Forging Ahead with SAP S/4HANA

The well-known CASTOR® casks from GNS are a safe bet. Spent fuel elements from nuclear power plants can be safely transported and stored in these casks – the contents are even protected from plane crashes.

Such extreme security standards are not required for a transition to SAP S/4HANA, although risk minimization is also an important aspect of this type of project. For this reason, the best basis for a secure migration is thorough preparation and the development of a custom road map.

Prompted by the impending cessation of maintenance for its SAP ECC system and thus the need to replace this system, GNS from Essen wanted to find the best way to migrate to SAP S/4HANA. In 2019, therefore, GNS commissioned GAMBIT Consulting to conduct a feasibility study, a pre-study for SAP S/4HANA.

The goal of the preliminary project was to define a road map for the implementation of SAP S/4HANA 1909. In the course of the project, GAMBIT examined the existing system landscape and identified the activities required, the partners involved and the scope content.

As part of the migration, the experts also evaluated the options for standardizing and reducing the number of non-SAP subsystems. As Dr. Andrea Eckelhoff, Head of Information Systems, Central Administration and Occupational Safety and one of the GNS project managers, explains, “Our goals during the migration were to increasingly establish SAP as the main system and implement further business processes in the system. We wanted to reduce the complexity of the IT landscape and build a contemporary, flexible technology platform with SAP S/4HANA.”

The company previously used an SAP ECC system 6.0 with EHP6 and had a two-tier system landscape consisting of a development and a production system. The SAP S/4HANA implementation project would involve the establishment of a three-tiered on-premise system landscape, consisting of a development system, a production system and a new test system.

But a migration to SAP S/4HANA is never purely an IT project. The software suite enables companies to take advantage of the growth opportunities of the future and the benefits of digitalization, from real-time analytics and reporting through to the use of new technology such as machine learning.

GNS also had its sights set on new business activities and a better accommodation of regulatory requirements. Besides the SAP ERP system replacement, the main drivers behind the implementation project therefore were GNS’ orientation toward international business as a new business activity and the accommodation of ASME requirements, international accounting, and ‘fast close’, that is, the accelerated preparation, auditing and publication of monthly, quarterly, and annual financial statements.

The purpose of the preliminary project is to lay the groundwork for a successful greenfield implementation. Following GAMBIT’s Activate Plus process model, GAMBIT’s consultants began the pre-study with preparation for the project, including expert interviews and a document analysis.

The preparation was followed up with a process survey, definition of scope, an initial rough concept, evaluation of necessary changes and actual creation of the road map on the basis of the results. The road map included a detailed schedule and service specifications for all phases of the project.

During the preliminary project, the consultants made use of the SAP Readiness Check, a code scan to determine Unicode customization needs, the Microsoft Teams project platform, and a proven proprietary GAMBIT tool to scan the systems by GAMBIT’s migration team.

An unusual feature of the GNS project was that, in parallel to the preliminary project, two companies in which GNS had held an interest for some time still had to be integrated into the road map: Höfer & Bechtel GmbH and Eisenwerk Bassum GmbH. The integration of these companies was completed in the legacy SAP ECC system prior to the actual implementation project.

The experts also had additional integrations to consider in the road map: replacement of the existing WM system with SAP EWM (Extended Warehouse Management), re-implementation of SAP ESS (Employee Self-Services), and retrofitting of the high-bay warehouse. GNS had to find new partners for the ESS/HCM (Human Capital Management) and EWM modules and integrate these into the project team.

These various, additional projects alongside the necessary integration of the two companies and the construction of a prototype in the SD/PS (Sales and Distribution/Project System) environment for the evaluation of new functions caused the preliminary project phase to be extended and the target date for the implementation project to be amended to January 1, 2022. This project was also awarded to GAMBIT and is currently being implemented.

“We are delighted to have been given the opportunity to also complete the greenfield implementation with GNS. As a future-proof technology platform, SAP S/4HANA is an important step for the company to be able to achieve its strategic and operational goals,” says Ralf Schoolmann, project manager and GNS project lead at GAMBIT.