On S/4HANA Supply Chain kickoffs, the end of SAP WM has become a recurring topic. And the discussion systematically drifts toward the putaway cascade. How does the Storage Type Search we have used for years in WM actually work, and how does it carry over to Embedded EWM? This article breaks down tier 1 of the SAP WM cascade, the Storage Type search strategy screen, for two audiences: consultants who still run WM day to day, and those mapping their existing setup before a migration.
SAP WM does not pick a storage bin at random during a putaway. It runs three filters in a cascade. The strength of the module is precisely this flexibility: whether you are placing material into stock or removing it, you can adapt the strategy to the needs of the company and of each internal area (high rack, bulk, picking).
Before defining the specific putaway or stock removal strategies, the first step is to set up the search strategy. There are three of them:
- First, at the Storage Type level (the area), the subject of this article.
- Second, at the Storage Section level (the sub-area within the selected area).
- Third, at the Storage Bin Type level (the physical bin that holds the pallet or the carton).
Tier 3, the Storage Bin Type Search, is covered in detail in our dedicated guide to filtering by the physical capacity of the bin. Tier 2 is covered in our dedicated guide to the Storage Section Search (T334B). This article focuses on the top of the cascade.
Configuring the strategy in SPRO
A warehouse number in SAP is always made up of storage types that partition it. Depending on business needs, the items to be stored, the storage systems or the capacities, several areas are created. SAP provides standard storage types, but you can still create others as needed. For example, you find:
- High Rack storage
- Open storage
- Pallet storage
- Picking shelves, Bulk storage, Block storage, and so on.
When a material has to be placed into or removed from stock, you have to tell SAP how to choose the material, in which areas to run the search, and in what order. That is the purpose of Customizing.
Go to Customizing:
SPRO path:
Logistics Execution → Warehouse Management → Strategies → Activate Storage Type Search
You create a unique indicator that will let you define a strategy for a specific need. This indicator must be linked to the warehouse number of your choice and given a short description. Its importance becomes clear in the next screen: it is what drives the rest of the strategy.
Defining the search sequence
Once the indicator is created, you move to the central screen of the strategy: the search sequence.
This is where you define precisely the strategy to apply, case by case. The main columns you configure:
| Column | Role |
|---|---|
| Warehouse | Warehouse number for which the strategy is set up. |
| Process / operation | Lets you differentiate the behavior between stock placement (putaway) and stock removal. |
| Storage type indicator | Indicator created in the previous step, the link to the material master. |
| Stock category | Stock category (unrestricted, in quality inspection, blocked, and so on). |
| Special Stock | Special stock type (consignment, subcontracting, and so on). |
| Storage Class | Storage class (useful for hazardous materials, for example). |
| Water pollution | Water pollution class for sensitive chemical products. |
| Ref storage type search | Reference used to chain to another strategy. |
| Storage location reference | Reference to the ERP storage location, useful for mapping. |
| Storage type | The storage type selected by the strategy for this line. |
For each line, you fill in the criteria you care about and the target storage type. SAP searches in the order of the sequence and keeps the first storage type where a space is available.
Influencing the strategy through the movement type
The WM movement type can also influence the search strategy. To do this, you enter a reference (a number) in the dedicated field, linked to a movement type and to a particular warehouse number. This reference is then reflected in the movement type configuration via the path:
SPRO path:
Logistics Execution → Warehouse Management → Activities → Transfers → Define Movement Types
This mechanism lets you, for example, differentiate the putaway sequence between a supplier goods receipt (movement 101) and an internal production goods receipt (movement 103), even for the same material.
Activating the optional columns: access optimization
Initially, the strategy in use relies only on the Storage Type Indicator created earlier. If you want to use other fields such as the Storage Class or the Special Stock, you have to activate them explicitly at the warehouse number level.
Each checkbox corresponds to one of the columns in the strategy screen. If you do not tick Storage Class, for example, SAP will ignore that criterion even if you have filled it in on a line of the sequence. This is a classic project pitfall: you configure the strategy cleanly, but you forget to activate the columns at the warehouse number level, and nothing works as expected.
Assigning the strategy to the material master
Once the strategy is configured, you have to assign it to each material. The link is made in the Warehouse Management 1 view of the material master.
In the Storage strategies section, two fields must be maintained:
- The Storage Type Indicator for stock placement (putaway at goods receipt).
- The Storage Type Indicator for stock removal (removal from stock at delivery).
These two fields can be identical or different. On a site with a dedicated goods receipt area and a separate picking area, they will usually be different. On a simple site where putaway and picking happen in the same area, you fill them in with the same indicator.
Practical case: goods receipt and putaway end to end
Let us take a test material to illustrate the full mechanism. The material has its Storage Type Indicator maintained in the Warehouse Management 1 view, for both stock placement and stock removal.
The strategy Customizing for this indicator points to storage type INB with an Empty Storage Bin search. Here is what that produces during a real goods receipt.
Step 1: you start the goods receipt in MIGO (movement 101).
Step 2: a Transfer Requirement (TR) is created in the background to move the item to the right storage type. You display the open TRs via transaction LB10.
Step 3: you select your TR and click TO in Foreground. This lets you see, in detail, all the actions performed by SAP through your Customizing.
Step 4: in the Transfer Order preparation screen, you select Putaway Foreground to see SAP’s decision.
SAP has run its cascade and automatically proposes:
- Selected storage type: INB
- Selected storage section: 001
- Available storage bin: 01-01-01
Step 5: you confirm the data to create the Transfer Order, then you post the physical movement. The item is placed into stock at the storage bin selected by the cascade.
This end-to-end flow shows how tier 1 (Storage Type Search) interacts with the following tiers to arrive at a precise physical storage bin. If the material were batch-managed, batch determination in MM/PP would be added to the cascade to choose the batch. If the material master is typed via a characteristic, SAP classification (CT04, CL01) can also feed the decision through the storage section search at tier 2.
Putaway and picking strategies in SAP WM
The Storage Type Search selects the area. Once the area is selected, each storage type has its own putaway strategy and its own picking strategy. SAP delivers several standard strategies that you configure at the storage type level.
Stock Placement (putaway) strategies
- Fixed Bins: each material has an assigned bin.
- Open Storage: no individual bin concept.
- Addition to existing stock: top up a bin that is already occupied.
- Empty storage Bin: search for an empty bin.
- Pallets: optimized for pallets.
- Bulk Storage: mass storage, stackable pallets.
- Near Picking Bin: putaway close to the picking face.
Picking (stock removal) strategies
- FIFO: First In First Out.
- LIFO: Last In First Out.
- Partial pallet quantity: partial pallet first.
- Large/Small quantity: depending on the requested quantity.
- Expiration Date: sorting by shelf life expiration date.
- Fixed Bin: picking from a fixed bin.
The strategy is chosen at the level of each storage type. On a multi-area site, you can perfectly well have a storage type INB set to Empty Storage Bin for goods receipt, a storage type HRS set to Bulk Storage for high rack, and a storage type PCK set to Fixed Bins for the manual picking area. Each strategy is consistent with its physical area.
Moving to SAP Embedded EWM (S/4HANA)
SAP WM is at the end of its cycle. The official target for new projects and migrations is SAP Embedded EWM in S/4HANA. The putaway logic shifts paradigm. In EWM, the WM cascade (Storage Type Search, then Section Search, then Bin Type Search) is replaced by a different mechanism: Storage Control.
Two variants of Storage Control are documented in the SAP documentation:
- Process-Oriented Storage Control (POSC): you define a complete storage process with individual steps. Each step corresponds to an action (deconsolidation, packing, quality, putaway, and so on) and the product transits through intermediate bins between the steps.
- Layout-Oriented Storage Control: driven by the warehouse topology rather than by the business steps.
The movement unit is no longer the WM Transfer Order, but the Warehouse Task. Two types coexist: product warehouse task and HU warehouse task. The SAP documentation states that in a POSC putaway, the last WT is a product task and all the others are HU tasks.
Note: for organizations that want to stay on the WM model under S/4HANA without switching to EWM, SAP offers the Stock Room Management module. It preserves the WM concepts (Storage Type, Section, Bin, tables T334B / T334P) while remaining supported under S/4HANA, useful for warehouses of moderate complexity where EWM would be oversized.
“Understanding the Storage Type Search in WM also means preparing for the functional audit ahead of an EWM migration. The cascade remains educationally useful, even if it disappears technically.”
FAQ: Storage Type Search SAP WM
What is the difference between Storage Type Search, Section Search and Bin Type Search?
The Storage Type Search (tier 1) selects the putaway area (high rack, bulk, picking). The Storage Section Search (tier 2) filters, within the selected area, by product characteristic (ABC, fast/slow movers). The Storage Bin Type Search (tier 3) filters by the physical capacity of the bin (EUR pallet, half pallet, carton). The three run in a cascade to determine the final storage bin. See our tier 3 guide for the full mechanics of the Storage Bin Type Search.
Where do you configure the Storage Type Search in SPRO?
You activate it in the WM Customizing, via the Activate Storage Type Search entry (Strategies menu). There you first create a unique Storage Type Indicator for your need, then you define the sequence of candidate storage types case by case (by Warehouse, Process, indicator, and optional criteria such as Storage Class or Special Stock).
What should you do if your strategy does not trigger?
Check in this order: (1) is the Storage Type Indicator correctly maintained in the Warehouse Management 1 view of the material master? (2) has the warehouse number activated the corresponding checkboxes in access optimization if you use Storage Class or Special Stock? (3) does the sequence in the strategy screen point to a storage type that actually has space available? Most hypercare cases are resolved on these three points.
Can you have a different strategy for stock placement and stock removal?
Yes, it is even the most common case. In the Warehouse Management 1 view of the material master, two distinct Storage Type Indicators must be maintained. One for stock placement (putaway at goods receipt), one for stock removal (removal from stock for shipping). This lets you, for example, put a material into high rack at goods receipt, and pick it from a dedicated picking area supplied by internal replenishment.
How do you influence the strategy based on the movement type?
The strategy screen exposes a Process / operation column that lets you differentiate the behavior between placement and removal. To go further, you can also enter a reference (a number) in the dedicated field and link it to a particular movement type via the SPRO path to Define Movement Types, already detailed above. This lets you differentiate the sequence between, for example, a supplier goods receipt (101) and internal production (103).
Does Storage Type Search exist in SAP Embedded EWM?
The concept exists in a different form. EWM replaces the WM cascade with Storage Control, which can be Process-Oriented (POSC) or Layout-Oriented. With POSC, you define a complete storage process with steps (deconsolidation, quality, packing, putaway). The movement unit changes from the Transfer Order to the Warehouse Task, with two types: product warehouse task and HU warehouse task. A WM to Embedded EWM migration is never a 1:1 mapping, it is a redesign of the putaway model.
What are the standard SAP WM putaway strategies?
SAP delivers several stock placement strategies: Fixed Bins, Open Storage, Addition to existing stock, Empty storage Bin, Pallets, Bulk Storage, Near Picking Bin. For picking: FIFO, LIFO, Partial pallet quantity, Large/Small quantity, Expiration Date, Fixed Bin. The choice is made at the level of each storage type. On a multi-area site, each storage type can use a different strategy, consistent with its physical function.
When does SAP WM really go away?
According to official SAP announcements, WM is at the end of its cycle, with a progressive shift toward Embedded EWM as the S/4HANA target. For the exact dates of mainstream and extended maintenance end, consult the current official SAP Notes (search in the SAP Support Portal). In practice, no new project should start on WM today: the target is Embedded EWM, free and included in the S/4 Core license.
Conclusion: the Storage Type Search, the starting point of any WM strategy
The Storage Type Search is the first step of the SAP WM putaway cascade. It sets the frame within which tiers 2 and 3 then play out. Without a clean tier 1, the other levels are powerless, and warehouse operators spend their time correcting Transfer Orders that do not land in the right area.
The right reflex on a project: spend time upfront scoping the Storage Type Indicators with the warehouse teams, anticipating the use cases (supplier goods receipt, internal production, returns, transfers), and planning the useful optional columns (Storage Class, Special Stock). This initial investment saves considerable time in hypercare, and provides significant help to the business users.
Three points to remember:
- The Storage Type Search is tier 1 of the cascade. Without it, tiers 2 and 3 cannot run.
- The Storage Type Indicator in the Warehouse Management 1 view is the critical join between the material master and the strategy.
- Embedded EWM replaces the cascade with Storage Control (POSC or Layout-Oriented). The migration is never a 1:1 mapping.
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