S/4 Big Bang

Bürkert implements S/4 migration in a selective approach

Bürkert opted for the Selective Transition approach and thus accelerated the changeover. Several key structural changes were made in the process: The project included the harmonization of 25 old controlling areas and the chart of accounts, the New-G/L implementation, the introduction of the new asset accounting, the introduction of the group currency and the material ledger. Historical data was carried over into the new system from 2018. 

Minimally invasive

The changeover to the new SAP world took place in a minimally invasive manner at Big Bang over a weekend - without any downtime for the operational systems. The users logged out of ERP/ECC 6.0 on Thursday evening. And on the following Monday, they were able to continue working on their open orders, deliveries, invoices or projects in the new S/4 system exactly where they had left off in the legacy system. "It was a successful switch, all core processes ran smoothly right away. We were able to start seamlessly with S/4. The management is also very satisfied with the project result and the fast implementation," explains Steffen Jäger, transformation program manager at Bürkert. 

The issue of business continuity was central to Bürkert and the near-zero downtime process was only feasible with the right migration approach.

The rapid transition was made possible above all by cbs Enterprise Transformer for S/4. ET is the world's first comprehensive standard software for holistic SAP data transformation and at the same time the engine and guarantor of success for the selective approach. Steffen Jäger emphasizes: "What helped us a lot was the revolutionary approach in combination with Enterprise Transformer. We considered in advance that we would rather work with an experienced consultant who has powerful transformation software and has also developed it himself."

"The selective approach has proven itself as a standard changeover procedure. In line with the fast value concept, we created real added value for the customer in a very short time," explains cbs project manager Wolfgang Schleker. A system conversion (brownfield approach) would have made little sense for the long-established company, because Bürkert had a heterogeneous system landscape with many breaks, legacy issues and data that was no longer needed and had accumulated over 20 years. S/4 was the right occasion to specifically optimize outdated structures and processes. 

Bürkert works with one SAP system and one client in which 53 company codes were previously active, distributed globally. In the past, some of the 36 subsidiaries and the investments within Germany had their own accounts. "It was strategically important for us to harmonize the entire financial system and establish uniform processes throughout the company. A total of 49 company codes were selectively brought from ECC to S/4,
25 old data was harmonized into a new controlling area. Now we have the necessary transparency," says project manager Jäger.  

The project manager emphasizes: "We know that the consulting market is empty and that S/4 experts are slowly becoming scarce in the SAP community. Therefore, we are glad that we were able to work with very experienced consultants, who were also necessary for this ambitious project." 

"The fact that a major business process engineering program is still running in parallel means that we are in the fortunate position of being able to implement the innovations that come from this project in a future-oriented system. This is certainly a major advantage from which we are now benefiting. In addition, we no longer have the sword of Damocles hanging over us of still having to go to S/4 because the maintenance of the old platform is coming to an end," explains IT expert Jäger. 

The project has been 99 percent remote due to the ongoing pandemic. "The close cooperation in MS teams has actually worked out great. Despite initial skepticism: We are the living example that it works," sums up program manager Jäger.