Discover how a leading European multinational industrial gases company leveraged SAP S4HANA to rethink its Business Transformation, improve product costing, and enhance profitability. Operating in over 80 countries with 68,000 employees, this organisation has been an SAP user for more than 20 years, having initially implemented SAP R/3, later upgraded to SAP ECC, and now embarked on its SAP S4HANA adoption journey.

Challenge: Outdated SAP ECC Processes Limiting Business Growth

Despite a strong SAP foundation, the client’s SAP ECC system was built on legacy processes over 15 years old. As part of their digital transformation strategy, they initiated a migration to SAP S/4HANA with a Big 4 consultancy. However, critical gaps emerged, particularly in product costing and financial visibility. The company lacked a reliable method to calculate unit production costs, leading to inaccurate pricing and reduced profitability.

Solution: E-Com’s Strategic SAP S/4HANA Enablement

E-Com was engaged to assess the SAP S/4HANA roadmap and uncover opportunities for innovation. The analysis revealed that the planned migration was a basic ‘lift and shift’ approach, missing the transformative potential of SAP S/4HANA. E-Com proposed a two-step strategy to realign the project with business goals:

Step 1: SAP S/4HANA Awareness Workshops

E-Com delivered nine tailored workshops to 80 senior leaders, focusing on SAP S/4HANA capabilities, differences from SAP ECC, and business innovation opportunities. These sessions empowered leadership to engage confidently with their implementation partner, reducing misalignment and enabling strategic decision-making.

Step 2: Empowering Process Owners with SAP Margin Analysis

E-Com trained 32 Process Owners through hands-on workshops that introduced SAP Management Accounting Profitability Analysis (Margin Analysis). These sessions emphasised ‘Clean Core’ and ‘Fit to Standard’ principles, showcasing how SAP S/4HANA could solve real business challenges. The client gained clarity on how to use SAP tools to improve cost transparency and pricing accuracy.

Outcome: Business Transformation with SAP S/4HANA

Following the workshops, the client commissioned E-Com to design a high-level solution for Margin Analysis. This initiative unlocked SAP S/4HANA’s full potential, enabling better financial insights, optimized manufacturing costs, and improved profitability. The transformation shifted from recreating the old system to a strategic business value-driven SAP evolution.

Key Results

  • Global Reach: 80 countries
  • SAP Experience: 20+ years
  • Employees: 68,000
  • Leadership Trained: 80
  • Process Owners Trained: 32
  • Workshops Delivered: 9
  • Feedback Rating: 94%

SAP Solutions Implemented

  • SAP S/4HANA
  • SAP Financial Accounting
  • SAP Management Accounting (Margin Analysis)
  • SAP Project Systems

Services Provided by E-Com

  • SAP Thought Leadership
  • SAP Training & Enablement

 

Get the full PDF Rethinking S4HANA Adoption case study below or have a look at E-Com’s custom training here: SAP Training