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Crossfield for Global Finance—SAP S/4 Hana in One Go

The automotive specialist Voss is strengthening its competitiveness with a global finance system. To this end, the company relied on Consilio when switching to S/4. The result is a global transformation with a downtime of just four days.
Ivo Konecny, Consilio
July 15, 2025
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This text has been automatically translated from German to English.

Automotive suppliers are struggling with supply chain crises and raw material shortages, which is impacting production and costs. The transition to electromobility and autonomous driving requires high investments in new technologies and software. In addition, cost pressure from manufacturers and new competitors are putting suppliers under strong pressure to innovate and improve efficiency. Digitalization is helping the industry to make supply chains more resilient through AI and blockchain and to reduce production costs through automation and digital twins. It also promotes the development of software and sensor technology for electromobility and autonomous driving in order to ensure competitiveness and innovation.

For this reason, Voss' management decided to replace the SAP ECC 6.0 currently in use with S/4 Hana, as the new system enables agile platforms, lean end-to-end processes and data-driven insights. "The switch to S/4 Hana was forced by SAP's end of maintenance, but for us it was also a great opportunity to renew our technological platform and thus sustainably improve our profitability," explains Sacha Dannewitz, VP IT and Digitalization at Voss Automotive. 

Voss opted for a cross-field approach (greenfield in finance and brownfield in logistics) with a migration of historical data. "For us, it is extremely important that we don't undertake projects that ultimately only cost money and bring no value to the company. And with Crossfield, this is a good combination of a system conversion and a benefit in a specific area, which on the other hand - and this is the second important point - does not involve any risk of production or delivery downtime," explains Dannewitz.

Finance as a key driver

In the medium to long term, the automotive specialists at Voss wanted to drive forward their Global Finance program and thus the digital transformation of finance and controlling. After all, digital technologies are helping finance to take on a new role in the company. 

They break up traditional work processes, promote employee change and help differentiate the company from its competitors by providing new insights into digital finance transformation. The Global Finance concept thus sets the guard rails for topics such as logistics, BI concept, etc. when switching to S/4 Hana. This was not only reflected in the Explore phase, but also defines the specific steps in the transformation. "The switch to S/4 Hana is unavoidable if you want to strengthen your competitiveness in the long term - especially in the area of finance," emphasizes Dannewitz.

Optimal partner found


As a partner for this project, the North Rhine-Westphalians enlisted the support of the SAP specialists from Consilio in Munich, who have in-depth expertise in the automotive industry. This was also noticeable in the course of the project. 

"That was one of the best projects I've realized in my life in IT. Maximum complexity, but still on time, in scope and on budget," Dannewitz sums up. Alexander Lüsebrink, IT Project Manager at Voss Automotive, adds: "The decisive factor for the success of the project was the really good and motivated team - i.e. internal expertise paired with a competent partner. In our case, the partner was Consilio."

The procedure in detail


Within the global finance framework of Voss Automotive, the SAP specialists from Consilio worked together with the specialists from Voss in the Explore phase to develop the concept for the implementation, which was to be realized in the Realization phase. The basis for this was formed by SAP best practices in standardization and harmonization as well as the automation of business processes in finance and controlling. Consilio obtained support for the global project from partners such as Deloitte and SNP. The requirements for a global finance solution were defined in workshops, a comparison (FIT/GAP) with SAP best practices was carried out and the tasks for the implementation phase were developed in parallel. In such complex projects, you need external partners you can rely on to bring the project to a successful conclusion. In this project, Deloitte provided support in the development and implementation of the financial concept and SNP contributed its expertise in the migration of the historical legacy data.

"The switch to S/4 is unavoidable if you want to strengthen your competitiveness in the long term - especially in the area of finance."

Sacha Dannewitz,
VP IT and Digitalization,
Voss Automotive

Focus on logistics processes


For the areas of Warehouse Management and Integrated Business Planning (IBP), the SAP specialists from Consilio already transparently pointed out the advantages and benefits that Voss could derive from the SAP solutions during the Explore phase. A redesign of the finance and controlling solution with the introduction of SAP S/4 Hana always affects the logistical processes, which is why it is necessary to adapt the organizational units in finance and controlling - this is primarily due to the very close integration of the logistical processes in finance and controlling. Some goals in finance and controlling can only be achieved by adapting the logistics processes. Example: The standardization of charts of accounts or conversions require mandatory adjustments in the logistics processes for goods receipt and goods issue postings, which is why an intensive test of the logistics processes is mandatory in this context. 

Pick the Low-Hanging Fruits

For many other end-to-end processes (also logistics processes), there is no comprehensive process redesign, but Consilio identified the so-called low-hanging fruits (quick wins) as part of the Explore phase through a process check and recorded them in a backlog. This gave Voss Automotive the opportunity to decide at the end of the Explore phase which quick wins should also be implemented during the Realize phase or at a later date if necessary. This includes, for example, PP/DS, which is rolled out in advance during the project and implemented at the locations with the go-live.

Historical data is retained


The migration of historical data is an important task in the transformation to S/4 Hana. Consilio works with its partner SNP and its Crystal Bridge software for the implementation and migration. In the event of data quality and/or inconsistency problems, this approach can be combined with object-based master data migration and automated data quality and integrity screening of the migrated and transformed data. Voss Automotive used the SAP transformation tool SmartShift for the custom code conversion.

Individual project management


No project success without professional project management. The SAP experts at Consilio recommend the SAP Activate - tailored by Consilio methodology to the Wipperfürth-based company for the changeover. This modified version of established project management is based on proven SAP technologies and procedures, but has been optimized by Consilio's many years of project expertise and can therefore be perfectly tailored to the respective company and its industry processes. Wherever it makes sense, the project management tools already used by the customer are adapted. 

Structured in several phases

The overall project was structured and carried out in several phases: Prepare, Explore, Realize, Deploy and Run. Within these phases, the various streams (work teams) fulfill the tasks assigned to them and thus ensure that the project picks up speed. When internationally active companies such as Voss Automotive switch to S/4 Hana, they have two methods at their disposal: the classic roll-out approach (step-by-step) and the big-bang approach (in-one-step). Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages. The automotive company from Wipperfürth decided to switch to S/4 Hana in one step - in other words, to convert the entire system to a standardized system including Finance and Controlling for the entire group. 

An implementation over several phases, not in one go across several countries, would have meant having to keep, maintain and service several ERP systems in parallel over many years, and that in different countries. This would have had a very negative impact on efficiency and costs. Voss management therefore decided to go live with all subsidiaries worldwide in one big bang in a "follow-the-sun approach", i.e. in one go from China to Mexico. This was possible with the help of Consilio's consultants, who provided local consultants in the key countries to oversee the changeover and support the users on site. 

"The really good and motivated team was crucial to the success of the project."

Alexander Lüsebrink,
IT project manager,
Voss Automotive

Nothing happens?

The core project team that coordinated the changeover was based at the headquarters in Wipperfürth. With a downtime of just four days - including the weekend - Voss went back online worldwide and resumed 100% production. Dannewitz sums it up as follows: "If, in the end, the customer, who is our main focus, doesn't even notice that something has happened, then that's basically the best we can achieve." 

Voss Automotive switched from an old SAP system to SAP S/4 Hana in a big bang, and no customer noticed. This is a historic moment for a globally active company and shows how perfectly our partner Consilio managed the project.


Highlights

S/4 Hana transformation at Voss

  1. Crossfield approach:
    Innovative balance between modernization and risk minimization, without production downtime.
  2. Project management:
    Customized project management technology "SAP Activate - tailored by Consilio" avoids overhead.
  3. Global Big Bang:
    Thanks to local teams and central coordination, the downtime was limited to just four days - without any noticeable impact on customers.
  4. Partnership with Consilio:
    A multidisciplinary team from Consilio (including Deloitte and SNP) realized the project on time and within budget despite its high level of complexity.
  5. Finance transformation and process optimization:
    SAP best practices and automation increase efficiency and enable data-driven insights.


Voss Automotive

Voss Automotive develops and produces integrated system solutions in vehicle construction and offers line and connection technology for fuel cells, SCR, pneumatics and thermal management, among others. Under the umbrella of Voss Holding, headquartered in Wipperfürth, the Group employs around 7500 people in 23 companies in 13 countries. Since its foundation in 1931, Voss has stood for technological innovation and has been a pioneer in connection technology since 1975, for example with the first connector system for plastic tubes in the air brakes of commercial vehicles. The Voss Group is owned by the Hans Hermann Voss Foundation, a charitable foundation that supports regional projects in education, training, youth and senior citizen work as well as charitable areas.

Voss-Automotive headquarters in Wipperfürth.

Conclusion

The collaboration between Voss and Consilio has led to a successful SAP transformation, which was implemented as a crossfield project. This combined a greenfield approach in finance with brownfield elements in logistics, which is an innovative approach. The project was characterized by a global implementation, which took place in a big-bang go-live from China to Europe to Mexico. With a downtime of just four days and teams on site in various countries, the changeover was completed smoothly. The short downtime of just four days and the rapid resumption of operations on the first day are remarkable successes that underline the efficiency of the project.

A total of around 140 employees were involved in the project, including around 50 consultants from Consilio, who contributed their expertise in the areas of finance, controlling, logistics, material management and customer service. The S/4 Hana transformation project lasted a total of two years. The successful transition and the optimal cooperation between the Voss and Consilio teams have led to follow-up projects already being planned. The S/4 implementation at Voss shows how complex transformation projects can be successfully implemented through a trusting partnership at eye level and clear strategies.

voss.net

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Ivo Konecny, Consilio


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Working on the SAP basis is crucial for successful S/4 conversion. 

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