Digital Beverage Picking with Mobile WMS and Warehouse Control Station

Complexity defines intralogistics in the beverage industry, particularly when it comes to picking. Seasonal and promotional items supplement standard assortments, manufacturers are increasingly relying on individual packaging, and a diverse workforce must deliver quality under time pressure.

Robust processes and digital tools—such as a mobile warehouse management system—help logistics managers and dispatchers maintain high picking quality and keep error rates low.

Cost pressure within the supply chains of beverage manufacturers and distributors is high. Every error in intralogistics costs money. Picking is particularly prone to errors, especially when work is paper-based, as our project experience confirms. A wide variety of items combined with a lack of control mechanisms can easily lead to mispicks. If these aren't caught by a control process and are delivered to the customer, it leads to avoidable transport costs, complaints, and potentially customer churn.

Fundamentally, warehouse logistics processes in the beverage industry do not differ radically from those in other sectors. Especially when SAP is used as the ERP system, proven process logic is utilized. Optimization efforts build upon these processes, for example, through the use of mobile warehouse management systems.

However, there are industry-specific nuances that must be considered:

• Distinct storage areas: e.g., separate zones for beer, non-alcoholic beverages, or wine and spirits.
• Duplicate EANs: Sometimes one EAN applies to multiple items (e.g., standard beer vs. a seasonal "Maibock" variant).
• Time constraints: Tight schedules often prevent picking or shipping checks, especially during peak season.
• Ensuring a steady supply of replenishment for picking bins is essential for smooth operations—delays here cost valuable time during peak hours.

Neben diesen Branchenspezifika gibt es Prozessbesonderheiten, die im Zuge von Optimierungen bedacht werden können:

• Im Wareneingang eines GFGH wird oft nur mit den Lieferdokumenten der liefernden gearbeitet. Eine einheitliche Paletten- oder Artikelkennzeichnung findet nicht statt - sieht man von den Artikel-EAN einmal ab.
• Die Qualität der späteren Kommissionierung wird entscheidend von einem systematischen Wareneingangsprozess und sofortiger Buchung im SAP bestimmt.
• Ein Standard-Kommissionierauftrag etwa auf Basis eines Kundenauftrages aus SAP umfasst in der Regel mehrere Artikelgruppen für verschiedene Lagerbereiche und mit entsprechendem Dispositionsaufwand für den Lagerleiter.
• Chargenführung wird zunehmend gefordert, ist aber (noch) kein Standard

Compared to other industries, intralogistics in the beverage sector still relies heavily on classic paper documents. However, the benefits of digital processes are being recognized, and digitalization projects are gaining momentum.

One effective approach—especially in SAP logistics—is the introduction of lean, mobile warehouse management tailored to the needs of breweries, mineral springs, and beverage wholesalers. Companies investing in intralogistics optimization primarily aim to:

• Increase picking quality.
• Achieve faster SAP bookings, resulting in higher stock transparency.
• Establish efficient error monitoring and controlling.

In addition to specialized industry ERP systems, many beverage manufacturers and distributors rely on SAP solutions. Unlike industry-specific ERPs, SAP does not offer "ready-made" warehouse management for the specific requirements of the beverage industry out of the box.

Additionally, module usage varies between companies. Many use Material Management (MM) effectively, while others rely on SAP Warehouse Management (Stockroom Management) or organize intralogistics with SAP EWM. Furthermore, individual customizing varies significantly: while some companies handle picking based on customer orders, others use deliveries or shipments as the trigger.

There are various approaches to digitizing intralogistics. For large warehouse locations, breweries and wholesalers have had good experiences with Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) from SAP. However, for smaller locations, industry experts often find the EWM approach too powerful and restrictive regarding processes, as well as too cost-intensive to be economically viable.

Therefore, alternative or complementary solutions are sought to optimize warehouse processes in a modern way.

An alternative solution should bridge SAP processes with industry specifics and be implementable with manageable effort. The foundation of such a specialized software solution is an SAP booking app for warehouse staff that covers all beverage-relevant processes. This app can be supplemented by a configurable warehouse control station for logistics managers and dispatchers. This control station allows specific SAP processes to be handled mobile and paperless.

The warehouse app should cover the following processes as standard:

• Goods Receipt
• Empties Returns
• Picking & Picking Control
• Stock Transfer & Replenishment
• Stock Transfer Posting
• Inventory

Depending on the SAP module used, the warehouse app can supplement existing SAP functionalities. Example: While transfer orders for replenishment are generated automatically in SAP WM, this is not possible in SAP when using MM—but it can be mapped by the warehouse app if required.

The foundation of warehouse optimization is consistently scan-guided processes. This means it must be possible to start or acknowledge a process via barcode scan at every step.

Optimization begins at Goods Receipt. During intake, a goods receipt label is printed for each item, which is used for unique identification in subsequent processes. In Picking, EAN scans ensure the correct items are selected; the Shipping process is guided by mandatory SSCC (NVE) labels. The same principle applies to connected processes like stock transfers, empties recording, or breakage bookings.

Crucially, users must be guided intuitively through the app. Given the increasingly heterogeneous workforce, software that is simple to use and prevents errors is indispensable.

The booking app for warehouse staff is the basic tool. However, in complex contexts—such as when scheduling a large number of staff or harmonizing processes across different locations—the app alone may not suffice.

This is where a mobile Warehouse Management System (WMS) component comes in. The mobile WMS acts as a management tool for dispatchers and logistics managers to organize warehouse workflows (supplementing SAP) and track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

Depending on the configuration, the mobile WMS can include:

• User administration and rights management.
• Picking order management, including rule-based assignment (e.g., for performance-based pay).
• Graphical planning board for intuitive manual disposition.
• Escalation and notification handling (e.g., approving shortages).
• Inventory control before booking in SAP.
• KPI measurement (e.g., picks per crate/bottle, pick duration, process duration).

We have outlined a lean WMS consisting of a warehouse app and a control station as a way to improve beverage logistics. At its core, the mobile WMS remotely controls existing SAP functionalities and enables mobile booking directly within the process.

In some projects, it makes sense to map industry specifics outside of SAP. Especially if SAP is only used to control Material Management, an industry WMS can integrate valuable additions.

Three Examples:

1. Order Splitting: Ontego splits SAP picking orders according to the company's specific warehouse organization (usually filtering by storage location). For example, it can generate separate orders for staff in the block storage or keg storage, versus those in the non-alcoholic or beer storage zones.
2. FIFO Picking: Based on batch information stored in SAP, the mobile WMS specifies exactly which batch must be picked for an order.
3. Automatic Replenishment Orders: If an item falls below a defined reorder level, the mobile WMS generates a stock transfer order independently of SAP. This ensures continuous, plannable picking, especially during peak times.

If paper-based picking is to be replaced, alternative tools are required—alongside software, this primarily means mobile hardware. First off: There is no single solution—depending on the working environment, different hardware settings may make sense. For use on forklifts or electric pallet trucks ("ants"), permanently installed forklift terminals or, as a more cost-effective variant, robust tablets are suitable as base devices for the mobile app. Employees handle scanning via separate handheld scanners or glove scanners that transmit their data to the terminal or tablet via Bluetooth.

Furthermore, the use of handhelds with integrated imagers is also conceivable. These devices are supplemented by suitably placed printers. In goods receipt, this can be a classic A4 printer, while after picking, adhesive labels with shipping-relevant pallet information are printed.

Paper-based work is no longer up to date. Logistics professionals are increasingly translating this realization into concrete projects. They rely on proven methods from other industries, such as scan-based, guided processes and complementary tools like control stations. Ultimately, these approaches must be adapted to the specifics of the beverage industry. A configurable industry solution ensures calculable project success. The result: Increased work quality, improved stock transparency, reduced inventory effort, and an efficient management and controlling instrument for logistics leaders.