easy-to-use SPEEDI solutions, which extend the SAP standard without modification and in a practical way:
With the SPEEDI PMIC and the SPEEDI Monitor for the Packaging Material Cycle, you can reduce the manual processes during packaging planning to a minimum and make them leaner, more effective, more transparent, and also safer.