Optimizing Warehouse Returns for a Major Cheese & Dairy Producer

ACBaltica streamlined warehouse returns for a top cheese and dairy producer, transforming manual and error-prone tasks into automated, transparent SAP EWM processes. The project significantly accelerated return handling, boosted accuracy, and improved logistics visibility. 

Customer

Challenge

With multiple plants located across Eastern Europe, the company regularly performs external purchasing across various regions and intracompany stock transfers. However, the returns – both between company sites and external vendors – were processed manually outside of SAP EWM. This approach lacked transparency, increased manual workloads, and created risks for errors and inconsistencies.

Operating on a decentralized SAP EWM 9.5 landscape, the company faced the challenge of enabling warehouse-driven returns to ensure direct decision-making based on warehouse inspections and quality control outcomes. Therefore, our customer required a tailored solution to integrate warehouse processes with SAP standards seamlessly.

Solution

To address the challenge, we conducted a thorough analysis of the existing processes and implemented return handling triggered by warehouse operations and quality control results, all according to SAP Best Practices. This approach enabled full process visibility, reduced processing time, and improved data consistency across the logistics chain.

Project scope

• Gathering clients requirements
• In-depth analysis of existing warehouse and return processes
• Customization of the return process within SAP EWM and ERP, integrating them fully into existing workflows.
• Customization of the picking process specifically for optimized handling of returns
• Development of detailed test cases
• UAT support
• Demo preparation and user training – all to ensure smooth implementation of the solution

Team

Results

By streamlining and automating the return processes within SAP EWM, the client achieved:

• Greater operational efficiency and transparency within warehouse logistics
• Faster handling of returns and significantly reduced time spent processing defective or incorrect items
• Improved accuracy in picking and selection from storage locations, optimizing warehouse operations, and reducing manual errors

This implementation not only improved overall operational effectiveness but also provided the client with clear, real-time visibility and consistent data across their extensive logistics operations.